The Houseboat Wars of Richardson Bay | Hacker News Reader

The Houseboat Wars of Richardson Bay

sfweekly.com

61 pointsmagnifique31 comments

vessels are only allowed to drop anchor for 72 hours, according to a law codified in 1987 by the Richardson’s Bay Regional Agency. After that, they are supposed to leave for at least a week before returning to drop anchor again.

Problem is, that law wasn’t really enforced in the quarter of a century that former Harbormaster Bill Price patrolled Richardson Bay.

After Price retired in July 2019, the RBRA hired Havel to finally implement the anchorage’s 72-hour time limit and to ensure that every vessel in the harbor is seaworthy — a contentious term among seamen, especially those living, working, or recreating on Richardson Bay.

[...]

Generally speaking, these guidelines are meant to determine whether a vessel is “a risk to life, limb, or property” and/or poses “an environmental hazard.” While these rules are ostensibly in place to protect humans, wildlife, and the broader ecosystem, the anchor-outs of Richardson Bay say the RBRA is unfairly targeting those living on their boats while ignoring other abandoned, derelict, and drifting vessels. This accusation recalls critiques of other so-called “poverty taxes” — regulations that may pose something of an inconvenience to individuals with means but threaten the very livelihoods of the poor.

But that's nearly every regulation - the poor are always less capable of complying, almost by definition.

Still the targeting of those living on boats is an abuse. An obvious one, that you would think they'd have figured out before embarrassing themselves by harassing folks in that way.

The word processor in Microsoft Works for the Macintosh was written on a houseboat in Richardson’s Bay by Bryan Haas, who bought a bigger boat with the proceeds and sailed off never to be heard from again.

Have any good sources for more info on that story? It sounds fascinating and I’d like to read more, but I can’t find anything about it.

I am the source of that story because I worked with Bryan. I wrote the database:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21777891

My email is in my profile if you have any further questions

Edit: I didn't mean to sound unfriendly. I would be happy to answer any questions

Why aren’t YIMBYs pushing for 10x (or 100 or 1000) the number of liveaboard slips?

This has frustrated me for years. The low number and price is crazy, when I visited the Netherlands I stayed in a houseboat and it was amazing and cheap - and there were so many of them.

Right off the bat, this gets my goat. Then I keep reading, and learn the f'ing dog went down with the boat. Reminds me of that famous war on drugs moment when overzealous idiots stormed a guy's house and shot his 2 dogs in the process, and they had the wrong address. The incidental murdering of pets as a side effect of meting out injustice... it's just awful.

Where are these 100 anchor-outs? I can't find even a tiny fraction of that number plausibly anchored on google sat view.

I tried to find some pictures of these boats or more information. Found something here: https://pacificsun.com/tensions-rising-on-richardson-bay-as-...

More pictures (google image search for "sausalito anchor outs"):

https://www.google.com/search?q=sausalito%20anchor%20outs%20...*

The other perspective, from Latitude 38 (the local "zine" for sailors on the bay):

https://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/another-close-call-on-r...

> I can't find even a tiny fraction of that number plausibly anchored on google sat view.

You don't see cars on google earth either, unless there's a glitch.

Large cattle herds get blurred in a weird way that prevents counting the number of animals. I ran across this when looking at imagery [1] of the recent quarter-billion-dollar (yes, with a "b") ghost cattle fraud in Grant County, WA [2]. That's right, I said ghost cattle.

I think it's only safe to assume something will definitely be left in satellite imagery if it's in the same spot 100% of the time.

[1] https://goo.gl/maps/kBPzNE9d5Qhq5h4G7

[2] https://www.beefcentral.com/lotfeeding/us-cattle-feeder-plea...

Interesting! But I don't think this is it. I searched for some reference to this behavior and found this:

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=18188.0

...which seems to check out. Cars disappear from roads (but not parking lots) only when I turn on 3D mode ("Globe view"). In normal mode, I see all the cars on freeways around Marin. Plus there are boats showing... just not 100.

Do even the deepest most isolated rainforest tribes must have their fair share of petty local officials doing their best to make other people’s lives a misery in an attempt to claw their way up the power ladder?

The best tribes — by which I mean any kind of human grouping, from literal tribespeople all the way up* to M1+PM+5xSWEs — are the ones with skilled administrators capable of negotiating compromise over conflict. I wish I was better at it, myself.

*ahem

yeah, well, we might have our heads up our asses when it comes to housing people, but at least we can order shit online that shows up the next day!!!

There is no "heads up our asses" going on in the SF Bay Area, only intentional and malicious stalling of new construction for bullshit reasons to maintain housing prices. I recently moved to a new city that doesn't give a shit about NIMBYs and it's astonishing the increase in density compared to SF. When you require a billion different environmental assays, force the developer to basically redo the entire block's sidewalk and street, don't approve buildings unless they have low income units, don't approve buildings if they look a bit too _not run down_, and limit height to the size of an 1800s Victorian era apartment complex, it's no wonder housing costs are going insane.

Oh, and forced union contracts paying at well above market rate. Basically legalized racketeering.

What magical place do you live that ignores NIMBYs? Here in Boston, a "neighborhood committee" stopped a taco shop under a dorm from staying open until 2AM because it might "disturb the students" somehow. Needless to say none of the students were actually at this meeting, only random busybodies who lived blocks away.

I'm trying to change a roofline. Now the whole building is considered new construction, and requires a geotechnical survey as if I were breaking fresh ground. No dirt is being moved. Thanks California.

> intentional and malicious stalling of new construction for bullshit reasons to maintain housing prices.

It's even worse than that. If I had to explain the Bay Area post-WW2 anti-housing mindset in one graph, it would be this one: https://belonging.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/blacks_ch...

Source/context:

https://belonging.berkeley.edu/racial-segregation-san-franci...

Thanks for the sources. The aggressive NIMBY'ism of the Bay Area is really bizarre. Part of it is well explained by textbook racism.

If San Fran is racist, there is no hope for the rest of us.

I think you overestimate how much the professed beliefs of the region coincide with the actual beliefs. Having lived all over the country SF is one of the more hypocritical places I’ve been. You don’t see nearly as many Black Lives Matter signs in Dallas for instance, but what you do see are far more middle class black families living side by side middle class white families.

For more on the Bay Area’s legacy of racism, highly suggest reading Richard Rothstein’s _The Color of Law_.

Most NIMBYs are long term residents who are more concerned about quality of life than housing prices. The price someone could theoretically get for their home is meaningless if they intend to die there.

Until their children and grandchildren start looking to buy in the area ... and discover that they cannot.

That happens relatively slowly, however, and by then it is far too late.

I wonder if this is the kind of case that ACLU would take on, in defending Paul Smith.

They crush people’s boats? That seems out of character for US systems

Completely in character. That's why he holed up in his boat and fought. Only realistic chance of being compensated is pitching a big enough fit that public opinion is on your side. If he had killed some of the officers it may have been a bigger deal and gone better for him, sadly.

How long until they start doing this for vanlifers?

I mean... Unreasonable, sure. Out of character for US systems, no, not really.

That surprised me. Not exactly sure what other options there are, maybe impounding them somewhere but they would just accrue fees that couldn't be paid and probably be destroyed or auctioned (if anyone actually wanted them).

The harbormaster is blatantly lying about picking out which ones don't have people on them while walking the shore at dawn and dusk with his dog. He's destroyed the homes of a hundred people, whom now are living in a homeless encampment adjoining where he takes his "walks". And since it's California he's not carrying a gun to defend himself... So he's a liar or suicidal.

rip to Runt Girl :(

“Which quickly caught fire and sank” How exactly did the boat sink, killing his dog, when the boat was in police custody? And wild story, regardless.

> According to the official police report, however, Smith aimed the flare at Harbormaster Curtis Havel, who was in the process of towing Warlock to the nearby Army Corps of Engineers’ dock

> Smith battened down the hatches of Projectile, installed explosive booby traps on its chamber doors, and holed up in the cabin of the anchored-out boat

> The police report states Smith defended his position by attempting to stab deputies with a tool that had two metal spikes affixed to a pole.

I did not see it mentioned in the article, but I am guessing that the guy was white. There is no way a black man could have done all that to the police and not have been shot dead.

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