The Pearl Harbor of the Houseboat Wars

The  June 15, 1971 issue of Marinscope reported on the first skirmish in the wars between the Gate 5 houseboat colony, Marin County authorities and the Coast Guard.  According to reporter Jay Casey, “The skirmish resulted from the county’s first attempts to remove what it considered houseboat ordinance violators.  Some 30 boats in the Gate 5 colony did not meet Marin County specifications and were scheduled to be abated.”  Casey noted that houseboaters later likened the raid to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Here are excerpts from Casey’s report:
An unusual sequence of events helped add drama to last week’s  Battle of the Bay.
The morning began for Russell Grissom, an artist and houseboat owner, with minor problems.  He had no honey for his breakfast cereal.  Grissom went to a neighboring boat to borrow some honey.  
When he returned he found he had no cereal on which to put his honey.  Indeed, he had no houseboat. [Marin County Building Inspector Richard] Larson had crept in aboard a small Boston Whaler at 11:30 and artfully plucked Grissom’s abode, cereal and all, from its mooring.
Larson managed to tow Grissom’s houseboat to a point north of the heliport before the Boston Whaler sputtered to a halt with mechanical trouble.  Larson had to call for reinforcement vessels.
By this time members of the houseboat colony, realizing this wasn’t some weird narcotics bust, were beginning to organize.  They flocked to the site where Grissom’s houseboat was  beached.  Grissom jumped aboard.
He drew a large knife and was attempting to cut the line which held his houseboat ashore when two deputies drew their guns.  One of them threatened to fire if Grissom did not stop trying  to sever the rope.
“Go ahead and shoot me,” said Grissom.  The deputies holstered their guns and drew their night sticks.
By 2:30 p.m. the Sausalito Armada was afloat.  The hastily-organized private navy consisted of all manner of vessels, including a Chinese junk, numerous rowboats, several small outboard motor craft, sailboats, a canoe, a kayak and two mini tugs – Trans Love and Loafer.
When a Coast Guard ship tried to confiscate another houseboat, known as Joe’s Camel, from a spot in the middle of the bay, the armada put up a fierce interference.  
Frustrated in attempts to outmaneuver the numerous small boats, the Coast Guard eventually captured the Trans Love.  There were four arrests.
The article noted that both sides had eventually agreed to a cooling off period, and concluded,  “Hopefully, new battle lines will not be drawn, but rather a just and honorable peace will be reached.”
Of course we know that those wars continued for many years (some might say they’ve never ended).  The accompanying photo, circa 1977, shows that peace was harder to achieve than the reported suggested..


A sailboat became the focus of a push-pull with sheriff’s officers during an attempt to block the construction of Liberty Dock at Waldo Point Harbor.
Photo © Bruce Forrester