Originally published at: US Coast Guard to battle pirates of the Oakland estuary | Boing Boing
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Fortunately, the Coast Guard has a base right there in the Estuary, Coast Guard Island (37.78288431213877, -122.25027571567323), so this has been happening in their backyard. Hopefully this can be stopped without bloodshed.
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It’s going to get unpleasant when they board L. Bob Rife’s raft.
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Same issues in Vancouver. And same automatic condemnation of the decrepit vessels and the class of people who inhabit them. I blame the municipalities who have limited their development of marine facilities catering only to the rich.
The term “illegal anchoring” gets thrown around a lot. Maybe the US Coasties know the American rules but I bet few others do. In Canada, generally, a vessel can anchor anywhere it is not a hazard to navigation. Here, even Port Authorities generally refrain from restricting free anchoring.
I don’t doubt there is nefarious activity around these settings. Like there is in any other facet of society.
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When there’s literally a “Treasure Island” just two nautical miles away? Captain Smollett better be on his A-game today.
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If the USCS can’t handle it, the Mayor may have to resort to the Hammer.
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Interesting. So if you’re living on a boat, and you steal from your neighbor’s boat, then you are a pirate, as opposed to a regular old thief/burglar.
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our flag means quiet i’m sleeping.
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Nah, he can’t touch this.
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Even if you’re entirely land-bound and the question of whether you’re actually stealing is up in the air… you are a pirate?
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Not surprised. The Raiders moved to Las Vegas and these new pirates are just filling in the power vacuum.
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There’s a Hallmark Christmas movie in there. Or Disney. Or both.
I mean, the story basically writes itself, doesn’t it? Handsome ruffian on the singer-songwriter spectrum squatting on a vintage yacht, dashing newly minted bosun on a Coast Guard cutter who feels she has to prove herself… Throw in an orphaned baby seal, a freaky sidekick who can’t swim and a gruff harbour-master with a heart of gold - bingo!
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In my mind, my wife and I have already watched this movie, and our common feeling of dissonant heart-warmed derision has drawn us even closer.
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Pirates and squatters in boats and marinas… Wasn’t this a major plot device in a batch of cyberpunk back in the 90s?
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It does sound like 3/4 of a Shadowrun module.
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Yeah. Pirates (a seagoing version of Nomads) were a character option in the Hardwired sourcebook for Cyberpunk 2020, and squatters on boats and such appeared in a lot of Shadowrun and CP2020 adventures, IIRC. And wasn’t there something similar somewhere in Snow Crash, among everything else?
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Snow Crash had The Raft; a giant agglomeration of smaller houseboats built around the a former US aircraft carrier, now under the operation of a telcom oligarch/cult leader.
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There was also a band of pirates led by a captain calling himself Bruce Lee who attempted to abduct the main character and his companions adrift in the open sea before they encountered The Raft.
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At least those guys were willing to listen to reason.
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