Sure, lets house the homeless on old ships, while forcing people of means (me) to live like a fugitive in Sausalito as an illegal "sneakaboard" on my own fucking yacht.

Living on a boat is not a crime (and is getting to be the only way to make it financially in certain regions - (bay area)).

Some years ago the developers got carried away with their new found ability to fill in marshlands around SF Bay and huge chunks of shallows began rapidly disappearing. A preservationist environmental group called the Bay Conservation District Council (BCDC) was formed to oversee issues on the bay and evaluate projects that might damage the environment. These folks are heavily infiltrated by the wealthy landowners around the bay (there are no other kinds of landowners around the bay btw). They rant about all kinds of things and spread fud about how a few hundred boaters dumping sewage into the bay are wrecking things (never mind that the city of Berkeley routinely dumps the sewage of hundreds of thousands during heavy rains). One whale excretes more sewage on a trip into the bay than the entire boating community in a month.

Anyhow, they took steps to eliminate people living on floating craft of any kind. This is partly a reaction to the go go hippy days in Sausalito when lots of broke people took to living on old wrecks and floating junk left over from the war. Seems the wealthy people thought the folks living on floating motorhomes, surplus tugboats, and barges were eyesores. So house boats are now forbidden (except for whats there already) and marinas can be fined for having people living on their boats. There is a group of people anchored on Richardson bay that have been living "on the hook" for years. They are called "anchor outs" (which they object to - preferring "vessel dweller"). The BCDC has been trying to get rid of this crowd for years and even had their vessels classified as "bay fill" to strengthen their authority (as they have veto power over bay filling if you remember the original charter). The local authorities know who the vessel dwellers are and they are aggressive in making sure that you don't join them.

Marinas are limited to maximum 10% liveaboard slips and to get BCDC permits for that they have to install a bunch of stupid equipment that doesn't make too much sense. So many don't bother. Or they try, but keep getting denied.

The marina I lived in had a big sign "No Liveaboards" in the harbormaster's office. So I moved in swearing I had a different place to live and then proceeded to keep a low profile. I had walked the docks and talked to the locals before selecting this particular marina. The angle there is for the marina to have "plausible deniability" ala Claude Rains in Casablanca.

If the HM decided he didn't like you for whatever reason and you lived aboard, you could be kicked out. With a shortage of slips, that might have you living at anchor in richardson bay for a bit (seen it happen) - generally moving from anchorage to anchorage because, after more than a couple of days in any place, locals will catch on and the authorities will pay a visit and tell you to move along.

So yes, its technically illegal to live on your yacht without a liveaboard permit - which they are just not issuing anymore.

Incidentally, once the marina figures out that you are on board all the time, you will see your monthly bill go up by about $150 per month for a "high use fee". What are you going to do - complain? Be happy you still have a place to tie up.