A two-story house being towed across San Pablo Bay transformed a routine day on the water into a scene that even a seasoned Bay Area fisherman found hard to believe.
Zach Medinas, 57, was fishing with his crew Wednesday morning when he noticed a full-size home being pulled across the bay by a small recreational boat.
“I saw him coming and I had the reaction of everybody else — what the hell is that?” Medinas told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Video shared on social media showed the yellowish, two-story structure—with an upper-floor porch—secured to a barge while a motorboat towed it through the water.
The unusual convoy was apparently bound for Oakland.
A Concord resident, Medinas owns Gatecrasher Fishing Adventures and spends much of his time navigating local waters.
Medinas said he and his crewmates heard the U.S. Coast Guard broadcast a warning to mariners about the house being towed through the northeastern section of San Pablo Bay.
Strong winds and rough currents quickly raised questions about whether the home could complete the trip safely.
“It looked incredibly dangerous and just totally bizarre,” Medinas told the SF Chronicle.
His footage soon drew widespread online attention, reaching nearly 140,000 Instagram views by Friday evening—far more than his usual posts featuring fishing and marine life.
ALSO READ: Danish Homeowner Discovers Massive Viking Silver Hoard in Historic Find
Some viewers also wondered whether towing an entire house across the bay was legal.
The Coast Guard said it was.
Lt. John Thompson, a public affairs officer with Coast Guard Sector San Francisco, told the SF Chronicle that a crew from Station Vallejo encountered the boater and verified that he had the required safety equipment.
The house had no engine and was fastened to a barge, Thompson said.
The person towing the structure was also not operating a commercial service; he was transporting it as a favor for a friend. Thompson said a commercial operation would have required a license the boater did not possess.
The journey started on the Napa River and concluded at Jack London Square in the Oakland-Alameda Estuary, where the Coast Guard said the home was safely anchored.
The floating house was not the first residence to travel across Bay Area waterways.
In April 2024, another two-story home was moved by water from Redwood City to San Rafael, according to the San Francisco Standard.