Two vessels sink on Hylebos Waterway
Jan 25 2013 in Currents by Deborah Bach
The Tacoma Fire Department, U.S. Coast Guard and Washington Department of Ecology were responding to the sinking of two vessels moored at Mason Marina on the Hylebos Waterway near Tacoma early Friday.
The abandoned Helena Star and Golden West were chained together when they sank Friday morning. An oil containment boom was placed around both vessels to prevent possible pollution from any fuel that may remain inside. Most of the fuel was removed from the vessels last March to help limit the potential for pollution.
thom said on January 28, 2013
There is a procedure for getting “permission” from DNR to have a legal permanent moorage location.
Anybody here do that?????????
Robert Bruce Blumenstein said on January 28, 2013
I believe only the Marinas can do that, with the state, in Poulsbo. I will ask DNR for any new private moorage. I have private shoreline property next to where I was anchored out in Liberty Bay. Good idea if I could do that.
Pamela Benson said on January 29, 2013
Robert,
You can get permit for a DNR/State/County approved mooring. It is a bit of a bear to go thru the process, but I recommend it. If you live on the water, you will have no issue. I had my helix buoy installed four years ago. It makes it easier if you hire some one to handle the *entire* process, navigating the permit process (four difference government agencies), and ultimately having a secure/safe buoy installed. I hired a Poulsbo area guy and it was a breeze. Message me and I will give you his name and phone number if you like.
Rick said on March 2, 2013
Hello,
We live on Henderson Bay in Gig Harbor. We are looking into getting a 50 ft boat and mooring it in front of our home. I have looked into the Helix systems and what might be needed for a permit. Can you help me out with any information you have. It would be a big help.
Thank you,
Rick
Deborah Bach said on March 4, 2013
Hi Rick,
I would suggest contacting Lisa Randlette with DNR. She has been working with boaters and the community to establish an authorized mooring buoy field in Quartermaster Harbor. She would likely know what’s required for a permit and how to go about getting one.
Her email address is lisa.randlette@dnr.wa.gov
js said on February 3, 2013
Where I am moored in Pierce County, neither I or any of my neighbors have ever applied for permission from any agency to install a private mooring and most moorings here have been in use for at least 20 years. Of course, we are not just across the water from an incorporated entity so that may or may not make a difference. If it were up to me, I’d install the mooring and eschew the permitting process. You may or may not be confronted by overzealous enforcement, but as the saying goes, it’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission.
Pamela Benson said on February 4, 2013
JS, I opted for the permitting process solely because here in South Sound, Pierce County specifically, some non-permitted buoys had been pulled by the DNR because of complaints by some residents for a variety of weird and weak reasons objecting to moorings. At the time I went thru the process (4 years ago) there was NO FEE for the permit(s)/permissions, just a lot of paperwork to be filed. As I stated above, the man I hired to install my helix mooring handled the process as part of his fee. I would have hate to have the government pull my expensive mooring because I didn’t go thru the process. Just prior to my installation moorings were being pulled in several areas around Bainbridge Island, and not just in Eagle or Blakely Harbors. So I opted on the side of permits…had I dropped a large anchor and attached a mooring ball I might not have.
js said on January 27, 2013
Mr Blumenstein should consider a future anchoring site beyond the Poulsbo city limits thus removing himself from the scrutiny of Poulsbo law enforcement. While more inconvenient and further from the dock, anchoring in Kitsap County waters would eliminate all this hand-wringing and angst.
JS
Robert Bruce Blumenstein said on January 28, 2013
Sounds good to me. The City does not want the bay filling up with anchored out boats because of last season. The city police boat patrol is on everybody these days on Liberty Bay. Be smart and come to the guest dock or do a quick look see and go.
Daniel said on January 27, 2013
Bruce,
I would assume your situation is just a simple human error. The officer had probably noticed your vessel in that location a number of times and thus assumed it had been abandoned. A vessel’s appearance or seaworthiness is not the only criteria for the derelict boat program so I would assume he categorized your vessel this way based purely on the assumption it had been abandoned.
I’m sure if you work through the proper channels you can get off the list. However, I would just laugh it off and not worry about it. I assume you don’t like being on the list given the potential for seizure. If that is the case I wouldn’t fret about it too much. Ultimately if the USCG or a State ran program wanted to take your boat they can, there are hundreds of reasons that can justify a vessel being marshaled / seized (some as simple as not having insurance).
In the end it comes down to prioritizing the level of risk the ship represents. Based off of your description I would say you don’t represent a risk. I assure you there are many (if not hundreds) vessels above yours that actually represent a serious risk. What is unfortunate is that the groups like DNR only have enough funding to dispose of maybe one ship every year. My point here is that it will take up to a century before they could even justify using their limited funds to get such lower risk vessels off the water.
I speak with it a little confidence here as the company I work for has done the disposal for DNR in the past. Trust me, the vessels we have recycled for them SHOULD NOT BE ON THE WATER. They State only goes for the worst vessel, many of which barley made it to the recycling yard given their total lack of seaworthiness.
In the case of the above story… I used to play on the Helena Star (when I was six or seven) when my Father would take me to work in the shipyards after school or on the weekends. 25 years ago that ship had trees growing out of it and decks that you could fall through if you didn’t watch your step. Both vessels mentioned above were on the list yet had not made the final cut for actual disposal given budgetary constraints. The system the state uses to choose what vessel’s need to be off the water works. These two vessel just add an explanation point to it.
Think about it this way. Had the state recycled the two ships above it would cost tax payers “X” amount. Now that one sank, it’s going to cost tax payers two times “X”. This does not take into account any environmental damage that may take place. This is an issue the State knows they are up against and underlines the importance of the derelict programs.
So to sum it up, don’t loose sleep over your vessel being on the list.
Pierre LaRochelle said on January 27, 2013
I was on the USCGC Yocona in 1978 when the Helena Star was taken into custody west of Cape Flattery and towed to Pier 37. She was busted with 48 tons of pot on-board. I’m surprised that after so long a time the State of Washington is now the caretaker of this derelict vessel.
Robert Bruce Blumenstein said on January 27, 2013
Impoundment here at the Port of Poulsbo gets your boat locked up. Eventually if the owner can’t pay on time the boat becomes the Port’s asset and then they can do what they want with it. Sometimes there is an auction period and the boat goes away from the marina even if it’s a chore to keep it afloat. I watched one like that get towed away…the gentlemen were going to part it out on the reservation they said.
The other choice is the Port will sell the impounded boat to someone agreeing to buy it for a doller sometimes more. Iwatched that happen several months ago. The beginner boat captain anchored in up from the marina outside the breakwater. Next day the wind blew and it draged anchor into Helens boat. I came to help and stabilized the wayward boat while the sheriff and the Port helpers came out and rescued things. Recently that boat was part of the derelict boat round-up and dissapeared behind a group removed to some salvager. That new owner racked up fines faster than a monopoly game beyond his luck. We all pay for that nonsense.
Daniel said on January 29, 2013
Pierre,
HA! No way, I used to hear storied of that drug bust. I was told that at the time that was one of the largest busts to take place on the water…?? Then again these stories were normally told to me over beers at the Sloop and I assume a certain level of embellishment took place… ha ha ha ha.
From what I understand the Ship came into fuel at Ballard Oil. They filled it up under the direction of the authorities (as they did not want to bust the ship at that location). In the end Ballard Oil got stiffed the bill and ultimately purchased the ship at auction, sold their fuel off of it, and made there money back. Got to love the full circle of the marine industry! I would love to hear your take on it. Oh, and I should clarify Ballard no longer owns the ship (hasn’t for some time).
The state may or may not have custody of the Helena now, I’m not sure. The vessel was purchased a couple years ago as scrap. I’m sure it was one of those $1 deals in an attempt to make the ship go away. If the owner can be found technically he / she is responsible for the hull recovery cost. However I would not be surprised if by default the state has to pick up the bill. Such is normally the case in these type of scenarios.
Now and again someone gets the great idea to scrap these ships themselves in an attempt to make some cash off the sale of the materials. What people fail to realize is… its very rarely possible. Additionally, on these old vessels you run into contaminants like PCB’s and asbestos which very few people think about (if built before the 80′s be warned). This is the third ship I have witnessed in the last 3 years where they were sold to an individual with dreams of getting rich scrapping a vessel. All three sank weeks or months later and the state / tax payers had to step in and remove the marine casualty and ultimately dispose of the vessel.
If money was to be made buying and scrapping vessels (this applies to the US only) then shipyards in Seattle / Washington would be doing this themselves. Unfortunately its not doable and thus these ships sit until they sink or tax payers pay to have them removed. The latter option being the best (for the tax payers). In the end this is the only real outcome and thus the importance of the state’s programs for removal.
I know I’m rambling on here and very few people really care my opinion so I’ll wrap it up with one more thought! The marine assets in our area are generally consolidating. Multiple fishing vessels are grouping together quotas into single ships and so on and so forth. Think about the issue the area will have 25 years from now with all these older generational commercial vessels building up? I can only see issues of older vessel’s sinking continuing to compound as time moves on. The state is doing its best but funding is crippling their ability to keep up.
I obviously support the states initiative to getting these ships off the water.
Robert Bruce Blumenstein said on January 27, 2013
Thank you for this imformation. The problem I see is that a police officer is sending these ‘derelict’ documents to the state, and also is issuing violation tickets at the whim of what he believes.
There seems to be no protocal other than the DNR vessel removal program. This program is so broad reaching and tecnically not clear or concise enough. left to the extreams of the immagination any police officer in Poulsbo can pin the violation on any way they personally want to.
Consequently any boat unattended at anchor, when they come out perhaps every Thursday early morning, gets a GPS location and the owners boat license number.
I have never been out there when they do this and it would be easy for me to believe they never attend to this. Nor do they see me aboard and they assume I anchor there 24-7 !!
An officer can also be directed by a Port commisionor to ‘Get that boat off my view’.
I am contacting my two representatives in WA State legislature, my federal government and Millisa with the DNR: to gather and educate myself to just how this enforcement is being standarzised in the police manual if there even is a code of conduct here.
Pamela Benson said on January 26, 2013
Bruce,
How did you find out you were on the list? And what was the response of the mayor when you spoke with him?
Pamela
Robert Bruce Blumenstein said on January 27, 2013
Pamela, Becky Erickson is the Mayor of Poulsbo. She told me she has to implement the State of Washington laws, and has no say or responsibility other than haveing the police do their job.
I was able to obtain an official report from the police department. In that report I found that the police are keeping a binder with pictures of derelict boats. My SV Wind Rose unbeknownst to me is in that binder.
The Mayor said she can make no waiver of that stattus. She suggested, as did the police, that I stay in my slip at the dock.
Robert Bruce Blumenstein said on January 26, 2013
RE: DNR has created an inventory of derelict and abandoned vessels in the waters of Washington State. In addition, criteria have been developed to prioritize these vessels for removal. Because the funding of the derelict vessel removal account is limited each year, these criteria include consideration of environmental protection, threats to human health and safety, as well as threats to navigation, so the most damaging vessels can be removed first.
As an active local sailboat owner residing in Poulsbo Washington, my 27 ft. sailboat vessel, I discovered yesterday, is on the Poulsbo Police Department Vessel Removal Program. Pictures and my (owners) information are contained in the derelict vessel binder at the police department.
On Jan 24, 2013 after returning from sailing just as I have done over the years, an officer Dave Gesell # 616 observed from shore that my boat was the same boat that has been a regular in and around Liberty Bay over the past few years.
By what protocols or standard procedure do authorities have to determine a boat to be in disrepair/ derelict, perhaps unattended/abandoned.
My boat is the well kept and maintained vessel. I oversee it regularly and sail many days of the week. I do not live aboard the boat at night, nor do I call myself a live aboard anchored out. I am an active resident of Poulsbo and work in the community. I live here.
Now it seems this police department is well within its requirements to have me expelled from the area or impound my “derelict” boat merely by assuming I anchor out over time too much and assigning me with the derelict category.
I talked with the City Mayor who must enforce the rules. Most of the local boats here have violated their anchor out times especially during the summer when they have to leave the visitors docks. I’m one of the very few that sail all winter long and visit the dock at Poulsbo Marina for picking up supplies or friends/family.
I have reviewed the DNR vessel removal program and boats such as mine do not meet that derelict description. So to sum up….
What format is the officer using as a guideline other than he thinks I’m not around and have abandoned my boat? And where is a form I can submit to have the derelict category removed? Otherwise all the boats here are derelict due to environmental protection, threats to human health and safety, as well as threats to navigation. Where is the balance for a normal boat???
Thank you, Bruce