Forbes Island

Forbes Island began as a houseboat residence on December 23, 1980, anchored offshore in Richardson Bay near Sausalito in Marin County, California. It was created by Forbes Thor Kiddoo, who invested $800,000 in the floating dwelling and built it between 1975 and 1980 using portholes from old vessels, seascape paintings, and a lathe to secure the wooden paneling and pillars. It had 15 rooms, three state rooms, a 600-square-foot salon with "fine woods, mirrors, brass, Persian rugs, a fireplace, chess table, grand piano and English pipe organ" and its own wine cellar. By the late 1980s, Sausalito residents started to complain that the dwelling was illegally moored{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}. A 1987 article in Islands Magazine noted that Kiddoo had intended to sell the houseboat,{{cite journal|title=Islands Magazine|journal = Islands|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pzyYe4i7YoQC&pg=PA18|date=January–February 1987|page=18|issn=0745-7847}} but it was not until 1991 that the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission forced him out of Sausalito, due to building regulations{{vague|date=August 2024}}.{{cite book|last=Kiddoo|first=Donald B.|title=Early History of the Scotch-Irish Families Caldow, Caddow, Caddoo, Kildoo, Kildew, Kiddoo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-AEZAQAAMAAJ|year=2002|publisher=D.B. Kiddoo|page=851}}

After being evicted, Kiddoo applied to moor his barge in Half Moon Bay, but was rejected. He anchored it for five years in Antioch, California, and spent time remodelling it before he was given a 15-year renewable lease in San Francisco. The island dwelling was relocated and reopened as the Forbes Island restaurant between Pier 39 and Pier 41 in Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco in 1999. The only "floating island" restaurant in the Bay Area, it measured 50 by 100 feet, weighed 700 tons, and had its own palm trees, waterfall, fake fireplace, 55-step lighthouse with Fresnel lens, and Tahitian dining room. The portalled dining room was underwater and decorated to resemble the interior of an early 19th-century sailing ship. The restaurant had its own wine cellar, which was once a venue for a Tony Bennett concert, as well as a boudoir for women.{{cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/restaurants/article/Forbes-Island-a-unique-restaurant-off-Pier-39-3255105.php|title=Forbes Island, a unique restaurant off Pier 39|date=22 August 2010|accessdate=21 June 2016}} While in San Francisco, its coordinates were {{coord|37|48|38.1|N|122|24|44.8|W}}.

File:San Francisco from Forbes Island pier 39, 544.jpg

In 2016, the Island underwent renovation and repair work. On April 5, a San Francisco Fire Department fireboat towed the island to the BAE Systems San Francisco Ship Repair Yard at Pier 70 to commence a two-month restoration. It was later returned to its location near Pier 39 and was scheduled to reopen on June 15.{{cite web|url=http://hoodline.com/2016/06/after-2-months-of-repairs-forbes-island-sets-sail-back-to-the-wharf|title=After 2 Months Of Repairs, Forbes Island Sets Sail Back To The Wharf|work=Hoodline|date=29 May 2016|accessdate=21 June 2016}}

In August 2017, Forbes Island Restaurant closed down, with Forbes Kiddoo retiring.{{cite web|url=https://sf.eater.com/2017/8/15/16152554/forbes-island-pier-39-fishermans-wharf-closed-permanently|title=Floating Restaurant Forbes Island Has Closed For Good|work=SF Eater|date=August 15, 2017|accessdate=21 September 2017}} In March 2018, the restaurant was moored far from its previous location, at the Holland Riverside Marina in Brentwood, California, in the east of Contra Costa County, but was said to be for sale; it was reported to be unlikely to reopen as a restaurant.{{cite web|url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/insidescoop/article/Floating-restaurant-Forbes-Island-finds-a-new-12786017.php|title=Floating restaurant Forbes Island finds a new home — in the East Bay|work=Forbes|date=March 27, 2017|accessdate=December 11, 2018}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.hollandriverside.com/forbes-island/|title = Forbes Island}}

After the Holland Riverside Marina changed ownership, Forbes Island was moved to its current location off Bradford Island where it reopened in 2023 as a rentable group camp and event space.

A 2010 report stated that the restaurant served calamari salad, flatiron steak with mustard-cognac sauce, herb-baked lamb and other dishes.{{cite book|last=Sterling|first=Richard|title=The Unofficial Guide to San Francisco|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_n1P1M_TZP0C&pg=PA247|date=26 March 2010|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-63724-1|page=247}}

The San Francisco Chronicle wrote of the dining experience: "Warmed by a faux fire, diners feast on filet mignon, mushroom risotto and sea bass while chandeliers sway with the ocean surge beneath them. Fish swim by portholes and Satchmo plays on the sound system." The 2016 menu included steak, salmon, ribs, chicken and risotto.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmenus.com/ca/san-francisco/349994-forbes-island/menu/|title = Forbes Island menu - San Francisco CA 94133 - (415) 951-4900}}

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{{Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco}}

{{Islands of Suisun Bay and the Sacramento–San Joaquin River delta}}

{{San Francisco Bay watershed}}

{{Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta}}

Category:Islands of Contra Costa County, California

Category:Islands of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta

Category:Restaurants in San Francisco

Category:Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco

Category:Restaurants established in 1999

Category:1999 establishments in California

Category:Artificial islands of California

Category:Islands of Northern California