Click the words above “The glass tells a story” to see this entire post.

Two months ago I put my boat in at grassy point, the place windsurfers like, a little north of Cypress Point. Then I paddled south to explore Marshall and the area around Hog Island Oyster.

I’ve spent so much time cleaning up the shore around Tomales Bay Oyster Company given the proximity to me (and no end of trash), it seemed fair to spend some time near the other oyster company with a retail presence on the bay. Plus, it is always good to explore places never before seen.

Let’s have a look.

One of the first things to catch my eye was this boat laying in the mud, upside down.

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There seemed to be items from the boat scattered nearby, so I walked closer to have a look.

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Hmmm, what is that wedged under the boat?

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Oh my, up to 5 gallons of gasoline in a rusty tank on the floor of Tomales Bay. I wonder how long THAT has been there?

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I carefully slid the tank out from under the boat. It was then that I discovered the tank had rusted through.

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Smelling the liquid leaking from the tank, it smelled odd, not strongly of gas, but not seawater either. An odd, stale fragrance.

I couldn’t leave it here. Nor could I put it in my boat, as it would leak that odd fluid in my boat. What to do? Hog Island Oyster was nearby so I hiked over to see what I could borrow. One of the workers, after hearing my explanation, pointed me to a stack of large garbage cans and said put it in one of those. We will make sure to dispose of it properly.

Hiking back to the upright gas can, I carefully placed the tank in the plastic can, careful not to spill anything into the bay. (Was there anything left to spill? Had the contents already tainted the bay long ago?)

I carried it back to Hog and placed it where the fellow asked me to, thanked him and went on my way.

More on this boat later….

Exploration continued.

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Perhaps someone from one of those houses will come out and remove this mess from Tomales Bay.

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Hog Island Oysters in the background

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I thought I knew where all the oyster leases were in Tomales Bay. Guess not.

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Fast forward to after this trip in the bay, I’d packed up and drove back, stopping in Marshall to look around from on shore.

A fellow was getting out of a car, I asked him if he lived here, motioning to the house he was parked in front of. He said “yes”.

I explained the boat out in the mud with the leaking gas can. He knew who owned the boat and assured me that the last time the owner had used his boat (many months prior), he had run out of gas and had paddled back to shore. “So there was likely no gas at all in that tank.”

“Hmmm” was my response.

Next I explained how I boat around the bay and pack out all the trash I find. He expressed thanks upon learning this. “You should have seen all the broken bottle shards I found below the Tavern.” I shared.

His face became quite serious. “Please, don’t pick up those bottles.” He pronounced.

“There are no bottles, only bits and pieces.” I replied.

“Please leave those bits, they tell a story.”

They sure do tell a story, I thought to myself, thankful I had not cut my foot on any of them.

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Next related post may be found here.

Previous related post may be found here.

See the first post in this series “Respect our Tomales Bay” here.