Changes to Santa Barbara’s Seasonal Boat Anchorage Delayed

Evictions have been put on pause, at least for now. Boaters were given notice last month that Santa Barbara’s historic, seasonal anchorage in the waters just east of Stearns Wharf was being shut down as part of a long-stewing plan to reimagine the popular, near-shore spot and shift the free anchorage to a fee-based mooring operation in city-managed waters farther offshore. However, amid complaints from anchorage residents, some late-breaking logistical challenges in sighting the new mooring locations has temporarily delayed the plan, according to Santa Barbara Waterfront Director/Harbormaster Mike Wiltshire. 

For the better part of the last 18 months, Harbor staff has been working on a plan to do away with the “summer anchorage” colloquially referred to by locals as Fools’ Anchorage, a place that is popular with traveling maritimers and residential boaters from April through October. Well in the lee of the wharf and the harbor and relatively close to shore, the anchorage has been a free and typically tranquil boat parking option for years. During the summer months, it is not uncommon for a few dozen boats to be anchored there on any given day, including several that are owned and lived aboard by city residents. However, the anchorage is close to critical city infrastructure as both the inflow pipe for the desalination plant and the outflow pipe for the wastewater treatment plant are nearby. Damage to this infrastructure in 2024 — believed by some though never confirmed to have been the result of a dragging anchor — motivated the city to pursue a change in policy. 

“We were somewhat forced into this change by the Public Works department,” explained Wiltshire recently. “They asked us to find a solution to protect [the pipes]. It’s not our intent to take away access to the ocean, but we are in charge of managing these waters and we have a responsibility to protect infrastructure.”

The plan, as it currently stands, is to eliminate the current anchorage area and replace it with approximately 20 new moorings further offshore and well clear of the pipes in the city-managed waters east of the pier. The new moorings would be available to rent by the night ($30), the week ($200), or the month ($500). The project, estimated to cost upward of $300,000, has received the necessary approvals by the Harbor Commission, the California Coastal Commission, and the Army Corps of Engineers. 

Boaters received notice on June 1 that they needed to relocate by June 15 as construction was slated to begin. However, as of press time, mooring installation was on hold, and some boats had returned. While the approvals remain in place and the necessary gear for the moorings has been delivered, boats have been allowed to return to the anchorage. 

According to the Harbormaster, the discovery of eelgrass habitat in the area and some late-hour feedback from the Public Works department has created the hiccup. 

“We expect to get back on track with the project within the next couple of months,” said Wiltshire.

For their part, regulars at the anchorage have been crying foul about the plan long before the discovery of the eelgrass. Unimpressed by the proposed locations of the new moorings and the new fees, locals have questioned everything from the fiscal viability and real-world usefulness of the project to the legality/accuracy of the applications filed with the Coastal Commission and Army Corps of Engineers. Freedom of Information Act requests have been filed with the city and state agencies involved, and an official legal challenge is being considered.