The beautiful, peaceful Sausalito harbor has been a magnet for free spirits and offbeat characters throughout its history; and over the years, the mudflats of Sausalito have attracted an
equally motley assortment of discarded vessels. As they became obsolete, old, or simply
unwanted — mostly during the early and middle 1900s — an impressive array of sailing ships, square riggers, steam schooners, barges, tugs and ferryboats were abandoned along the waterfront.

Most of these are gone now — scavenged, rotted, or removed. A fortunate few were cared for and
maintained, and so exist today. But for the most part, the owners of the shores on which the old ships accumulated became the reluctant landlords of this unglamorous and uneconomical hodgepodge of history, and no one could afford to pay much attention to their upkeep.

During the 1940s and 50s, six ferryboats settled in Sausalito when their working lives were over,
ended either by age and inability to pass inspection or by bridges which lured their passengers away. Four of the six ended their careers together on the Vallejo-Mare Island run carrying shipyard workers during World War II. The ferries settled in at the northern end of the waterfront and became a vital part of the community as residences, art galleries, studios, and centers for the creative, free-and-easy lifestyle that once was Sausalito. Studios blossomed in pilot houses, additions were tacked on helter-skelter, chimney pipes sprouted, plants and pigeons settled down on the paddlewheels; artists, writers, poets, free thinkers and waterfront dwellers gathered, created, partied and generally had one hell of a good time.

Three of the ferries have faded into the fabric of history. The City of San Rafael, a 172' ferry built in
Alameda in 1924, was the last side-wheeler built on the bay and for 20 years was the residence of
local poet and philosopher Piro Caro. Sadly, it was condemned in 1980 and dismantled. The Charles Van Damme, a 152' wooden hulled side-wheeler built in 1916, had several incarnations as a restaurant. Today all that is left is a name board and a paddle-wheel tilted and sprawling where the ferry once lay. The Issaquah, a 114' propeller driven double-ender built in 1914 and affectionately known as “Squash,” was purchased in 1954 by artist Jean Varda as a gift to his young Greek wife. by 1987, all that re-mained of “Squash” was two pilot houses and her name on a dock where modern house-boats moor.

But three of the ferries live on. The Berkeley, an opulent “gay nineties ferry” built in 1898, was the
first propeller-driven ferry on the bay, the first steel-hulled ferry built in San Francisco, and the first
ferry to sport electric lights. During her career she ran millions of passengers between San Francisco and Oakland and played a major role in evacuating people during the 1906 fire. She spent early retirement converted into a floating mini-mall called the Trade Fair. The Berkeley was sold in 1973 to the City of San Diego, fully restored to her original glory, and is now proudly displayed at the San Diego Maritime Museum.

The City of Seattle, 121' side-wheeler built in Portland in 1888, had a venerable career and was
bought in 1959 by a family committed to preserving her. Now known as the Yellow Ferry, she is the
flagship of the houseboat community at Gate 6 in Sausalito, and “floats” on a concrete barge.
And last but certainly not least, there is the Vallejo, with the longest and perhaps the most colorful
history of all. Her story is legend at this point — in fact she has so many stories that today she is as
much an icon as she is a ferryboat-turned-houseboat. The spirits of residents past include artists
Gordon Onslow-Ford and Jean Varda, philosopher Alan Watts, and untold numbers of young poets,
mystics, writers, bon vivants and dreamers. Following is a bit of the Vallejo’s story and a tribute to her inspirational spirit.

Introduction based on historian Annie Sutter’s loving 1982 tribute, The Old Ferryboats of Sausalito,
edited and updated by Kathryn Eustis.