06/01/2026
First of all, it's a Yacht Club so - privileged problems.
Secondly, its Sausilito so - REALLY dont care.
Lastly, every last one of those members I'm positive are all a pain in the stern.
Marisa McArthur’s promotion to commodore of Sausalito Yacht Club was supposed to be a formality. Instead it got blocked, sparking a fight that has torn the club apart.
Like all private clubs, the Sausalito Yacht Club has its traditions. One of those is the annual St. Patrick’s Day party. But in 2025, the club announced it was scrapping its usual event in favor of a fundraiser for veterans.
McArthur objected, emailing then-Commodore Russell Croce to say the club had no business fundraising for entities unrelated to boating or water. Croce said it was a done deal, warned her to stop questioning him and later told the nominating committee she was insubordinate.
The club’s refusal to advance her, in McArthur’s view, was plain retaliation. She decided to run anyway, as a write-in candidate.
Then came the Fourth of July. At the club that morning, Jim Gabbert, a 90-year-old member and Bay Area broadcasting legend, approached McArthur’s mother Tina Frank and initiated a conversation that soon turned to the upcoming commodore election.
Gabbert told Frank her daughter had “ruined the Angel Island Picnic.”
This last claim mystified McArthur, who says the picnic was a success. She’d hired a local BBQ judge who emptied out a hog, stuffed it with pulled pork and sewed it back together.
“No matter what I touch or what I do, I’ve ruined it,” McArthur said.
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