Who does the USCG call when they see a boat adrift?
In a surprise to no one, except possibly the agencies responsible for patrolling and safeguarding the Oakland-Alameda Estuary, a boat that was reportedly anchored off Coast Guard Island has finally joined the swelling ranks of wrecks along the Oakland shoreline. After several months at anchor near the island, the boat dragged anchor and came adrift a week ago Saturday night and has been drifting, dragging, and aground in the Estuary ever since.
With her cabin flooded in the rising tide, this abandoned vessel is now awaiting removal from the Estuary.
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Michael Severson commented on our FB page, “The boat in the picture was anchored inside the buoys near Coast Guard Island. Either the storm or the owner moved it out into the middle of the channel last Thursday. On Sunday, she blew/drifted up into the shallows off Brooklyn Basin. She was still floating at high tide and [lay] over on her hull for four days. Yesterday [Friday] morning, she had swung around and grounded hard on the rocks. At 1545, after numerous patrols had raced by, a Coast Guard boat finally approached to within 50 yards and called out to the boat repeatedly over the loudspeaker. No appearance of anyone on deck.”
There was more than ample time for any responsible agency to prevent this sinking.
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“This morning as high tide returned, she did not float, but had water over the rail laid over. She has now moved from a navigation hazard to an environmental catastrophe. Fingers will be pointed in all directions in a bureaucratic dance with no one taking responsibility. A sad commentary on our city, county, state and federal government and marine agencies.”
How many more sinkings will it take before agencies start to act?
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Another observer kept tabs on the abandoned boat’s track as she drifted around the Estuary. “This boat had been anchored off the west end of Coast Guard Island for several months. It pulled anchor and drifted into the center of the Estuary across from Encinal Yacht Club last Saturday night [a week ago]. It remained adrift with anchor still dragging in the center of the Estuary all day Sunday. After dark Sunday night, a contingent of Oakland firefighters ashore with several trucks and a vessel on the water with red lights appeared to move it closer to shore in the inlet at Brooklyn basin in front of the new apartment complex. The jib came unfurled sometime Sunday night in the wind and the boat went to shore Monday and grounded on her port side when the tide went out.
“Odds were she’d swing around and go starboard-side-down and fill with water with the next tidal cycle, but luckily that did not happen, and she remained afloat. She’s anchored far enough from shore to keep from going to ground at present. We’re not sure who her owner is, but there is no one on the vessel most of the time. The rigging is all broken and the starboard spreader is hanging down. Not sure what her fate will be at this point.”
She spent several days aground before refloating, only to go aground again and sink for good.
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If we understand the bureaucracies, with the boat firmly sunk on the shoreline, the Coast Guard is free of any responsibility. When the boat was afloat, the Coast Guard did see it, and tried to contact the boat without success. For whatever reason, they don’t see it as their responsibility and wouldn’t know what to do with an unoccupied boat adrift on the Estuary. Also, like every other concerned citizen around the Estuary, they don’t know whom to call or how to address the problem. It is now up to the Port and City of Oakland to dispose of this new wreck, which was afloat for several months and adrift for days. This will dramatically raise the cost of disposal.
Like this sailboat that was afloat yet adrift on the Estuary, the various government agencies appear to lack a “captain” with leadership and the ability to prevent this easily avoided environmental and economic disaster. With clear weather and flat seas on the protected Estuary, any agency only needed to impound and secure a bow and stern line to prevent this sinking. It’s more easily said than done, but given the many years of these recurring sinkings, one would think a solution would be available.
Nationwide, there remains a large volume of abandoned fiberglass boats that former owners have left behind in marinas and other places without any system or funding to solve the problem. Imagine you were the “good Samaritan” and decided to take the boat in tow. What would you do?