HARPSWELL — A pair of sunken vessels are creating a potential hazard in Harpswell, as commercial and recreational boating activity ramps up in the warmer weather.
Last week, Harpswell selectmen voted to notify the two owners to remove them – or the town’s harbormaster will do so at their expense.
“It’s really a formality at this point,” Harbormaster Paul Plummer said Monday. “We’ve made every attempt to contact these people.”
The first vessel, the Brigadoon, appears to have sunk in Middle Bay in December 2017 or January. Plummer said that he was in contact with the owner, Steve Harris, back in November 2017 and was told that he would remove it. The vessel stayed there throughout the winter, however, before ice helped sink it.
Since November, Plummer has been unable to contact Harris in any manner. According to the harbormaster, the owner’s phone has been disconnected, his employer has fired him and municipal offices have no contact information.
The second vessel is owned by Alex King, according to the harbormaster. That vessel sank near Leavitt Island, and is currently very close to the channel boaters use to access Oakhurst Island. At low tide, the cabin is exposed; it remains submerged at high tide, though an entangled float is helping boaters stay clear.
“We are starting to reach a time of year where the vessel absolutely needs to be removed,” Plummer said in a memo to selectmen. “It’s only a matter of time before this vessel poses a serious risk to other mariners.”
According to the harbormaster, King has told him that he is financially unable to remove the vessel.
As this is his first year as harbormaster, Plummer said he wasn’t sure how regular of an occurrence this is in Harpswell. A third vessel that sank off Harpswell this year was quickly removed by the owners within days when notified in March, he said.
According to Plummer, the industry standard for raising sunken vessels is $200 a foot. He said he suspects the fishing vessel near Leavitt Island is 42 feet in length, and the sailing vessel in Middle Bay is between 26 and 28 feet.
Under the Harpswell Harbor and Waterfront Ordinance, the owners have 15 business days to remove the sunken vessels.
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