There's a boat rotting at South Sierra Point in Brisbane, just off the waterfront trail. It apparently washed up in Crane Cove back in November, then drifted roughly six miles south over the following weeks before settling into its current resting place. It's been sitting there for months now. And if history is any guide, it'll be sitting there for months more.

This isn't a one-off. As one Bay Area resident put it bluntly: "There is an epidemic of abandoned boats in California. Boats are very expensive to dispose of, so people just leave them on moorings indefinitely." Another local who works near the area confirmed the pattern: "It's off Oyster Point. There are a lot of those. We see them come and go. Been like that for years."

Years. Let that sink in — no pun intended.

Here's the basic math that makes this problem nearly unsolvable under current incentives: disposing of a boat can cost thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars. Abandoning one costs… nothing. There's no effective enforcement, no real penalties, and a patchwork of jurisdictional confusion between cities, counties, the Coast Guard, and state agencies that practically guarantees nobody takes ownership of the problem. The rational economic move — if you're an irresponsible boat owner — is to simply walk away.

Meanwhile, taxpayers eventually foot the bill when waterways become cluttered with fiberglass husks leaking fuel, paint, and debris into the Bay. The environmental costs are real, even if they don't show up on anyone's budget line until it's an emergency.

This is a textbook case of what happens when government fails at one of its most basic functions: enforcing property laws and holding people accountable for the costs they impose on everyone else. We don't need a new agency or a blue-ribbon commission. We need a straightforward system: register your boat, bond for its disposal, and face actual consequences if you dump it.

Until then, enjoy your waterfront walk alongside Brisbane's newest piece of permanent public art — a decaying vessel that belongs to no one and is everyone's problem.