Deep in the California delta are members of the Super Secret Ship Club, a loose fraternity of men and women who’ve wanted nothing more than to hold out on the water. Most are just legends today — but Bill Conner, 89, is alive. Once an activeduty U.S. Marine, he has flown an American flag above his floating compound on a secluded arm of the San Joaquin River for four decades.

He and his wife once owned what used to be a family resort, called Lost Isle. After years of entertaining summer boaters on a spit of palm trees and sandy riverbanks, they sold the property. It became a party destination for the muscleboat set with thatchedroof bars and wetTshirt contests — until a fatal stabbing presaged its shutdown. After they sold, Conner’s wife moved to the mainland. He moved to a barge.

Since 1981, that barge has morphed into a convoy of anchored boats and platforms outfitted with tiki decor that Conner has called home. The peculiar river fortress houses fern gardens, an exercise bike, a propane stove, musical instruments and a 55gallon plastic drum to collect drinking water.

“You do a little gardening, you get tired, you take a nap,” said Conner, forced by recent surgeries to spend time resting at a marina outside Stockton. “A lot of people would like to do this: have your own island and live happily ever after.”

Credit: Carlos Avila Gonzalez
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