You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
For decades, dozens of people lived rent-free on a bay just north of San Francisco. A few holdouts remained as a deadline loomed to leave the water.
These California Boat Dwellers Fear the Worst: Life on Land
For decades, dozens of people lived rent-free on a bay just north of San Francisco. A few holdouts remained as a deadline loomed to leave the water.
Photographs by Ian C. Bates
Livia Albeck-Ripka and Ian Bates spent three days with the last holdouts aboard boats on Richardson Bay, Calif.
Chad Wycliffe lives on a bay with a front-row view of the San Francisco skyline. Waves lull him to sleep. He’s surrounded by hills dotted with multimillion-dollar mansions and marinas with luxury yachts.
He doesn’t pay any rent.
His home is a half-century-old sailboat with a faded red jib and barnacles growing beneath it. At 45, Mr. Wycliffe has lived on the water for nearly half of his life.
He first moved to Richardson Bay, just north of the city, as a troubled teen drawn to the thrill of the open water. There, a group of mariners, exiles and artists who called themselves “anchor outs” lived aboard vessels less than a mile — but worlds away — from ordinary society.
To many, the bay was a refuge. To officials and some Marin residents, however, the collection of boats was more like a floating homeless encampment.
Now, the community, one of the last vestiges of counterculture in the Bay Area, has been all but dismantled. Officials say Richardson Bay will be cleared of the last “illegally anchored vessels” by Thursday.
Mr. Wycliffe is one of the final holdouts.
Image
Related Content
Advertisement