It’s What’s Under the Water That Can Be the Big Worry
Ahoy, fellow mariner! Imagine a time when there were no traffic jams on the bridges that surround the Bay. In fact there were no bridges at all. Folks drove around or took yachts to islands such as Alameda and Belvedere, train cars were loaded onto ferries for transport across the Bay, and that is where our story begins.
If you have ever have visited, or plan to visit, Point Potrero Reach, the entrance to all yachting activities in Point Richmond, you will pass in front of Ferry Point. This was once the terminus for the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway. From its construction in 1900 to its last load in 1975, this served as the hub for commercial ferry traffic around the Bay. In 1991 it was incorporated into Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline. (Why can’t they just call it a park?)
Recently a dredging company was retained to demolish what was left in the water of this once-vibrant waterfront asset. The contract requires the demolition company to remove all the pilings down to the mudline. Nearly all of them snap off at this level when pressure is applied to remove them. In this case a few were left behind; the USCG has been notified. Refer to the attached charts for a visual model.
It is not clear when these barnacle-encrusted bottom punchers will be cleared, and they are joined by another navigational hazard in Keller Cove. Keller Cove is often the site for dinghy regattas hosted by RYC, and most of the salty bilge rats in these small rocket ships know where this wreck is. If ye be new in town, be sure to find out.
Finally, a pair of missing daymarks round out this cheery holiday story. Red #8 daymark in Potrero Reach was recently removed by an errant mariner, and the red daymark just off Spinnaker Restaurant that marks the entrance to Sausalito was carried away by a sneaky green powerboat.
Thanks go to retired tugboat cabin and Richmond Harbor Committee chair Mark Vanderburg and fellow sailing enthusiast Robin Van Vleit for this hazardous news. Finally, next time you’re sitting in traffic wondering where all those ferries are that once so proudly served the Bay, consider a charter to the San Juan Islands in the Salish Sea just north of Seattle, where a few of them are still plowing up the salt chuck.
Submitted by Andy Schwenk, SAMS-accredited yacht surveyor and 100 GT USCG Master with 55 1/2 trips to Hawaii and back under his keel.
