A much-photographed Tomales Bay icon, the derelict fishing boat the Point Reyes, was severely damaged by a mysterious fire early Monday morning, and comments from angry Inverness residents are burning up social media over the loss of this beloved local landmark.
The Inverness Volunteer Fire Department was called at 1:30 a.m. when the picturesque old boat was engulfed in flames on the mud flats behind the Inverness Store, where it had been beached for as long as anyone can remember.
Inverness volunteers aided by National Park Service and Marin County firefighters fought the blaze for more than two hours, finally putting it out at about 4 a.m. The entire stern of the slowly deteriorating vessel was demolished, said Inverness Fire Chief Jim Fox.
“It is kind of famous,” Fox said. “People have practically made a living photographing it and painting it. For a derelict vessel, it’s a local institution.”
The West Marin Feed, an online news site that focuses on Inverness and Point Reyes Station, reposted an Instagram photo of the boat — still very much intact — that was apparently taken at night with fiery arcs of flare-like fireworks shooting from what appears to be its rear deck.
“Here is a photo taken the night before the boat burned,” the caption says. “Related? Unknown. The photographer won’t name names.”
The rest of the site is red hot with comments from local residents. Some remember playing on the old shipwreck when they were kids and now take their own children and grandchildren to see it.
“I am really sad that someone would do this to the Point Reyes,” Sheila Rocca Moore wrote in a post. “My dad, Merrel Rocca Sr., owned and took very good care of this boat for 54 years, and it makes me very sad that people are so mean.”
Pat Sigler wrote: “What a tragedy! This iconic landmark has inspired the souls of thousands…”
And Deborah Ann Ahern-Perchetti said, “I have many photos of this beautiful piece of history. I’m crying …”
The cause of the fire is unknown, but Chief Fox said, “Someone called up and wanted their names cleared from being the cause of it.”
He added that as far as his department is concerned, the cause of the fire and who is to blame for it is likely to remain a mystery.
“We won’t investigate something when there’s no evidence of a crime or actual damage,” he said. “This was already a derelict vessel. I don’t know how you can damage something that’s already broken.”
The boat is on property owned by the National Park Service, which is planning to look into the matter.
“Right now, because it is on our property, we’re trying to find out more information, whenever we can, about what kind of damage occurred and how it happened,” said park service spokesman John Dell’Osso.
