travel stories and news from floating homes alumni
It’s common knowledge that Otis Redding got the inspiration for Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay while staying on a floating home in Sausalito. According to Julian Gould, author of Otis Redding: An Unfinished Life, Otis “was in San Francisco for a six night engagement at Basin Street West…...
Here’s another thought I’d like to share: If it weren’t for double standards, some guys would have no standards at all. If you have a thought you’d like to share, send it to Larry Clinton.
Occasionally I get a thought that I feel like sharing. Here’s the first: I get so many spam calls, I’ve renamed my phone the Tomb of the Unknown Caller. If you have a thought you’d like to share, send it to Larry Clinton.
Back in July 2023 I wrote a Floating Times piece about Forbes Kiddoo and his fantasy isle which floated in Richardson’s Bay in the 80s. While researching that piece, I came across a Facebook post from the Veterans Home in Barstow that looked like an obituary for the eccentric Forbes,...
Merry Loomis of Main Dock sends along this account of Sausalito being featured in a Broadway show: On a recent visit to New York City I had the pleasure of nabbing a last minute ticket to the 2024 Tony Award winning play “Stereophonic”. I went in knowing that the play...
The New York Times recently reported on London’s growing houseboat community. Some of the challenges these houseboaters face will sound quite familiar. “In London, a Houseboat Used to Be the Affordable Option. Not Anymore,” reads the headline. It’s the old story of supply and demand, according to the Times: “With land-based...
Peanut Butter Publishing began on a floating home in Seattle, founded by longtime resident Elliott Wolf, to make writers dreams come true. Why peanut butter? “No one ever remembers the publisher of books, only the title and sometimes the author. So, I wanted a really sticky name,” Wolf said. “Now,...
On the morning of Friday, July 31, 1846, Samuel Brannan sailed boldly into the mist-shrouded headlands of San Francisco Bay. His ship, the Brooklyn, carried 238 fellow Mormons, known as Saints. Their goal was to build a Mormon kingdom in the Mexican territory of California without the conflicts they had...
We recently posted a firsthand dispatch from West Maui by former Gate 6 ½ resident Robb Petty. Robb, a retired emergency room doctor, and his wife Jane returned there just days after the devastating fire, when they learned their home near Lahaina had been spared. Since then, they’ve had limited...
The website iHeart states: “There is one town in California situated within the hills along the coast, framing the lines where the sun meets the earth and the earth meets the sea. A breathtaking change of pace that is simply impossible to forget if you’ve ever visited, leaving you with...