"Anchored Out" is film about a vulnerable community of people living on boats anchored off the coast of Sausalito, just north of San Francisco. The "anchor-outs" have lived here for decades, but in the past year, Marin County has been cracking down on a long-unenforced 72-hour anchoring limit and removing unseaworthy boats in a push to “clean up the Bay.” Many anchor-outs are effectively being rendered homeless during a pandemic. Despite being one of the richest counties in the U.S., the money in Marin County doesn’t “trickle down” into many affordable housing options, or towards real support for the low- to no-income folks living there. The film discusses the idea of how we as a society, even in the liberal enclave of the Bay Area, justify how we treat those on the margins. The harbormaster explains that boats can’t anchor here due to safety reasons. So the question remains: where can these people go? 

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The film brings us into the world of the anchor-outs through the lives of two residents, Kim Slater and Einstein Bernstein; a world which is often unknown to outsiders beyond the stereotypes. The anchor-outs are resourceful and skilled mariners who look after one another. Throughout the film, they grow increasingly desperate, as they feel trapped, surveilled, and at risk of losing their way of life. We also hear from the harbormaster, and learn of the county’s justification for their policies and actions. 

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We hope that our film will spark a conversation about who ‘deserves’ to exist where.