EVERETT — Stuck in the muck for years, the old wooden fishing boat disintegrated on contact.
The 60-footer, abandoned long ago near the mouth of Deadwater Slough east of downtown Everett, was one of seven boats removed from local waterways this fall. It was part of a state Department of Natural Resources program to dispose of derelict boats throughout the state.
“It was too rotten to pick up whole,” said Melissa Ferris, manager of the DNR’s Derelict Vessel Removal Program. “They used a clam shell, which is a big metal clamping bucket.”
Seattle-based contractor Global Diving &Salvage performed the work in late September and early October.
Two boats were seaworthy enough to float down to the Everett Marina for demolition, but the other five were too far gone, Ferris said. They were pulled apart and deposited by the crane, in scraps, into a barge packed with dumpsters.
In addition to being eyesores, the boats can pose an environmental danger and a hazard to navigation, if they break lose. Fuel leaks and asbestos, especially in older boats, are common problems.
Money for the work came from a $4.5 million appropriation from the Legislature.
“That was just a one-time appropriation to deal with some of the backlog of vessels,” Ferris said.
Normally, the program gets by on about $1.6 million per year, she said. The money comes from boat-registration fees and leases on state-owned aquatic lands.
The seven boats removed here cost $388,000, including legal work. That used up almost all of the money for this area.
“That’s why we didn’t end up removing more,” Ferris said. “We know there are a lot more to go up there.”
Athletes with the Everett Rowing Association appreciated the cleanup. To them, the changes are obvious, since they’re on the water just about every day.
“There’s quite a few more to go, but it was a very noticeable chunk of the total number that are back there,” said Padraic McGovern, the association’s executive director.
Another rower, Bill Jaquette, said he always laments the abandoned boats as he passed through the Snohomish River and adjoining sloughs.
“It’s a really a beautiful area and it’s a shame that people do that,” Jaquette said. “It got worse recently. I think it may have been part of the economic situation.”
Over the past 10 years, he watched the worsening condition of a wooden pleasure cruiser moored at a dock on Steamboat Slough.
“There was this elegant old boat that kind of deteriorated over the years,” he said. “And it sank.”
Now it’s gone.
DNR has disposed of more than 500 abandoned boats since 2006.
This summer, the 167-foot Helena Star came up from Tacoma’s Commencement Bay. A 100-foot tugboat called “The Murph” was hoisted up in early November from Quartermaster Harbor off Vashon Island.
The state also started a vessel turn-in program. Since going into effect May 1, the DNR has removed and destroyed 19 boats that owners gave up voluntarily, Ferris said. Five of those came from Snohomish County.
For now, that program is limited to boats of less than 45 feet. To participate, people must have a valid title to the boat.
One Everett-area boat that remains in place is the Elusive Dream, which capsized in Steamboat Slough in 2009. DNR staff posted a notice of removal on the boat, but the owner got in touch to say he has other plans.
“We had a good talk with him about what he needed to do,” Ferris said.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.
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