The occupants of 25 vessels currently anchored in Richardson Bay Regional Agency (RBRA) waters on the far side of the Sausalito channel have been given notice to relocate their boats to a new RBRA anchorage area by October 15, 2024, according to a staff report prepared by Harbormaster Jim Malcolm for the May 9 meeting of the RBRA board of directors.
The vessels in question have been anchored out since at least August 2019 and currently reside within an RBRA-designated “eelgrass protection zone” established as part of a 2021 settlement agreement with the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC).
The RBRA-managed anchorage area where these legacy boats will move is located closer to the mouth of Richardson Bay, in RBRA waters offshore of the Sausalito Yacht Harbor and the Spinnaker Restaurant.
The City of Sausalito withdrew from RBRA in 2017 and currently manages its own waters under a separate agreement with BCDC. Per the agreement, any remaining vessels anchored-out on the Sausalito side of the channel must relocate by December 31, 2025. As of May 2024, there were four such vessels.
Under the RBRA agreement, any remaining legacy vessels in the new anchorage area will be subject to a 72-hour mooring limit as of October 15, 2026. The 72-hour limit is already being enforced for all vessels in RBRA waters other than the legacy boats.
Both RBRA and the City of Sausalito have been working closely with municipal, state, and federal agencies to find permanent, onshore housing for their anchor-out populations.
That water is extremely turbulent and dangerous to have that many boats squeezed in waters that require a longer scope ,it’s unrealistic, and basically a death wish per the bcdc rbra ,I will remind all of the persons who make attempts too recreate boundaries a trend, to uphold the coast guards decision to deny,the rbra petition for re drawing the Anchorage boundaries…