Oakland/Alameda Piracy? Harbormaster video

[Chotu]

This does not look like a fun place.



https://youtu.be/sNzH7o6GXWQ

[s/v Jedi]

Oakland…. people get gas at gas stations using one hand to operate the pump and the other for their drawn handgun to protect themselves…

[Montanan]

Sad to see. The estuary is a wonderful place. The images of the abandoned boats and derelict anchor outs seemingly is a relatively new phenomenon as there never was such back in my days in the Bay Area, where I learned to sail and operate large powered boats [63' Sea Scouting].

Opining: This is reflective of similar shift in societal norms that is plaguing everywhere, big cities, little cities, rural areas. Heck, even I have now gotten in the practice of looking the seven doors that lead outside of my second residence whereas I used to just leave them unlocked when going away, never locked them when present at the home and still don't.

Most of the marinas have restrictive, card control access from land, albeit one could climb the barbed wire fences, but access by water is obviously very simple, which makes one perceive that likely some is arriving by dinghy for opportunistic theft. Sounds like mostly a night-time issue, did not hear of reports of actual person to person confrontations, YET.

As to stealing an entire boat, well it has to have been taken someplace, unless they were sunk but one should be spotted quickly in that busy navigational channel.

I have family living on Alameda island just a couple of blocks away from the estuary, their neighborhood is very close knit and very watchful hence crime has not been rampant near them.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by Montanan

The images of the abandoned boats and derelict anchor outs seemingly is a relatively new phenomenon as there never was such back in my days in the Bay Area…

I have been plying my trade on the Estuary for almost 30 years and there have always been anchor-outs there in varying numbers and the attendant property crime that goes with it. Sometimes more, sometimes less. This current situation is nothing new, maybe just more brazen and in the news than it has been in the past.

Originally Posted by Montanan

As to stealing an entire boat, well it has to have been taken someplace, unless they were sunk but one should be spotted quickly in that busy navigational channel.

The boats that are being stolen are dinghies, not larger pleasure craft.

[wholybee]

Yes, the thefts are by water. They come in at night, cut a boats dock lines, and tow it out. Then strip it and set it adrift to the rocks. In one case they were seen towing the boat to a dock, tying up next to a police boat, and unloading all the gear walking right past them. Very brazen and authorities aren't doing crap about it, which is why marina residents reached out to the media. The liveaboard island has dinghy's tied to it that have been identified by rightful owners, and nothing done about it.

It is ridiculous and sad, and isn't just Oakland and boats, but most of the urban Bay Area. Stores are closing because employees aren't safe from the daily robberies. The CVS near my parents house closed with a sign that they were being robbed multiple times daily, and it wasn't safe to stay open. Not just small shops, but larger anchor stores are closing leaving shopping malls vacant. The West Field mall was turned over to the lenders because the owners/investors couldn't deal with it, after many of the stores, including Nordstroms, closed. A Whole Foods 2 years in building permanently closed 1 month after opening because of safety issues. "Side shows" and illegal street racing every week. Last year there was a case where a security guard shot and killed a shoplifter, and so not the push is that for any robbery, no one, not even security, can attempt to stop it. So organized groups will go into a store, and empty it, with no resistance or repercussions. "Open air drug markets" with 500 plus people openly buying/selling/and using, even so brazen as dealers setting up a table. "Harm reduction" trends say that if we can't stop someone from using we should let them have a "safe" place to use.

Meanwhile, mayors, the police, and district attorney are too busy fighting with each other to do anything. And I still daily here people talk about the need to strip the police of their power and funding, not moments after complaining about being mugged or having their stuff stolen.

I grew up here, and left for my circumnavigation in 2018. I am shocked at what I see. The crime, the poverty, people living on the streets, open drug use. It is far worse than anything I've seen anywhere else.

I consider myself politically moderate, but left of center. The Bay Area is a joke. Every bit as stupid as the nutjob right wing, only the opposite. I no longer even consider California liberal, just stupid.

I am actively looking and planning where to move, this just isn't home anymore. I just don't know where yet. Needs to have a good port/services, close enough for me to sail to (which given I have circumnavigated could be anywhere, I suppose) and most importantly, I need to be able to find good paying work, because I am broke.

[wholybee]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

I have been plying my trade on the Estuary for almost 30 years and there have always been anchor-outs there in varying numbers and the attendant property crime that goes with it. Sometimes more, sometimes less. This current situation is nothing new, maybe just more brazen and in the news than it has been in the past.



The boats that are being stolen are dinghies, not larger pleasure craft.

At least one 40' vessel was stolen. I believe several, set adrift and on the rocks after being stripped. There are also many reported cases of boats being damaged to the point of not being reparable from break-in damage to get inside while at the dock.

It is in the news because a group of long term legal liveaboards on the estuary reported it to the news, because it is new, and is much worse, than anything prior.

It does seem to be a very small group of tweakers that live on one "island" raftup. The issue seems to be that everyone knows the exact people responsible, and authorities don't give a hoot.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by wholybee

At least one 40' vessel was stolen.

Source? Pretty hard to hide a stolen boat of that size.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by wholybee

The issue seems to be that everyone knows the exact people responsible, and authorities don't give a hoot.

Correct. Many of the good cops have moved; there’s a whole organized thing for them here in Florida.

[wholybee]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

Source? Pretty hard to hide a stolen boat of that size.

It was in Latitude 38. A Grand Banks 42, stolen from Jack London Square. Taken to a dock in Alameda, striped, then returned to it's slip. The police actually came to the dock in Alameda and talked to the thieves but didn't arrest them. The thief was caught at a later time for a different theft.

https://www.latitude38.com/lectronic...repercussions/

Some friends have additionally shared with me pictures of boats from their marina that were stolen and turned up on rocks striped of valuables.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

Source? Pretty hard to hide a stolen boat of that size.

I don’t live there. I’m only the OP. I have no idea what I’m talking about. But there were some vessels near that size in the end of the video. Some houseboat looking thing. 35ish.

It looks like they take them away, strip them, and then just set them a drift. Maybe after a little bit graffiti action.

Either way, these people are not doing any of us any favors. Especially those of us that travel and anchor.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by wholybee

It was in Latitude 38. A Grand Banks 42, stolen from Jack London Square.

Oh yeah, I read that article. Thanks.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by wholybee

It was in Latitude 38. A Grand Banks 42, stolen from Jack London Square. Taken to a dock in Alameda, striped, then returned to it's slip. The police actually came to the dock in Alameda and talked to the thieves but didn't arrest them. The thief was caught at a later time for a different theft.

https://www.latitude38.com/lectronic...repercussions/

Some friends have additionally shared with me pictures of boats from their marina that were stolen and turned up on rocks striped of valuables.

Wow. It’s always been the case that you can’t leave your boat without risking a damage. All the damage (and thousands of dollars of stolen items) I have has come when I left the boat. No boat I have ever been on has sustained even a scratch.

However, this is a whole new level.

[wholybee]

Originally Posted by Chotu

I don’t live there. I’m only the OP. I have no idea what I’m talking about. But there were some vessels near that size in the end of the video. Some houseboat looking thing. 35ish.

It looks like they take them away, strip them, and then just set them a drift. Maybe after a little bit graffiti action.

Either way, these people are not doing any of us any favors. Especially those of us that travel and anchor.

Many of those boats are damaged from last winters storms.

[wholybee]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Wow. It’s always been the case that you can’t leave your boat without risking a damage. All the damage (and thousands of dollars of stolen items) I have has come when I left the boat. No boat I have ever been on has sustained even a scratch.

However, this is a whole new level.

This touches on another issue. The BCDC restricts legal liveaboards in every marina in the Bay Area. A number of groups have tried to petition them to allow more liveaboards, and one of the prevailing reasons is safety (the other being the housing crisis). A marina with more liveaboards is safer. But they won't budge on the issue, even when the main topic of their last meeting was marina safety.

[Montanan]

I always thought it was illegal to anchor anywhere in the estuary, primarily do to its narrow channel and navigation by large vessels, but apparently that was not the case. Never saw a boat at anchor when I used to sail in the Bay Area but that is 35 years ago.


FYI:


https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco...kland-estuary/



Boaters and boat owners using the Oakland Estuary may soon face new rules for anchoring there, including a ban on living aboard a boat.

The Oakland City Council's Rules and Legislation Committee Thursday sent a proposed ordinance to the council for consideration Tuesday.

A report from Interim Police Chief Darren Allison to interim City Administrator G. Harold Duffey said that boats that people live on in the estuary and abandoned or derelict boats pose an environmental threat to the estuary.

In addition, the Bay Conservation and Development Commission could fine the city up to $6,000 per day for allowing such boats there. The commission only allows people to live aboard boats at marinas to protect the bay, police alleged.

The McAteer-Petris Act aims to protect San Francisco Bay from "indiscriminate filling," and the Oakland Estuary is considered part of the bay, said the commission's General Counsel Greg Scharff.

Police said BCDC considers derelict or abandoned boats and boats people live on in the bay to be unpermitted fill.

The ordinance to be considered Tuesday by the city council is called the Nuisance Vessel Ordinance and would give police the authority to remove or have occupied boats removed from the estuary.

Allison wrote that police do not have that authority now and 10 to 20 boats are anchored illegally in the Oakland Estuary on any given day.

The proposed ordinance before the Oakland City Council Tuesday would give boats up to 12 hours to anchor or moor in the estuary. The proposed ordinance also gives Oakland police the authority to inspect a vessel with the owner's or occupant's permission or with a court-issued warrant.

That would allow police to determine if the boat is a nuisance. The vessel's owner would then have to repair the vessel or move it from the estuary. The owner or occupant of the vessel could appeal the nuisance finding.

Also, violation of the Nuisance Vessel Ordinance would be a misdemeanor, Allison wrote.

Allison said numerous complaints have been filed mainly with the Bay Conservation and Development Commission. The complaints have been about the release of raw sewage by boats anchored in the estuary, the danger the boats pose in travel lanes and the danger the boats pose to other boats in a storm.