On Sunday, the San Francisco Chronicle ran an obituary for influential Sausalitan Annette Rose that reads like a pocket history of the houseboat community. Annette got into politics after being evicted from a condemned construction shack on the Sausalito waterfront in 1984. She served on the City Council and Marin...
On Thursday Dec 4th at around 10:30 am, on the biggest super moon, Pierre passed away naturally and peacefully on the sofa reading the news on his iPad with Stanley by his side. He had kidney and heart failure and was given days, weeks, maybe up to 3 months to...
Jim Woessner of Issaquah Dock sends along this tribute to his long-time neighbor Rachelle Dorris: One of the pillars of the waterfront community, Rachelle Dorris, passed away last Saturday, November 29th. Rachelle was a 40-year resident of the waterfront, the majority of those years living on Issaquah Dock. She was...
Ralph Pelligra, a beloved Liberty Dock friend, died at home peacefully on Wednesday, October 15th at the age of 93 with his wife, Olivia, by his side. Ralph’s relationship with his love, Olivia, was an inspiration to all of those around them. If anything in the world is true, it’s...
One of the most iconic homes on South Forty Pier is on the market. The Mirene is a beautifully restored, working 64-foot tugboat where writer Stewart Brand (of the Whole Earth Catalog) and his entrepreneur wife Ryan Phelan have lived for 43 years Originally built as a gasoline schooner to...
Forbes Kiddoo, who built concrete barges for the Taj Mahal, the Train Wreck and other houseboats before launching his own private island in 1980, has written a breezy, fun filled autobiography entitled San Francisco Bay of Dreams. The 55-page spiral bound memoir has a forward by Bill Harland, a partner...
Joe Tate and Saul Rouda will provide firsthand accounts of the houseboat wars and other waterfront escapades on Tuesday evening, August 26 at the Sausalito Cruising Club. Here’s a preview of one of the stories these grizzled veterans will tell, about the Marin Sheriff’s attempt to confiscate Joe’s houseboat. The...
Two waterfront legends will be sharing tales of local hippie history on August 26 at the Sausalito Cruising Club. Saul Rouda, producer of the docudrama Last Free Ride, and Joe Tate, star of the movie and leader of the notorious Redlegs pirate band, will share footage from Saul’s films and...
East Pierian Wilford Welch has written a memoir entitled Values & Circumstances That Shaped A Life: A Wild Journey. I wondered how he arrived at that title until I read a few chapters. Maybe it was the time he broke his neck playing polo in Mongolia (see cover photo). Or...
Traditional jazz virtuoso and pioneer resident of Gate 6 ½, Carl Lunsford, died yesterday at the age of 90. Born and raised in Ohio, Carl moved to New York City after college to begin his career in music. Self–taught as a boy, Carl became a mainstay of many great traditional...