A small but determined flotilla of boat owners is ready to fight to the last sailor as wealthy bureaucrats seek to sink their way of life.<\/p>\n
Several so-called \u201canchor outs\u201d in Marin County\u2019s <\/a>Richardson Bay refuse to leave the area as officials view them as nuisances to the environment and public safety.<\/p>\n Officials want the boaters, whom they deem to be commanding \u201cillegally anchored vessels,\u201d gone, but at least one seafarer says he won\u2019t go without a fight.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for the California Morning Report newsletter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe biggest news, opinion and culture shaping California right now.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re having a hard time finding out how to get me out of here,\u201d Chad Wycliffe told the New York Times.<\/a> \u201cThey\u2019re going to have to kill me.\u201d Noah Berger for California Post<\/p>\n A small but determined flotilla of boat owners is ready to fight to the last sailor as wealthy bureaucrats seek to sink their way of life. Noah Berger for California Post<\/p>\n Boats line a marina in Sausalito, Calif., on Thursday. Noah Berger for California Post<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re having a hard time finding out how to get me out of here,\u201d Chad Wycliffe told the New York Times.<\/a> \u201cThey\u2019re going to have to kill me.\u201d<\/p>\n Wycliffe, 45, has lived rent-free on the bay\u2019s waters for decades. He\u2019s gone to tremendous lengths, risking life and skiff<\/a>, to keep it that way.<\/p>\n Once, when officials ordered him to leave, he sailed out to the open waters of the Pacific Ocean and stayed there.<\/p>\n But the dangerous ocean waters made it difficult for him to travel between his boat and his skiff. Yet he\u2019s fine with dying before local officials can force him to lose his sea legs.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve lived this way for so long that I don\u2019t really know how to live any other way,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s weird saying that because people would think that, well, it\u2019s more dangerous to live out here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I\u2019d rather die out here.\u201d<\/p>\n Arthur Bruce, 48, who lives aboard his 1963 Bermuda 30 sailboat, prepares to sail in Sausalito, Calif., Thursday. Noah Berger for California Post<\/p>\n Bruce is pictured with a cigarette in his mouth coming out of his boat on to deck on Thursday. Noah Berger for California Post<\/p>\n Wycliffe is one of the last holdouts of a floating community that once offered an escape from the Bay Area\u2019s sky-high housing costs. After decades on the water, the remaining boat dwellers face a final push to clear the bay.<\/p>\n The crackdown has divided locals. <\/p>\n Authorities say many vessels are dangerous, abandoned or environmentally harmful, while supporters see the campaign as another blow to Sausalito\u2019s<\/a> independent maritime culture.<\/p>\n \u201cThe anchor outs are the edge,\u201d Sausalito-based investor and sculptor Sophia Collier told the Times. \u201cThose are our saltiest residents.\u201d<\/p>\n The community dates to the years after World War II, when artists and veterans began living aboard vessels left behind by a closed shipyard. <\/p>\n Earlier efforts to clear the waterfront led to violent clashes known as the Houseboat Wars. Most residents eventually moved into regulated marinas, but some stayed offshore, and as rents soared, the number of boats in Richardson Bay climbed to nearly 250 by 2016. Noah Berger for California Post<\/p>\n Anchor-out boats float in Richardson Bay off Sausalito, Calif., Thursday. Noah Berger for California Post<\/p>\n Boats line a marina in Sausalito, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. Noah Berger for California Post<\/p>\n Earlier efforts to clear the waterfront led to violent clashes known as the Houseboat Wars. Most residents eventually moved into regulated marinas, but some stayed offshore, and as rents soared, the number of boats in Richardson Bay climbed to nearly 250 by 2016.<\/p>\n Complaints grew with the fleet: rubbish and human waste in the water, and boats that broke loose in storms, caught fire or sank. <\/p>\n Officials also say anchors and chains damage eelgrass beds that shelter marine life<\/a>. The Richardson Bay Regional Agency has cleared more than 500 vessels it considers derelict as of October, according to executive director Brad Gross.<\/p>\n Since 2022, officials have offered $150 per foot for surrendered boats, and a $3 million state grant funded temporary housing assistance.<\/p>\n But in May 2025, rising rents drained the housing authority\u2019s budget, leaving some former residents without stable homes.<\/p>\n Meredith Rodas, 56, who lived on the bay for 20 years, told the Times she and her husband sought assistance but did not receive it. Last month, they were staying in a pickup truck with their two dogs. \u201cIt\u2019s a disaster,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n With the San Francisco skyline behind, anchor-out boats float in Richardson Bay off Sausalito, Calif., Thursday. Noah Berger for California Post<\/p>\n Houses line a hillside behind boats anchored in Richardson Bay off Sausalito, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. Noah Berger for California Post<\/p>\n An anchored boat floats in Richardson Bay off Sausalito, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. Noah Berger for California Post<\/p>\n Gross said those who didn\u2019t secure housing had been referred to housing officials, but stressed the agency\u2019s assistance was limited.<\/p>\n Even some who found housing mourn what was lost. \u201cThey\u2019ve managed to obliterate our community that\u2019s been around for 70 years,\u201d Peter Glaser, 65, told the Times.<\/p>\n Wycliffe has refused to move ashore, saying the options offered couldn\u2019t accommodate him and his two dogs. Instead, he has moved his sailboat farther offshore, where rougher conditions make life more dangerous but help him evade officials. <\/p>\n For him, that risk is still preferable to giving up the only home he has known for much of his adult life.<\/p>\n Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters <\/p>\n California Post News: Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, TikTok<\/a>, X<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, WhatsApp<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t
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