Richardson Bay anchor-outs would be removed by 2026

The days of the anchor-outs on Richardson Bay are numbered. The Richardson Bay Regional Agency will clear off all anchored-out boats by 2026 under a new settlement agreement between the agency and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission — though questions remain about how the agency and its members, which include Tiburon and Belvedere, will fund and enforce the plan.

The agreement revises and adds deadlines to the phased removal of occupied boats under the bay agency’s transition plan adopted last year. All vessels that arrived after the agency’s August 2019 census of boats on the bay must depart or be removed by 2023. Under the original transition plan, liveaboards who arrived before August 2019 were given eligibility to enroll in the agency’s “safe and seaworthy program” by Oct. 15, 2020; under the revised agreement, those who didn’t enroll must leave by Oct. 15, 2024, while those who did can bring their boats up to code and stay two years longer, until Oct. 15, 2026.

After that, the anchorage will only accommodate visiting sailors who may anchor up to 72 hours.

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