![]() Two long thin spits separate the bay from the ocean, and a narrow opening between them provides the bay’s only entrance from the ocean. ![]() Some even come back to volunteer because they enjoyed it so much.Humboldt Bay is the largest bay in California north of San Francisco. The innkeepers go on with their lives and stay in touch. "Most of the time there are no hard feelings. One night, the innkeeper left a hotel full of guests and took the island's only boat to San Francisco to go salsa dancing with his girlfriend. His mother moved to the island to help run the bed and breakfast. Income from the bed and breakfast pays for the island's maintenance and the innkeepers' salary.īutt said the board has only had to fire one innkeeper - a man whose wife left him. ![]() The island was abandoned for about 10 years before a group of preservationists got permission from the Coast Guard to renovate and maintain the lighthouse. But about 1970, when the Coast Guard absorbed the Lighthouse Service and installed an automated light and modern foghorn, year-round caretakers became unnecessary. Lighthouse Service built the first structures to help guide boats between San Francisco Bay and Mare Island and the delta.įor decades, lighthouse keepers maintained the complex. Amid the hypnotic sound of waves, birds and foghorn, visitors and innkeepers alike can pretend they've traveled back to the late 1800s when the U.S. Guests aren't allowed showers unless they stay a second night. And every drop of water is precious - the island relies wholly on a 70,000-gallon cistern that collects rainwater. Obviously there are no coffee shops, movie theaters or restaurants. Our two days off are not real days off."Įast Brother Island has electricity, cell phone reception and Internet access, but other amenities are harder to come by. ![]() "It's a very cool job to have," said Ed Witts, 55. The couple say they've enjoyed the seclusion, but overseeing the island inn required many 80-hour workweeks. When they motor away from East Brother Island for the last time in October, they plan to renovate their Pittsburg home and spend time on their 48-foot sailboat. Back to realityĬurrent innkeepers Ed and Anne Witts came to the island two years ago from Belgium, where Anne Witts, 50, was a flight attendant. While one stint ended after only eight months and another lasted five years, most innkeepers stay two or three years. One common denominator is the length of stay. Some were just out of college, others middle-aged. In the three decades since the volunteer board took over the island's upkeep and opened the bed and breakfast, people from a variety of backgrounds have taken up residence in the small one-bedroom innkeepers' cottage. But usually they can only do it for so long and then they move on," said Tom Butt, president of the East Brother Light Station board, the outfit that manages the Coast Guard-owned island. "It's a fantastic experience and most people wouldn't trade it for anything. They're paid a total of from $60,000 to $100,000 a year. The innkeepers must keep track of the business' paperwork, make weekly trips ashore for groceries and other supplies and ensure that the foghorn and flashing Fresnel light in the 1874 lighthouse are working. Four days out of the week, the three-story Victorian bed and breakfast hosts up to five couples who pay from $295 to $415 a night for a gourmet breakfast, four-course dinner and ferry service to and from the island. Coast Guard commercial boating license, eschew pizza delivery and enjoy the company of, well, seagulls. If it all sounds romantic, there are some important caveats: Applicants must have a U.S.
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