Beached Boat Draws a Crowd Onshore and Online

On Monday we reported that a sailboat, the 28-ft Islander Lorelei, had washed ashore at Baker Beach. We heard the news from Kimball Livingston, who headed down to the beach to see what was going on. At that time there was not much to be learned. The boat’s owner, Chris Escalante, said it was the second time his boat had been adrift, claiming his anchor lines had been cut both times

We weren’t successful in our own efforts to connect with Escalante later that afternoon, but San Francisco’s KTVU News caught the new boatowner at the beach and shared this story on their website: “Owner claims ‘pirates’ pillaged unoccupied sailboat, ship drifts to Baker Beach from Sausalito”

Phil Delano from TowBoatUS San Francisco Bay & Delta was called to assist in removing the boat from the beach.

“It was the second time I’d saved his boat,” Delano told us. Lorelei had been caught on the rocks at Strawberry Point in Richardson Bay on Sunday. As Delano understood at the time, the boat had insurance, its steering was functional, and the owner had told him the motor was working. (SFGate has reported that Lorelei had been “legally anchored in Richardson Bay” prior to coming loose.) The towboat crew took the boat to a self-set mooring. “An anchor with a float,” Delano says.

Escalante said his boat had been cut loose prior to drifting to Strawberry Point. He made this same statement after his boat was found washed ashore on Baker Beach Monday morning.

“This time he got caught in the ebb tide,” Delano says.

Delano says he was preparing to engage an excavator to dig Lorelei out of the sand and “put it in a box,” saying the 40-year-old boat was in rough shape. But the owner stopped him, hoping to find another way or opportunity to save his vessel, which he has said is also his home.

“There was high surf,” Delano explains. “I didn’t want to risk having a swimmer go out there, climb aboard and set a tow line.”

This now poses the question of “what next?” What will happen when the coming days of rain, tides and gusts churn up the sea and potentially cause the boat to break apart?

We hope it will be removed before that happens. But even if it is removed, where will it end up? Will it be again moored, or anchored, only to come loose again — by whatever means?

Latitude has been advocating for legal mooring fields and legal liveaboards in marinas in the Bay Area for many years. At present there are no legal places to anchor to anchor long-term in the Bay Area. We understand the pull of living on a boat, whether for its simplicity or through necessity. We’re also aware that, at times, a sailor might not be quite fully prepared for the difficulties and realities of living aboard. The Bay has strong currents, and winter brings even more force. It’s often at this time that we hear of boats being washed ashore or pushed up against jetties in the wake of a storm.

In the meantime, the story and photos of Lorelei have gained a lot of attention on news and social media sites. Comments have been shared on our original story on Monday, on Latitude 38’s Instagram account, on Nextdoor — where photos of the boat at Strawberry Point were shared on Sunday, and even on Reddit.

We don’t know the full story behind Lorelei, but we hope that whatever it is, her owner is able to find a way to secure the boat safely and make it through the winter unscathed.

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