Sunk boat pulled from river

Two boats were left anchored off Piermont this winter. During the one cold snap the power boat sank and overturned. No doubt the bilge water and pump froze so she filled enough to back flood through some hull fitting.

Riverkeeper investigated locally to find which marina had moored the boat. In partnership with Piermont Police Department Riverkeeper contacted the marina operator who at first denied ownership or responsibility. He said that the boat had been taken by a title search company and that the prior owners had moored it off the town for the winter to avoid storage fees.

The title search company did not return calls from Riverkeeper.

Riverkeeper persuaded the marina operator that it was very much in his best interest to refloat the wreck and haul it ashore to prevent a very imminent DEC spill response team response and subsequent law suit to recover costs for remediation and recovery.

3/8/08

The boat was refloated by the marina operator. The cabin is crushed because the boat overturned in shallow water and at low tide the cabin top was hitting the bottom.

3/12/08

Boat has been hauled ashore.

As a good will gesture to the marina RK arranged for free disposal of the wreck through our relationship with "Keep Rockland Beautiful".

The marina removed the fuel tank, engine, stern drive and all fluids - all items prohibited at the dump/transfer station. We are pleased that the wreck was quickly salvaged. This event sets a new, higher standard of marina responsibility in Piermont.

Patrol boat repairs

Winter service. Repairing port side deck.

Other projects:
Sand and paint underside of wheelhouse to Sand and paint transom Remove and replace interior hull ceiling in head and main cabin to gain access to inside of hull planking.

Remove port and starboard windshields and fit temporary replacement. Full replacement windshields are on order for future installation.

Rot in deck, half beam, deck clamp and frame end on port side.

This was hidden by fiberglass deck sheathing and only a small of water was visible below deck. The water migrated to the joint in the plywood deck panel from under the toe rail at a fastener.

We'll laminate the deck repair to eliminate the joint - creating one continuous panel.

Opening joint in plywood deck on port side after removing fiberglass deck sheathing.

The joint forward of this one has started to rot (above photo). We're going to glue this one up so that there will be no seam for water to enter - it'll all be one continuous panel.

I'm also refastening the entire port side deck forward of the working deck.

Petersen's boatyard carpenter Lee Roach helping with deck repair.

He's also replacing the interior hull ceiling so that we have access to the hull for future service. The old ceiling was nailed on and blocked access. The new pieces will be screwed on for ease of removal.

We need access to the inside of the hull planking to begin refastening the planking butts -see pattern of heavy fasteners through butt blocks.