A normal morning in the Bay Area turned into something straight out of a cartoon when a fisherman looked across the water and saw a two-story house cruising toward him.
Well, sort of cruising.
Bay Area charter captain Zack Medinas, 57, was fishing with his crew Wednesday when he spotted a small boat slowly towing an entire pale-yellow home — complete with a second-story porch — across the choppy bay. The house was secured to a barge and headed through the San Pablo Bay toward Oakland. Watch the video here and below.
“I saw him coming and I had the reaction of everybody else — what the hell is that?” Medinas told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Medinas, who owns Gatecrasher Fishing Adventures, spends most of his working life on Bay Area waters. So when something makes him do a double take, it’s probably worth paying attention.
And this definitely qualified.
The Coast Guard had already broadcast a warning to mariners that a house was being towed through the northeastern portion of San Pablo Bay. Strong winds and rough water made the operation look particularly precarious.
“It looked incredibly dangerous and just totally bizarre,” Medinas said. His video quickly went viral on Instagram.
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Naturally, one question dominated the comments: Is this even legal?
Apparently, yes.
Coast Guard Lt. John Thompson said authorities were alerted around 7:30 a.m. and a crew from Station Vallejo intercepted the boater. Officers confirmed he had the required safety equipment. Because the house itself was unpowered and securely attached to a barge, there was nothing inherently illegal about the tow.
The biggest technicality was money. The captain didn’t possess the license required for a commercial towing operation, but Thompson said he was moving the home “as a favor for a friend.”
The bizarre voyage reportedly began on the Napa River and ended safely at Jack London Square in the Oakland-Alameda Estuary, where the house was moored without incident.
And strangely enough, it’s happened before. In 2024, another two-story house was towed across Bay Area waters from Redwood City to San Rafael.
Still, seeing a two-story home coming at you across open water is probably enough to make anyone check if anything funny was slipped in their morning coffee.
Related: Watch: 20-Foot Rogue Wave Capsizes Yacht in the Middle of Pacific Ocean
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