The Richardson Bay Audubon Sanctuary has closed to all boat traffic—including paddle boards, kayaks, and canoes—until March 31. The annual closure protects tens of thousands of migratory ducks, geese, and shorebirds while they refuel for their journeys south. The closure is mandated by an ordinance of the Richardson’s Bay Regional...
For the past few days, the media have been running scary stories about an algae bloom which has caused a red tide offshore and in parts of San Francisco Bay. The red tide results from a higher-than-normal concentration of a microscopic algae (plantlike organism) known as Heterosigma akashiwo, which...
The recent front-page headline in the Marin IJ, “Richardson Bay agency scraps mooring field plan” took most of us by surprise, including Sausalito councilmember Jill Hoffman, who has been a vocal opponent of the plan since it was first suggested by the RBRA in 2014. Hoffman reiterated her concerns with...
On June 23, the board of directors of the Richardson’s Bay Regional Agency (RBRA) voted unanimously to initiate a buyback incentive program to accelerate the removal of vessels from the anchorage. Interim Executive Director Steve McGrath said the agency will offer owners of vessels anchored in local waters $150 per...
The October 24 bomb cyclone significantly impacted anchor-out vessels. According to USA Today, the recent low pressure phenomenon pulled deep tropical moisture from the Pacific Ocean, creating an atmospheric river that brought strong wind gusts and heavy rain on land and in Richardson’s Bay. Jim Malcolm, the new harbormaster for...
The recent announcement of the resignation of the harbormaster for the Richardson’s Bay Regional Agency (RBRA) got me thinking back to how the anchor–out phenomenon got its start. That story was told by the original anchor–out himself, Bob Kalloch, in an oral history recorded for the Historical Society. Bob, a...
The next meeting of the Richardson’s Bay Regional Agency (RBRA) is October 14, and an advance peek at the board packet for the meeting disclosed a number of new developments to be discussed. First, RBRA Harbormaster Curtis Havel has announced his departure at the end of the month to pursue...
At the July meeting of the Richardson’s Bay Regional Agency, RBRA Harbormaster Curtis Havel reported that 88 vessels are currently anchored in Richardson’s Bay. His report continued: There are currently 20 vessels that arrived after August 2019. Outreach case managers with the Downtown Streets Teams have made considerable progress performing...
The tent encampment next to Dunphy Park has grown to an unlucky number: 13. Sausalito Mayor Jill Hoffman told the Floating Times that 9 of these tents are occupied and 4 are used for storage. She added, “the number one priority for Sausalito is to find shelter for these people....
Back in April, the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) directed the Richardson’s Bay Regional Agency (RBRA) to “provide a concise policy proposal that will result in removing all illegal anchor-outs from the Bay within five years.” The RBRA has called that five-year timeline infeasible—even under the best of circumstances,...