Anchored Out

 It’s not often that sailing intersects with serious social politics. Addressing issues of gender equity and systematic privilege is no doubt an on going task, but this sad but beautifully formed little documentary by Katie Bernstein and Clara Mokri highlights a different problem.  It’s made for the New Yorker.

Few people would argue against having practical laws to allow our community to function well, but when those laws are enforced without compassion or nuance, then it reflects badly on our society as a whole. I don’t really know what the answer is here, but what I do know is that we shouldn’t be dismissing this as an “American” issue. With acute problems of housing affordability, spiralling inflation, and murmurs of recession it’s not beyond the realms of possibility, that this story repeats on Pittwater, Hobsons Bay or Middle Harbour in the near future.

Sausalito and San Francisco

In the 1970s, the floating community of Sausalito’s Richardson Bay, set against the backdrop of Mount Tamalpais, was primarily home to bohemians whose modest dwellings had been constructed from salvaged materials. Photo copyright Walter Van Voorheers/Sausalito Art Source