Park service comments on uncertain future of Calif. coastal ‘landmark’

The Instagram-famous Inverness shipwreck near Point Reyes has turned more into a wreck than a ship following destructive high tides on Tomales Bay over the past several days.
 
Though it’s not clear when exactly the S.S. Point Reyes lost the majority of its hull, a recent photo clearly shows the vessel is no longer in the condition that made it famous worldwide. 

“It looks like one half of the hull has fallen off and the other half is leaning over,” Christian Anthony, who posted the image on the West Marin Feed, told SFGATE in a phone interview. “You might not recognize it as a boat at this point.”

The ship’s deterioration started well before this latest round of storms, according to the Point Reyes Light — though the more recent tides appear to have completely knocked the vessel off its sea legs and dragged it a few feet into the bay.
 
The wayward boat gained notoriety for its charm and unique setting through numerous social media posts and even a music video. Along with the gorgeous Cypress Tree Tunnel and Drakes Beach, it’s one of the many Point Reyes National Seashore spots that draw a consistent stream of visitors.
 
Many Instagram images document its rusty engine, rotting wood and weathered feel.
 
While it may seem like a haunting shipwreck — of which there were many at Point Reyes in the late 1800s and early 1900s — the boat is anything but.
 
The S.S. Point Reyes was built in the 1940s as a World War II launch vessel before becoming a vessel for salmon fishing, the Point Reyes Light reported. Later, after someone tried to unsuccessfully relocate it, the S.S. Point Reyes became stuck in mud and marooned on a shallow beach behind the Inverness Store in the late 1990s. 

A plan to remove it for wetlands restoration in the early 2000s was scrapped when a group of mostly photographers asked that it remain.

It’s been there ever since.

“I remember when the boat was left out front and the owner walked away from it,” said Rebecca Dixon, who along with her husband, Mark Sutton, owns and operates Dixon Marine Services in Inverness.

In the following years, hundreds, if not thousands, of photographers, social media influencers and tourists have stopped by for the perfect shot, sometimes leaving behind a trail of graffiti, trash, nails and beer cans at the site. 

The S.S. Point Reyes was nearly destroyed in 2016 when amateur photographers accidentally set it on fire while trying to create a photo with sparks in the background. The damage added to the ship’s chaotic beauty.
  
“It really did look like a boat crash,” Anthony said. “Of all the places it could have landed … you can see it when you’re driving by. I get why it got the mystique. I see why there’s some charm there. Now it’s one step away from a bunch of plywood that’s about to fall over.”

The boat, or what’s left of it, sits on the beach just outside Dixon’s office window.
 
“We’re boat people,” Dixon told SFGATE in a phone interview. “It’s sad because she was just an amazing boat. These boats have soul. They have stories to tell. They’ve carried many people back and forth in the San Francisco Bay to the piers and wherever they were doing work. It’s iconic is what it is.”
 
Dixon watched the boat’s condition rapidly go downhill “over the last year or so” and observed with disdain how some visitors would mistreat it. 
 
“It’s sad that the media and the tech world has made such a big deal about this and brought so many people that feel they’re entitled to come as though everything is at their disposal, like an amusement park,” she said. “The amount of disrespect — like when people would climb on it. That’s the way the world is now. It just makes us sad that she has been overrun. In the beginning, there were weddings and quinceañeras out there. People were respectful enough when it was on our property to pay us for it.”
 
Point Reyes resident Angela Mota observed the S.S. Point Reyes from the counter at the Inverness Post Office where she works across the street. She’s seen it all; throngs of photographers descending on the site daily and picture-hungry tourists who put on waders just to get to the boat during high tide.
 
“It’s just the town landmark,” she said in a recent phone interview. “It means a lot to the community. But it’s a rotting sailboat that’s been run aground for years. It’s not going to look good forever.”
 
The land that the boat sits on has changed hands a few times over the years but is currently owned by Point Reyes National Seashore. 

“The National Park Service is aware that additional damage occurred to the vessel as a result of the most recent storms and tides,” park officials said in a statement to SFGATE. “While we recognize that this is a local landmark and destination, the NPS is evaluating options to remove it safely.”
 
When asked whether the boat’s removal was a foregone conclusion, a park official later added that a “timeframe for removal is uncertain at this time.”