In an effort to prevent derelict vessels from breaking apart on shorelines, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office may increase its patrols from a monthly basis to every week.
Port of Port …
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In an effort to prevent derelict vessels from breaking apart on shorelines, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office may increase its patrols from a monthly basis to every week.
Port of Port Townsend Commissioner Steve Tucker spoke about the changes during the Sept. 13 port meeting.
Tucker said the Jefferson County Marine Resources Committee works hard to protect shorelines, and said it is “disappointing” when a boat breaks up on shore.
“So, we’re going to try to get a map, so that people that really are wanting to keep their boat anchored instead of just store it … ‘we don’t want to have to pay for it’ … will actually be able to move around and stay within the law.”
He said the map could show where boaters could anchor their vessels for one month. They would be required to move the boat every month, “and you can’t be any one place more than three months out of the year. That’s basically the rule. We didn’t have any monitoring before. Now we’re going to have monitoring.
“And the way that’s going to keep boats from breaking up on the rocks is that people have to look at it every month, and lines won’t chafe and anchors won’t drag and stuff like that,” Tucker said.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
He said the sheriff’s department has agreed to do weekly patrols, but added that it will need volunteers in order to support the work, for safety reasons.
“At this meeting, I got to hear some scary stories of actually contacting people and telling [boat owners] they’ve got to move their boat, and they get pretty angry. That’s why you have two people,” Tucker said.
“I’m not trying to torment these people … I just don’t want their boats to break up on the rocks. We’ve got two broken-up boats on the rocks ... now.”
Tucker said there was a citation with a penalty of $99 per month for violations, along with a larger fine for more flagrant violations. He said there is also a state law that could be improved in the future that allows a fine of 160 percent of the cost of the nearest moorage for boats in violation.
The state Department of Natural Resources runs a program for turning in vessels, which allows owners of vessels 45 feet or longer that are in poor condition to be eligible to have their boat dismantled before it becomes a problem. Qualifying owners pay no charge for turning in their boats to the program.
