Fog

Fisherman's Wharf Circa 1910 

As he skimmed the waterfront on his Gitane, Hugo thought how the City had spilled over into the Bay seemingly without remorse but certainly not without consequence. 

Fisherman's Wharf was in trouble, its magnet for the tourist economy and the fishing industry at risk. 

As Special Inspector to the Port of San Francisco Hugo knew of the master plan of 1900 to harbor the fishing fleet at the foot of Taylor and Leavenworth Streets. He savored photographs from that era that recalled old world sailboats tied up to the docks, each with their triangular sail wrapped to the long bow of its crossbar. In his teens his godfather Rocco told him stories of the fishermen divining their weather reports from nature and when shrouded in fog, the crews communicated with other boats on the water by singing to avoid collisions.

from The Singing Lighthouse