When we first hit the water with Captain Ken Mannshardt and community organizer Mary Spicer earlier this year, the Oakland Estuary near Jack London Square looked like something out of Pirates of the Caribbean. Wrecked and abandoned boats littered the shoreline, or were sunken below the surface. Nonprofits including the East Bay Rowing Club and Mary Spicer’s group, I-heart-Oakland-Alameda-Estuary, have been fighting for years to get the mess cleaned up.
But finally, they’re celebrating at least a partial victory. The issue came to a head several weeks ago, when organizers of a youth rowing program accused several boats of blocking dock access…