After “pirate” crime wave, boaters fear sweep of Oakland estuary will leave them with nowhere to go

As the Oakland Police Department begins a full scale clean-up of the Oakland estuary, anchor outs increasingly fear that they are being scapegoated as a community for crimes committed by a few transient criminals. 

In recent weeks, abandoned vessels in the Oakland estuary — a calm, narrow waterway separating Oakland and Alameda — have been tagged by Oakland’s Marine Patrol unit and given a 30-day removal notice as part of a long-delayed, full-scale clean-up.

The state of the estuary, primarily a place for recreational water sports, came under scrutiny after dozens of small boats and dinghies were taken from yacht clubs in Alameda, often stripped for their parts and sunk, during a three-week span in August. The boating community pointed the blame at a group of “anchor-outs,” a catch-all term for those living rent free in waterways, who also live in the estuary.

The boating community demanded police stop the crime spree and rid the estuary of people living on boats illegally. That process, after months of preparations, how begun. According to Marine Patrol Officer Kaleo Albino, the Oakland Police department started contacting the dozen or so people living on boats in November to notify them that they must move or their vessels will be seized, taken to the waterfront Jack London Aquatic Center, and eventually destroyed.

“We’ve been making multiple patrols a week to try to put pressure on the live-aboards that this cleanup is coming, so they’ve got to figure out a plan,” Albino said.

But at least some living on boats here say it’s unclear what those plans might be. They fear they’ll be left with nowhere to go after being scapegoated as a community for crimes committed by transients.

Andrew Haid, an anchor-out living in a small sailboat by Union Point Park, says he has been left in an impossible position. If he doesn’t leave the estuary by Dec. 21, Oakland police will seize his boat. But leaving the estuary requires navigating the bay, which his boat can’t manage in its current condition. Haid has been trying for months to get his boat out of the water, even propping it up on some logs on the shore so he can make repairs. But those repairs cost money he doesn’t have.

Even if Haid could leave the estuary, it’s not totally clear where he would go. Although the Oakland Police Department has told anchor-outs they can stay in the estuary if they have a valid slip in a marina, Haid says marinas often have months-long waiting lists.

There have been few–perhaps even zero–thefts on the estuary in recent weeks. In the current context, Haid’s believes the August crime spree is being weaponized by members of the boating community to rid the estuary of anchor-outs.

“I’ve been out here for seven years–sailing, teaching people how to sail, working” he said. “Nobody is causing any problems. We’re trying to live our lives congenially.”

There’s little doubt that enormous pressure was placed on the police department after dozens of small boats were stolen during the crime wave in August. The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, an agency charged with protecting the health of the estuary, described the situation as “unacceptable” in a September meeting. The boating community, notably former harbormaster Brock De Lappe, has been extremely vocal about the need to remove anchor-outs from the estuary.

But Albino, the marine patrol officer, said the clean-up was already planned.

“The crime issue isn’t the reason that drove the cleanup,” Albino said. “The delay was getting the policies passed through city council and the amount of time it takes to develop a policy.”

The primary policy is a nuisance vessel ordinance passed by the Oakland City Council earlier in the year, which gives the city legal authority to remove abandoned or illegally anchored boats from the waterway. If a boat is seized by police, owners will have two weeks to make a case to the city attorney to have it returned.

Albino says he empathizes with the anchor-outs. He said his department was working with the city’s unhoused outreach team to contact them and offer alternative housing options through the city, although those meetings haven’t been scheduled yet. He’s also offered to tow people’s boats to another part of the bay if they can prove they have a legal place to stay. No one has taken him up on.

Ultimately, he’s confident that when it comes time to remove boats from the water, people will scatter.

“I really don’t think I’m going to be taking many live-aboards, maybe one or two,” Albino said. “I’m thinking these folks are going to leave.”

Haid, however, is less sure. And he worries it will lead to a confrontation that will leave him without a home.

“You can’t pay me to go live on the street again,” Haid said. “I’m not about to do that again. No way in hell.”