Ernest W. Winther was a captain who spent the majority of his life in the Bay Area and made numerous observations of the area from 1900 to 1971. Winther was born in Oakland, California in 1890 and was oriented towards the water since birth. He spent a majority of his early years staying in the lighthouse stations where his father was employed: Lime Point, Point Bonita, the Farallones, and Southampton Shoal (1900-1916). After working various jobs around the Bay, Winther joined the Corps of Engineers in 1929 and during this time surveyed the Bay, worked on Treasure Island and the Carquinez Bridge and witnessed the changing Bay ecology. In this interview, Winther discusses his life on Point Bonita, the Farallones, and Southampton Shoal, Farallones residences, surveying the Bay, California harbors, the Masters, Mates and Pilots Union, vessels on the bay, and the various jobs he worked. This interview is part of a group of interviews documenting the history of San Francisco Bay maritime.