The guts of the story are this: While on tour with the Bar-Kays in August 1967, Otis Reddingās popularity was rising, and he was inundated with fans at his hotel in downtown San Francisco. Looking for a retreat, he accepted rock concert impresario Bill Grahamās offer to stay at his houseboat at Waldo Point in Sausalito, California. Inspired, Redding started writing the lines, āSittinā in the morning sun, Iāll be sittinā when the evening comesā and the first verse of a song, under the abbreviated title āDock of the Bay.ā