For nearly 50 years, Robert Sherrill's grimy boat repair barge floated in the teal harbor of Avalon, in front of the casino that stars in most Catalina postcards.
Even as the vessel grew from squat to tri-level, no one seemed to worry -- until one morning in early August, when Sherrill replaced it with what looked like a floating condo.
"It looks like he went from the back bay of Wilmington to Beverly Hills," said Avalon Harbor Master Brian Bray.
Sherrill's new repair barge is painted ivory. It has picture windows and arched balconies. Above the ground-level business are two floors of living space: four apartments meant to house Sherrill's family and guest mechanics.
And ever since it slid into the crescent-shaped harbor, it has generated ardent debate among the island's 3,500 residents and mainland boaters.
There are those who fume at Sherrill, saying he has ruined the view. Others rail against the town government for not putting an end to Sherrill's plan during construction. And plenty of islanders worry that the barge portends a future Avalon where people are priced off the land and into the water, into an offshore neighborhood or worse, a floating trailer park.
"Who wouldn't want ... an apartment on the water in Avalon?" asked Stacey A. Otte, executive director of the Catalina Island Museum in the casino.
Such questions have prompted the City Council to begin drafting an ordinance that would clearly define the rules for living on the water off Catalina.
Sherrill says he is bewildered by the criticism. He thought he was improving the view by updating the old barge he inherited from his father, with its prison-gray paint and tools dangling from all sides. His aim, he said, was to echo the casino with arches, a terracotta roof and paint that complemented the Art Deco building's creamy tones.
"I thought everybody was going to cheer at getting rid of the old barge," he said.
Sherrill's Marine Services has been a fixture of Catalina for decades. His father bought the barge in the late 1950s from a guy named "Smitty" -- and even then it was old, Sherrill said. The Sherrill family had a Long Beach boat repair business, but also spent summers at Avalon Harbor in what was then a seasonal business. From the age of 11, Robert Sherrill worked on the barge and often slept on its spartan cots. In 1984, he bought the barge from his father.
