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WORKING WATERFRONT: West Coast

Latitude 38 Working Waterfront News Central

Since its inception, Latitude 38 has been able to cover, inspire and connect the people in our sailing community thanks to the businesses that support sailors and sailing. This includes boatyards, sailmakers, marinas, boat builders and numerous trades and craftspeople. Over the decades, the space available along our critical public waterfront continues to shrink.  Our Working Waterfront page is dedicated to covering these stories to bring awareness to the jobs, facilities and services that are vital to our nation's commercial and recreational maritime infrastructure. Enjoying the 12-month sailing season up and down the California coast is one of the prime features of living in the West. A working waterfront is one that works for all California citizens and retains space for these important waterfront facilities.

Sausalito City Council Opens Door for Housing in the Marinship

In mid-February, the Sausalito City Council unanimously passed its General Plan update, which will serve as the city’s blueprint for growth for the next 20 years.

Bay Area Boatbuilder Launches 72-ft Saildrone

Bay Area boatbuilder Saildrone has launched a new vessel, the Saildrone Surveyor — a 72-foot uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) equipped for high-resolution mapping of the ocean seafloor.

The New Ferry-Line Proposal for Berkeley Marina, Part 2

In 2009, a new ferry in Berkeley seemed all but inevitable. One of the concerns with the 2009 proposal was additional dredging of a second channel angling from the main marina thoroughfare.

The Pros and Cons of a New Ferry Line at Berkeley Marina, Part 1

As ferry service in the Bay Area continues to expand, Berkeley Marina is considering a new ferry terminal located on the now-shuttered University Avenue Pier to service a route to San Francisco.

Fire Destroys Cryer & Sons Boatyard Building

Runoff and debris flowed into the Estuary forcing firefighters to pause their efforts to control the blaze that engulfed the former Cryer & Sons Boatyard building.

The Debate Over Sausalito’s Marinship Is Not Over, Part 2

The Marinship generates the lion’s share of the city’s tax revenues. But the mile-long waterfront is also sinking into a rising sea and in need of massive infrastructure upgrades, the exact costs of which aren’t known by city officials.

The Debate Over Sausalito’s Marinship Is Not Over

The Bay Area’s saltiest city has been discussing its blueprint for future growth, which has included debate over the Marinship, Sausalito’s working waterfront.

Visioning the Future of Sausalito’s Waterfront

Spinnaker Restaurant Sausalito

Sausalito is working through the process of updating their general plan, or a blueprint for a community’s vision of growth, which was last updated in 1995. Tomorrow, Sausalito will hold a “visioning session” for the Marinship, “That part of town north of Dunphy Park that includes our historic working waterfront and a wide variety of other…

Barry’s Baleen Will Scour the Sea

Barry Spanier has his sights set on one of the most pressing environmental issues of our time: plastics in the ocean. Spanier conceived of a boat called the “Baleen” (also known as Ships that Scour the Sea), named after filter-feeder whales.

Winds of Change at the Boat Show

Will there be a new age of sail? In the April issue of Latitude 38, we take a look at the modest but promising proliferation of wind-assisted commercial ships around the world. This weekend, two advocates of “windships” will be speaking at the Pacific Sail & Power Boat Show. We’ll give you the details at the end of…

Working Waterfront Issues and Resources

Numerous groups and organizations around the country are working to help preserve maritime economic zones.  Working Waterfront Organizations:

National Working Waterfront Network

Sausalito Working Waterfront

San Diego Working Waterfront

Port Townsend Working Waterfront

San Francisco Bay fill map circa 1969.
Map of Bay fill and conversion to resevoir in 1969. San Francisco Bay might have disappeared or looked dramatically different without the attention of those who recognized and protected the Bay for all Bay Area citizens.

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