Richardson Bay liveaboards, heads up!

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by markpierce

Can't understand why anyone would transit/anchor in Richardson Bay except to travel up the boat channel heading for the local marinas.

I'm thinking one of the causes for the problems there is that the bay is a designated "special anchorage," not requiring anchor lights or day shapes.

As Wrong explained to me once, Sausalito has all the cafe's and shops and it has actual dinghy docks and trash receptacles. Other areas lack all that. I met him in the Delta once, and he found it not too his liking.

Mind you, I agree that it is a totally nasty place to anchor when the storms come in from the south. It's a hard hard life in winter. I am lucky that I have the means to take a berth in winter. This winter has been very wet and stormy. I'm so very glad I'm not out there. I pity the folks that have no other resource in winter.

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by sailorchic34

As Wrong explained to me once, Sausalito has all the cafe's and shops and it has actual dinghy docks and trash receptacles. Other areas lack all that. I met him in the Delta once, and he found it not too his liking.

Mind you, I agree that it is a totally nasty place to anchor when the storms come in from the south. It's a hard hard life in winter. I am lucky that I have the means to take a berth in winter. This winter has been very wet and stormy. I'm so very glad I'm not out there. I pity the folks that have no other resource in winter.

Sailorchic34, careful, your empathy is showing.

[KJB]

Originally Posted by Liam Wald

I really don't know how this situation can be tolerated or defended.
If a number of old broken down Winnebago motor homes with piles of junk on their roofs began parking on a neighborhood street, dumping their sewage into the gutter very few people would say, "Oh look at those colorful free-spirits. Gee honey, isn't that a romantic lifestyle?"

Has anyone been to Oakland or San Francisco lately? That is exactly what you find. I doubt those living like this define it as "romantic". Living in the nations most expensive area dictates hard choices for many. While there is a lot of crime and filthiness that goes with the broken down winnebago/richardson bay lifestyle, one could argue that that there is a lot of crime and filthiness that goes with making millions as well. The latter just looks nicer to the eye!

Yesterday I saw a mother and daughter panhandling at an intersection together...all I could think was, "what a shame". I did not judge or malign them in my mind. The true crime that is that people have to live like that.

Too often, people make hasty and judgmental decisions based on faulty data...such as, "I would never live like that" - or - "Why don't they just work as hard as I do". That is a very elitist attitude. Not all people have equal opportunity, and those with Ivy league or similar backgrounds should have the greater compassion due to their status in life. They have a right to live and even think as they choose. They do not have the right to be critical towards those who have less.

I was reading this older thread and decided to reply. Oh well.

[Caddy Shack]

Rough day on RB yesterday. Dinghy with three occupants capsized, two stayed with the boat and survived. The third (owner of the dinghy and vessel in the anchorage) tried to swim for it and was lost, and is presumed dead. CG searched for hours with boats/copter as did the fire department. ID has not been released yet. Today they are still searching for the body.

[lelievre12]

Originally Posted by Caddy Shack

Rough day on RB yesterday. Dinghy with three occupants capsized, two stayed with the boat and survived. The third (owner of the dinghy and vessel in the anchorage) tried to swim for it and was lost, and is presumed dead. CG searched for hours with boats/copter as did the fire department. ID has not been released yet. Today they are still searching for the body.

Tens of thousands of dollars in Coastguard And Marin Police Helicopter costs. And another life lost in deadly Richardson Bay.

Blood is on the hands of Richardson Bay Regional Authority for not enforcing their own regulations. The reason this is a 72 hour transient anchorage is that it is simply not safe to moor there permanently. Why do they relax the rules? In a forecast gale the bay should be empty.

[roverhi]

The bulk of the money went to remove a number of large commercial vessels that were abandoned deep in the estuary. One in particular had sunk and had to be refloated at multiple 6 figure expense. Another required the use of the largest floating crane on the West Coast which had to be brought down from the PNW, and a ton of permit fees so they could break it up onshore adjacent to where it had sunk.

A driving force to clean out the anchor aboards was by the marinas hoping to drive them into slips. Also the Oakland, Alameda Police, and the Alameda County Sheriff departments got a bunch of money from Homeland Security Administration because of the crime factor and possible danger to Oakland Harbor.

The marinas are limited to 10% live aboards though sneakaboards probably make the actual liveaboard percentage higher. I'm temporarily in Fortman Marina in Alameda and they gave me the 5th degree about living aboard before giving me a slip. They were pretty laid back about staying on your boat when I had a boat there 7 years ago. Apparently the powers that be are cracking down on illegal liveaboards. Now Fortman isn't even taking names for a liveaboard slip as the waiting list is so long. Can see limiting liveaboards because the marinas would be overun as a result of the outrageous cost of housing in the Bay. Unfortunately, if you follow the rules it seriously restricts the use of your boat if strictly enforced and 10% is artificially low.

Originally Posted by Jason Flare

At 40 boats that's $87,500.00 per boat.

[markpierce]

Originally Posted by roverhi

...
A driving force to clean out the anchor aboards was by the marinas hoping to drive them into slips. ...

You really think so? My first-hand observation is that there is a very low vacancy rate in Sausalito, as opposed to my home marina in Vallejo some thirty-something miles away. Regardless, I'd bet that the long-term anchor-outs don't want to pay rent.

[KJB]

I also have a boat in Fortman. And yes, they are stringent right now concerning live-aboards. We were in Grand Marina for a year prior to being in Richmond, and they were also cracking down on sneak-aboards (of which there were many, and mostly allowed up until then). There seems to be a concerted effort at least in Alameda to conform to the 10% quotia. It may (I don't know) have something to do with the new development going on there. This new development plan will most likely take out Svensons and the 45 acre marine industrial park there in favor of condos. Same thing in San Leandro.

Alameda is still a nice place though and after our yard time beginning on the first, we may go back.

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by markpierce

You really think so? My first-hand observation is that there is a very low vacancy rate in Sausalito, as opposed to my home marina in Vallejo some thirty-something miles away. Regardless, I'd bet that the long-term anchor-outs don't want to pay rent.

For some it's they own a wood boat and can't find a slip. Then there is the lack of liveaboard slips. Where do they go, none of the marinas are taking liveaboards, or not more then one or two. Where do the 150+ folks go?

Vallejo has slips, but they are a bit spendy least for what you get, since they raised the rates last year. And the hood is just down the street.

Other's can't pay rent or can't qualify for insurance. It's a hard life in winter in Richardson bay. So sad that so many end up there.

[markpierce]

Well, it's not like I'm inviting the unfortunate to berth beside me. ... Vallejo berthing rates are competitive. Rates were minimally increased recently, but only after some several years of the last increase. ... From my selfish view, unfortunates should stay in Richardson Bay if they can't "make it" in society. That's Sausalito's problem.

California has a very liberal policy in financially supporting low/no-income persons. That's why college education in California hasn't been free since shortly after Johnson's "war on poverty."

[Caddy Shack]

It's tough to get a slip for a boat over 40' in Sausalito, let alone a live-aboard slip. The latter is pretty much impossible unless you find a harbormaster that really likes you and the extra $ it brings. Legit live-aboard slips currently run from $1000-$1600/month depending on # of occupants/boat length plus insurance, power, pump outs etc. Even given the chance, no way the majority of anchor outs here can afford that - that's plenty enough for those of us that go to work - can't imagine how I would come up with that $ if I spent most of my time sipping a beer in Dunphy Park....

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by markpierce

Well, it's not like I'm inviting the unfortunate to berth beside me. ... Vallejo berthing rates are competitive. Rates were minimally increased recently, but only after some several years of the last increase. ... From my selfish view, unfortunates should stay in Richardson Bay if they can't "make it" in society. That's Sausalito's problem.
."

Just remember the oft quoted
But by the grace of god there.go I

[markpierce]

There are a multitude of places to anchor in the SF Bay/Delta/Estuary. Perhaps to Sausalito's disadvantage is that the USCG has designated Richardson Bay as a "special anchorage" eliminating the requirement for anchor lights and day shapes.

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by markpierce

There are a multitude of places to anchor in the SF Bay/Delta/Estuary. Perhaps to Sausalito's disadvantage is that the USCG has designated Richardson Bay as a "special anchorage" eliminating the requirement for anchor lights and day shapes.

well there are a multitude of places in the delta for sure, and I see at least a few trek up to the delta every summer. Mind you most of the "retired" old guys in Richardson bay want their coffee shops and restaurants and yes liquor stores. There are also not many places to tie up a dinghy to go shopping in the delta.

Mind you that does not stop me from enjoying the delta, but some have said that's why they like RB. Having shore access is a big draw to RB.

[markpierce]

It's just a matter of will. Notify anchor-outs current violating rules (and USCG withdrawing special anchorage designation would also help). Pass a tax on Sausalito property owners for boat removal Tow out non-compliant boats after sucking out pollutants to a nearby San Francisco coast location to make an artificial reef for undersea creatures. In three or four years, the solution is solved.