It was a scene reminiscent of the hit Pixar film Up, but instead of moving a two-story house with balloons, a recreational boat dragged the residence across San Pablo Bay near San Francisco, California.
Videos by Wide Open Country
A Fisherman Saw the Boat Dragging the House
As reported by the New York Post, fisherman Zach Medinas spotted the house being pulled across the water on Wednesday, Sep. 16, while working with his crew. It was being towed along the northeastern portion of San Pablo Bay.
"I saw him coming, and I had the reaction of everybody else — what the hell is that?" he said.
Clips of the unusual sight caught social media users' attention. The yellowish two-story home with an upper-floor porch was secured to a barge. A motorboat was pulling it through the water, apparently heading toward nearby Oakland.
Medinas has spent a lot of time on the water as the owner of Gatecrasher Fishing Adventures, but claims he had never seen anything like this before. He and his crew mates also heard about the boat towing the house from a US Coast Guard radio warning.
The conditions that morning were windy, and the currents were also pretty rough. Medinas wondered if the house would make the trip safely.
"It looked incredibly dangerous and just totally bizarre," he said.
Was This Even Legal?
Those who saw Medinas' clip online wondered if it was even legal for the boat to drag the house across the bay.
The Coast Guard said it was legal. A public affairs officer for the armed forces branch said a crew from Station Vallejo met the boater and verified he had the required safety equipment.
Because the person towing it wasn't operating commercially, he didn't need a special license. The boater was moving the home as a favor for a friend.
The journey reportedly began on the Napa River. The boat anchored at Jack London Square in the Oakland-Alameda Estuary, according to the Coast Guard.
You can check out Medinas' clip below.
