Narrative:

As I prepared to depart VFR from oak to ZZZ; under the san francisco class B; I realized I had no familiarity with the routing for a VFR flight between the two. I asked oak ground for VFR flight following and was advised I would be handed off to the north tower; and was given a squawk code. Just prior to departure; the tower controller told me she was coordinating the type of departure I would have; and eventually advised me to make a right 270 and cross over 'the 30 numbers.' I acknowledged and departed. Once reaching 400 feet I began my turn. I don't fly VFR out of the oakland area often enough; and she advised that in the future; they would appreciate a turn sooner. I crossed the 30 numbers at 1400 MSL and was advised to contact the north tower. I had already programmed the ZZZ tower frequency into my com2; and selected that frequency. Once I made contact with ZZZ; a non flying pilot seated next to me; who was not controlling any part of the flight; mentioned that he thought she said contact the 'north tower;' not 'contact ZZZ tower.' that statement caused doubt in my mind.once I checked on with ZZZ tower; the controller told me that I had apparently flown through oak class C without talking to them. We bantered briefly; but he finally got the point that I did not check in with the north tower at oak; but that I did depart from their airport. (I'm sure he just misunderstood oak; who probably called ZZZ to have them scold me; which I deserved).ZZZ then told me to enter a right downwind for runway xy; 'report [radio tower].' I had never flown in that part of the bay area (n-n/east of ZZZ from oak); and did not know where [the radio tower] was. I did not tell him. I passed [radio tower]; 2 miles east at 1400 MSL. Tower then directed my attention to a westerly direction; into the sun; to locate the red and white towers; which I did not see until I was not looking into the sun glaring off of the bay any longer. He gave me grace and told me to enter a right base for xy and asked if I had the field in sight. Again; I was looking into the sun and could not see the airport; and neither could the non flying pilot. ZZZ is very difficult to see. It was in my GPS for reference; however.I am embarrassed at my performance yesterday. I am a striving professional and fly to ZZZ VFR regularly. There are so many waypoints in the bay; and I simply don't know them all. In addition; since I had programmed ZZZ tower into my com2; and was loaded up just trying to remain clear of the class B; I failed to respond appropriately by calling the north tower. Although I was quite inquisitive as to 'what can I expect' with oak ground; I will endeavor to know local waypoints and procedures in this airspace for my next VFR flight in that area.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: BE-58 pilot reported some difficulties complying with their clearance after departing from OAK.

Narrative: As I prepared to depart VFR from OAK to ZZZ; under the San Francisco Class B; I realized I had no familiarity with the routing for a VFR flight between the two. I asked OAK ground for VFR flight following and was advised I would be handed off to the North Tower; and was given a squawk code. Just prior to departure; the tower controller told me she was coordinating the type of departure I would have; and eventually advised me to make a right 270 and cross over 'the 30 numbers.' I acknowledged and departed. Once reaching 400 feet I began my turn. I don't fly VFR out of the Oakland area often enough; and she advised that in the future; they would appreciate a turn sooner. I crossed the 30 numbers at 1400 MSL and was advised to contact the north tower. I had already programmed the ZZZ tower frequency into my com2; and selected that frequency. Once I made contact with ZZZ; a non flying pilot seated next to me; who was not controlling any part of the flight; mentioned that he thought she said contact the 'north tower;' not 'contact ZZZ tower.' That statement caused doubt in my mind.Once I checked on with ZZZ tower; the controller told me that I had apparently flown through OAK Class C without talking to them. We bantered briefly; but he finally got the point that I did not check in with the North Tower at OAK; but that I did depart from their airport. (I'm sure he just misunderstood OAK; who probably called ZZZ to have them scold me; which I deserved).ZZZ then told me to enter a right downwind for runway XY; 'report [radio tower].' I had never flown in that part of the Bay Area (N-N/E of ZZZ from OAK); and did not know where [the radio tower] was. I did not tell him. I passed [radio tower]; 2 miles east at 1400 MSL. Tower then directed my attention to a westerly direction; into the sun; to locate the red and white towers; which I did not see until I was not looking into the sun glaring off of the bay any longer. He gave me grace and told me to enter a right base for XY and asked if I had the field in sight. Again; I was looking into the sun and could NOT see the airport; and neither could the non flying pilot. ZZZ is very difficult to see. It was in my GPS for reference; however.I am embarrassed at my performance yesterday. I am a striving professional and fly to ZZZ VFR regularly. There are so many waypoints in the Bay; and I simply don't know them all. In addition; since I had programmed ZZZ tower into my com2; and was loaded up just trying to remain clear of the class B; I failed to respond appropriately by calling the north tower. Although I was quite inquisitive as to 'what can I expect' with OAK ground; I will endeavor to know local waypoints and procedures in this airspace for my next VFR flight in that area.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.