36 Replies to "Followup: Troubled trimaran now beached along Beach Drive"

• nwesterne February 14, 2013 (12:25 pm)

  That trimaran left from O Dock @ Shilshole Bay Marina yesterday. It was in extremely poor shape. The guy was trying to tow it to Tacoma. Still trying to figure out why he had couches on the deck.

• CP February 14, 2013 (12:30 pm)

  Michelle should immediately call the coast guard at 217-6200. This is not a normal occurrence and if this boat drifts again it will be a hazard to navigation. Also question the logic in letting a stranger “sleep it off” after almost sinking his boat in a residential / populated area.

  • WSB February 14, 2013 (12:37 pm)

    Police have responded AND the boat owner has spoken with the Coast Guard, per the police (who we talked to a little while ago, after going back down for a firsthand look) and correspondence with Michelle. Owner has left there but is due back at high tide. Adding all this to the update.

• CP February 14, 2013 (12:38 pm)

  Good news – thanks, Tracy.

• bamboo February 14, 2013 (1:11 pm)

  HA! this was on craigslist last week for free. My buddy took a picture of it (the couch) while still at the dock at Shilshole and sent it to me and a bunch of other friends …now the thing is in the news. It was destined to fail.

• Westside J. February 14, 2013 (1:54 pm)

  Is the other boat in the first picture part of the equation? Some one said he was trying to tow the trimaran? Any word on what happened?

  • WSB February 14, 2013 (2:04 pm)

    Here’s what BDB reported yesterday – and yes, the smaller boat is somehow related, you’ll see it in their photo:
    .
    http://beachdriveblog.com/2013/02/sailboat-taking-water.html
    .
    Don’t know anything beyond that, so far. We have not seen the owner in person to ask him.

• Sailorgary February 14, 2013 (2:07 pm)

  I hope the skipper had the sense ro put an anchor out to prevent further damage.

• valvashon February 14, 2013 (2:21 pm)

  Take a look at the second picture on the Beach Drive blog. That thing’s a real peach.

• michelle February 14, 2013 (2:48 pm)

  He had fallen in the water and was hypothermic so I brought him in to warm him up and then he fell asleep drinking tea. I’m from Alaska, you warm them up then ask questions :) Perhaps 911 would have been a good second choice…hindsight and all.

  That said the Coast Guard, Harbor Police and Seattle Police Department have all been called but no one can do anything.

• Stephanie February 14, 2013 (2:53 pm)

  Bamboo, I saw it on Craigslist last week too! I was wondering if it was the same one. The whole thing is fishy…..couches on deck? Towing by a much smaller vessel? Captain sleeping? Was he doing this by himself? Jeeze, when the tide does finally come in, the way that it sits now, it will run right into the deck of the apartments! And to top it all off, that will be in the middle of the night. I would bet neither boat has navigation lights.

• Rhonda Porter February 14, 2013 (3:15 pm)

  Yikes… I’ll update our post with a link back – Tracy. We assumed he fixed everything the last time my husband talked to the captain.

• Kit February 14, 2013 (3:19 pm)

  Michelle – you are a kind soul and did exactly what I would have done under the circumstances. Hypothermia is nothing to mess around with. Presumably, this guy is doing the best he can with the resources at hand, whether it makes sense to others or not.

  Best way to get a free couch to Tacoma? on the boat you’re already dragging there – that’s efficiency!

  Hope all goes well,the rising tide safely lifts this boat and her couch and her person and that the current aids in their travel to Tacoma.

• Rumbles February 14, 2013 (3:31 pm)

  I just noticed, there are two couches!! Party boat!

• sw February 14, 2013 (4:00 pm)

  “The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down…”

• OT February 14, 2013 (4:04 pm)

  The guy WAS alone when he left Shilshole. He was ill-prepared with way too little clothing and a very jerry-rigged setup for towing/steering both vessels at the same time. His plan was to tow it to Tacoma, but he didn’t even leave the dock @ Shilshole till after noon. He’s lucky to be alive. Rumor has it the Port of Seattle apparently set the ball rolling with this whole fiasco by giving the boat away for free. That’s a story for someone else to look into. They had workers on the dock for his departure to keep him from running into other boats on the way out.

• Gilligan February 14, 2013 (4:46 pm)

  I remember when the Skipper had some trouble like that with the Minnow. All on a three hour tour!

• Cyrus February 14, 2013 (5:25 pm)

  I saw this guy down at Shilshole with a tow sticker on his van and the power boat full of furniture. Had to see what was next, marina attendant shows up and said he was buying a boat. Came back up an hour later and he was loading furniture onto the Tri, had a couch on a dock cart by himself. Still cracking up.

• Rhonda Porter February 14, 2013 (5:53 pm)

  I wonder if he has warm dry clothes? It’s going to be cold waiting for the Coast Guard.

• anti-obstruction February 14, 2013 (6:53 pm)

  “… a three-hour tour…”

• Scupper February 14, 2013 (8:31 pm)

  He’s going to try and make some fiberglass repairs on the next couple of low tides but is concerned the resin won’t cure due to temp. Saturday is forecasted to be blowing up to 25 knots from the SW. I’m worried about this dude. Update on http://beachdriveblog.com/2013/02/the-high-and.html

  • WSB February 14, 2013 (8:49 pm)

    Thanks, Scupper!

• eaglewatch February 14, 2013 (9:27 pm)

  This boat was a neighbor of mine at Shilshole. It had been built by a guy who never got it out of Puget Sound and recently it was taken over by the guy’s son. I believe the son found out that the boat was worthless but would cost him $1000’s to properly dispose of it, so I suspect it was given away to escape the liability. There is always the “greater fool” as they say.

  Sad to say, there are many other boats out there in similar condition at Shilshole and elsewhere that are potential hazards waiting to happen, either by sinking and rolling over at the dock, burning due to bad wiring, auto bilge pumps putting oil into the water, etc. It’s always a balance to strike between personal property rights and protection of public and private marinas and surrounding environment, but in my view the Port should have dealt with this problem boat a long time ago.

• Uncle Joe February 14, 2013 (11:16 pm)

  If this issue began with the city giving away a boat they should bear some responsibility for the beached trimoron.

• Eddie February 15, 2013 (6:28 am)

  $10,000 fine for any (I mean any) release of oil into the waterways.

• Tony S February 15, 2013 (9:00 am)

  http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020216687_vesselssinkxml.html

  This is a HUGE problem that’s bedeviling regulatory AND tax payers. Let alone the environmental damage that is created by morons like this guy trying to haul away this useless junker. Hoarders in their own homes are generally only a hazard to themselves. Boat hoarders are putting our waterways and tax base at risk. I agree the previous owner bears some culpability for giving it away free, but the person who thought they could tow this junker to Tacoma was ill-prepared and none too smart. I’m sure he’s also pretty much peniless, which means we pick up the tab for the disposal of this useless scow.

• wetone February 15, 2013 (9:15 am)

  Boat has no engine or fuel onboard from what I was told by owner last fall when it was posted on craiglist for free ? This is strictly a case of someone with big dreams and no experience. Boat was fair shape with some good rigging, alot of potential in the right hands, but needed a few easy things done before leaving the dock. 99% of boating disasters it is the owners or capt’n at fault as in this case. I don’t see a happy ending on this as of last night he had not started patching holes as needed and is running out of time very quickly and will need help as he does not have the proper experience for his dream to continue.

• Rhonda Porter February 15, 2013 (3:28 pm)

  any update on the coast guard? Are they going to help this fella and the boat?

  • WSB February 15, 2013 (3:33 pm)

    You know, I need an excuse to get back out in the sunshine – we were about to take a walk when the Seaview burglary arrest broke out. Will go down and see what’s up. – TR

  • WSB February 15, 2013 (4:13 pm)

    Update of sorts – someone just sent me a note saying the guy “got stuck this morning” and needs anyone who can help, to help. I wrote back to explain this is actually his third day beached on Beach Drive. The photo she sent shows the boat still on the rocks by Harbor West. And now I see your tweet …

• eaglewatch February 15, 2013 (3:44 pm)

  I believe that this vessel sank at the dock at least once while at Shilshole. I doubt if a poorly maintained boat like this had much value beyond some deck hardware and scrap metal. One way or another it’s headed for a landfill or the bottom of Puget Sound. Let’s hope it’s the former.

• soosan February 15, 2013 (9:34 pm)

  Perhaps WS has just acquired its own version of the Kalakala…

• Captain RiChard February 15, 2013 (11:41 pm)

  Interesting reading about myself, glad I was told about this. Quite an important story goes with this situation, additional and as yet not even mentioned…

• J February 16, 2013 (12:08 am)

  Do tell…

• OT February 16, 2013 (11:45 am)

  The only “important story” here is what happens after the boat sinks out there. (I.E.: how the owner will be fined for polluting our sound with his bad idea-$$ or years of community service if he’s indeed broke)

• Captain RiChard February 18, 2013 (5:01 am)

  Want to thank those who saved me and those who helped me. I was told very nice people read this, as already proven, and to ask for help here. I do not know how to do that, I can barely think at 4 AM, after so little sleep all week, as I get ready to save what is left of my red boat if at all possible this morning. Help would be greatly appreciated to do that. Thank you all so much.

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