Page 26

Contra Costa Marketplace - April 2017

A who, what, when regarding the Point San Pablo Yacht Harbor Many tales have been told about the Point San Pablo Yacht Harbor and we’d like to set the record straight once and for all. We couldn’t do so without the knowledge of Bonny Dunn, Vice Commodore of the San Pablo Bay Sportsmen’s Club. Dunn is 1 of about 35 people living there at the harbor. There’s 10 floating homes and about 30 boats, though many of them never move. “It’s a pretty abandoned looking place,” said Dunn. But it’s still very active! The sportsmen’s club has around 30 members. Halibut, sturgeon, leopard shark and striped bass are among the prized catches in these parts. The club just celebrated their 50th anniversary on March 11th. There’s always been a connection with ferry boats and the Point San Pablo Harbor, but it’s never served as a ferry terminal. So what’s with the rumors? Well it all began in 1939 with a man who went by Captain Clark. He was the brainchild behind a ferry service out of Castro Point in Richmond that went to San Rafael and back. He noticed many fishermen gravitating to where the harbor is today, and it was he who decided to create the breakwater for the marina. Creating a breakwater/levee is no easy task. However, and it was also pretty expensive, so the resourceful Captain Clark attained several condemned wooden schooners, towed them into position where he wanted the borders of the breakwater, and sunk them. Over the years these ships have been built over and are no longer functioning as the breakwater, but that’s how it all began! Under new ownership as of December last year, ferry rumors may be coming back now, so let’s clear them up before they start. Rob Fyfe, Founder and CEO of Point San Pablo, Inc., has plans to create all sorts of camping, glamping, and retreat-like opportunities at the harbor. He’s also the founder and partner of PropSF (www.propsf.net) which is a private/charter—and soon to be public—ferry service, which may or may not be eventually storing their ferries at the harbor. So that’s the newest ferry connection. It seems there’s plenty underway at the harbor here. We’ll try and keep you posted with any updates that come our way. For more information go to spbsc.org or call (510) 730-1790. A L I T T L E HARBOR H I S T O RY By Matt Larson


Contra Costa Marketplace - April 2017
To see the actual publication please follow the link above