Red Rock

Sitting in San Francisco Bay, just south of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, is a distinctive chunk of red radiolarian chert called Red Rock. I've sailed around this for years, admiring its geologic features, including some interesting chert banding and caves on the west side. Islands such as Red Rock reflect a deeper truth that the bay is, in fact, a recently flooded valley filled with a number of high peaks, some of which are submerged and some of which are above sea level. Red Rock is the only island that appears to be made primarily of radiolarian chert, and it is the only privately-owned island in San Francisco Bay,

Now, however, it is for sale.

With a price tag of only $9 million, I'm sure that some gentle reader will consider buying this for your intrepid geologist. I have thought often, as I sail near it, how fun it would be kayak there and have lunch atop its wind-blasted, 172 foot-high summit. Indeed, I have seen people lounging on its shores from time to time. It would be lovely to seal the shoreline, install "lasers" deep within its core, and use it to plot my nefarious schemes....