SAN LEANDRO, Calif. — A California woman who was buoyed by the idea of a floating retirement home watched her life savings sink to the bottom of a bay, KGO reported.
Debbie Herbstreit had paid $25,000 for the boat to use as a home and had owned it for a month. Sunday, she received an urgent call from the harbormaster at the San Leandro Marina, informing her that the boat was taking on water.
“I dropped everything and came here and I was praying a little prayer that it would be an inch of water or something,” Herbstreit told KGO.
“My entire life savings,” Herbstreit told KGO. “This was going to be my retirement home, because I cannot afford a house in San Francisco and I love the city.”
It was worse than that. The boat was half-submerged and leaking fuel.
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Herbstreit said she was unaware of any defects in the boat and has no idea why it sank.
“It was beautiful. Hardwood floors, dishwasher, washer and dryer, a whirlpool bathtub,” she told KGO. “I had friends say to me, ‘wow!’
“They didn’t even think they were on a boat.”