In economy’s wake, state grapples with more abandoned boats than ever
Apr 15 2010 in Currents by Deborah Bach
Looking out his office window one Saturday in January, Jerry Rowland saw a dilapidated boat being towed straight for the Port of Brownsville Marina.
Rowland left his office and walked down the dock to the marina’s breakwater, where two men were tying up the 40-foot ferro cement sailboat. The boat was a wreck, a victim of obvious and prolonged neglect.
Rowland, the port manager, asked the two men what they were doing.
“We’re tying the boat up,” one responded.
“Why?” Rowland said.
“Because we are,” the man replied, before the pair got in a small fishing boat and sped off.
In that instant, Rowland inherited a headache that continues to plague marina operators and government agencies. Derelict and abandoned boats litter the state’s waterways, creating environmental hazards and a costly mess for those left to deal with them.
The Department of Natural Resources, which runs Washington’s Derelict Vessel Removal Program, is busier than ever dealing with derelict boats. DNR has disposed of 22 boats so far this fiscal year, compared with 17 or 18 each of the previous three years, and expects the number to reach almost 30 by the time its fiscal year wraps up in June.
And that doesn’t include several other boats that agencies such as the Port of Brownsville are in the process of seizing. Boats currently being dealt with under the derelict vessel program range from a 1925 wooden fishing vessel that sunk in the Hylebos Waterway in Tacoma to a sailboat that washed up on the boat ramp in Poulsbo.
“The last quarter we (dealt with) more boats than we ever had before,” said Melissa Ferris, who runs the Derelict Vessel Removal Program. “We kind of anticipated removing 15 for the year, and we’re at 22 now.”
Ferris attributed the increase to a combination of factors, including increased funding that has made it possible to deal with more boats, the economy and weather over the winter.
More boaters are anchoring their vessels to save on moorage costs, Ferris said. Boat at anchor tend to be checked on less often since they’re harder to get to, she said, and are more exposed to the elements. Consequently, Ferris said, higher numbers of boats ran aground over the winter due to windstorms.
“We’ve seen an increased number of boats anchored out,” she said. “I think as people leave them anchored out for longer, they’ll become more of a problem.”
There are currently more than 200 boats abandoned in Washington waters that authorities know about, but the real number could be substantially higher. Since its inception in 2003, the Derelict Vessel Removal Program, one of only a handful of such initiatives around the country, has removed close to 250 decrepit boats from Washington’s waterways. Boaters fund the program through a $3 annual boat registration fee and a fee of $5 charged to owners of boats that are registered out of state but kept in Washington.
Boats dealt with under the program are usually demolished after being stripped of metal and any other materials that can be recycled or sold. DNR previously sold items of value from boats on eBay, but recently began listing them on the state’s Department of General Administration’s website to cut costs. A mast was recently sold through the site, and Ferris said another mast and a genset will be listed soon.
It’s rare that an abandoned boat is in good enough condition to sell, but Ferris said one of the boats the DNR is currently dealing with, an unregistered sailboat named Annie currently anchored out near Poulsbo, could be restored and sold.
As required by law, DNR put a notice on the boat and placed notifications in the newspaper and on its website. If the owner doesn’t come forward by April 29, the boat becomes the property of the state.
“It looks like a pretty decent sailboat,” Ferris said. “Hopefully the owner will take care of it.”
The cement boat dumped at the Port of Brownsville Marina appears destined for a different fate. Rowland said the owners have been contacted but it’s unlikely they will retrieve the boat. That means the port will likely pay the cost of about $14,000 to remove and dispose of the boat, then submit the bill to DNR for a 90 percent reimbursement.
DNR can then go after the boat’s owner to recoup expenses, which far outweigh the $1 price the owner paid for the boat at an auction.
“Whether the Derelict Vessel Program will ever recover their money from these people,” Rowland said, “is very doubtful.”
Brooks Wilcox said on June 10, 2010
if some one knows of a restorable sail boat that has been abandon by owner, would love to hear from you..Thank You
Brooks Wilcox said on June 10, 2010
I would love to find one of these abandond boats, but don’t know the state laws pertaining to getting one…