living on house boats in Larkspur

JasonLewis · Status: Offline

RE: living on house boats in Larkspur

SteveC · Status: Offline

Great story R54, Thanks for sharing.

If anyone wants to start a thread of stories of hardship in Marin that turned into the best years of our lives, I think we all would love to read them, I know I would.

R54 · Status: Offline

A friend of mines parents owned an old hunting cabin on the Greenbrae Boardwalk about four from the end on the left side. The out side was roofing shingles over wood planks and the inside had unfinished walls and floors. you could look down between the planks on the floor and see mud or water depending on the tides.
After high school in 71 three of us moved in and rented the place for $90 a month. Great place to live out of school with all are friends coming to us with the beer. Only draw backs were the walking the long boardwalk in the rain and we froze in winter. We did have some heat from a wood burning stove from the sixty's that looked like an upside down funnel with a screen on the front.

We had a dock on the corte madera creek where we kept a 14 boat that we used to get us to the flats and duck hunt or fishing in the bay.
Good times back then.

We did have a flush toilet and shower but it was out side in an add on shed with no heat.

-- Edited by R54 at 19:36, 2008-07-07

Dewey · Status: Offline

My father called the area between Larkspur and Bon Air "Polio Park" because of the filthy water! BTW, I've seen a very old photo, maybe 1900, and there were dozens of houseboats that early on.

santarosie · Status: Offline

Yep, no sweage pipes. I remember my dad talking about when he lived on the house boat in the 40s, swimming in the water, pushing the poop out of the way with one hand and swimming with the other. A little too gross for me, I think.

lemo · Status: Offline

we used to ride our bikes all along the wooden walkways between all the houseboat shacks in Larkspur, access was near Henry Hall school it seems to me. Rickety and daring to kidz it was. Beatniks and bohemians. No sewage pipes. ALL things toilet would be floating at low tide. pretty gross education. Once we snooped around a burned up one and saw all kinds of old hipster books and writings. faroutsville to some kids riding old bikes with balloon tires and ape hanger handlebars. Early 60s to be exact

googuse · Status: Offline

That's where the big wooden Drake sculpture used to be, which was recreated in metal over across from the ferry terminal.

Neal · Status: Offline

If you're talking about the houseboats at Greenbrae Boardwalk, there's a couple of old guys that still live there and they had a slide show back in '04 and I've seen some of the old pics. If you stop by the office/clubhouse at the gate to the right, they may be able to help you. I remember them using the word 'Ark', and each one had a nickname like 'albatross' or something like that.

Paul Penna · Status: Offline

santarosie wrote:

I'd love to see some photos!

Click here to see one on my Larkspur web site. Here's another and yet one more. Gallery index page is here; overall Larkspur index is here.

santarosie · Status: Offline

When my dad was a teenager he and his family lived on what they called "the ark"...a houseboat on the creek in Larkspur. This was in the 1940s. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of the ark. Did anyone else live on a houseboat during that era? I'd love to see some photos!