Excerpt:

Mike Connelly worked to restore his 37-foot sailboat at Nelson’s Marine for three years. He found out the Alameda Point boat yard was being evicted less than two weeks before the Alameda County Sheriff came to padlock its gates.

Connelly’s boat isn’t yet sea worthy – he figures his restoration project has about six months to go. But even if she were, his boat is blocked by other boats that are still on the premises, some of whose owners may not even know Nelson’s was shut down.

“It’s kind of a crazy mess,” Connelly said.

Connelly’s boat is among an estimated 150 that remain at the boat yard, and he is one of many boat owners who have expressed frustration with city staffers for failing to communicate with boat owners caught in the wake of the eviction or to have a plan in place for them to retrieve their vessels.

“I know the city’s now trying to work through this mess. But we that are caught up in this really haven’t been informed as to what’s going to happen, when, and the requirements,” said Connelly, who was one of several boat owners who recently appealed to the City Council for help.