: Zizians on a boat!

also https://archive.is/7gmHU

Not copypasting the whole article, but nice fleet dorks:

Almost as soon as the Caleb entered the Pillar Point Harbor in the summer 2017, its crew ran into trouble, leading to the San Mateo County Harbor District filing a lawsuit against Danielson and Powell. The first time the U.S. Coast Guard boarded the tugboat for an inspection, the agency warned Danielson about the dangers of anchoring the dilapidated vessel, which carried 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel.

Danielson signed papers acknowledging her obligations under the Clean Water Act. But neighbors had already lodged complaints about the Caleb being docked illegally and storing 500 gallons of oily bilge water, court records show.

The Coast Guard called the boat "an imminent threat to the public health" and ordered the owners to finalize a mitigation plan. Rough seas in winter 2017 sent the tug into other anchored vessels, damaging them, the lawsuit stated.

By December 2017, Danielson had registered two more boats at Pillar Point Harbor, including the Islander that she and LaSota once shared and a boat called the Letoile de Mer. Over the next year, the vessels all faced anchor problems, and other harbor tenants raised concerns that the massive tug might ram them, harbor officials said.

A former employee at the harbor, who asked to remain anonymous out of concerns for his safety, described the vessel as less than seaworthy and its "shabby" crew as a nuisance.

"Feral humans we called them," the employee said. "They're just living, trying to get away with whatever they can under the wire. Most harbors have them, harbor rats that are just living the alternative lifestyle."

When the employee boarded the vessel to inspect it, he said the living quarters were a "mess." He recalled seeing s*x toys and lingerie in "plain view" in one of the bunkrooms. "It was filthy," he said. "They weren't hiding anything, that's for sure."

Back at Pillar Point, the Caleb's troubles mounted. In 2021, San Mateo County authorities determined the boat was no longer seaworthy and ordered the owners to remove it. No owner responded and its anchor continued to drag. Then in early 2022, winter storms tossed the boat around the harbor, endangering other vessels. No one responded to radio calls to the Caleb, the district alleged in a lawsuit.

The night of March 12, 2022, Danielson and her crew moved the Caleb to the harbor's work dock, but staff explained the boat was too large to be there, harbor officials said. "Danielson and crew got into a vehicle and drove off and have not been seen at (Pillar Point Harbor) or near the Caleb since," the harbor district's lawsuit stated.

The Caleb had been abandoned. The harbor district, records show, wound up paying a marine salvage company to remove hazardous materials from the boat and anchor it away from the dock.

A few months later, in August 2022, LaSota faked her own death.

While Danielson and LaSota haven't been seen at the harbor in three years, their legacy — a 345-ton heap of metal waste — rests near the community of Princeton-by-the-Sea and the cliffs of Mavericks Beach.

Harbor District General Manager Jim Pruett said the price tag for removing the ship would be about $2 million. It's a big ask for an agency with an annual budget of $13 million, Pruett said, so he's applying for grants to shoulder the cost.