At a Richardson’s Bay Regional Agency (RBRA) meeting Thursday evening Sausalito’s representative confirmed the city’s plans to withdraw from the agency, effective at the end of the fiscal year, if there is not significant progress in the removal of illegally anchored boats in Richardson’s Bay. Our own Court Mast (West Pier) spoke in favor of the removal of all boats anchored in the bay, not just the “junk” boats which seem to be the focus of actions in the past. He addressed the navigational problem of floating and sunken debris in the anchor-out areas.
The temporary executive director of the RBRA reported that they are on target to remove 100 boats by the end of June. In spite of the 65 boats that have been removed, either by the RBRA or Sausalito Police since July of last year (and the 13 that sunk in the last storm), the overall number of the boats remains about the same – at 210. 145 of these vessels are “live-aboards”, the result of a constant stream of new arrivals.
After the meeting there was considerable hallway discussion about the desire on the part of many in the city, and many in the floating home community, to have all of the illegal boats removed from the bay, whether or not they are lived on. There has been little effort on the part of the citizenry to speak against the anchor-outs, in part due to feelings of intimidation.
Visiting boats could still be legally and temporarily anchored, as they are now, but they would be permitted through the Sausalito Police Dept.
For further information see the Marin IJ article:
New effort pulls derelict boats from Richardson Bay, by Mark Prado
photo and post by Teddie Hathaway