Wreckage
by Ian Alexander
“I was alone on a 38-foot steel Ingrid and I got in a storm and everything went wrong,” Bellingham resident Lance Amann said about the time he lost a sailboat at sea.
As the storm worsened, water and air became trapped in the fuel tank, rendering it useless and leaving Amann reliant on the winds. As he maneuvered toward land, the 60-mph winds shook the sails uncontrollably. When he finally neared shore, the waves crushed Amann’s boat on the rocks, which ripped a hole through the hull.
“I looked down and saw the water coming up and I watched the boat sink to the bottom,” Amann said. “I didn’t have time to get anything. I got so freaked out I did this mountain man thing for 10 years — far away from the sea.”
Amann said he moved away from the sea, built a cabin in the woods and worked on a farm in Georgia. But falling in love with a woman and starting a family reminded him of his love of the sea. He wanted his kids to experience the ocean so he and his family moved to the Pacific Northwest 21 years ago.
He now builds multi-hulled boats, which are more difficult to sink.
Amann’s experience and the broken hull lying in the waters of Bellingham Bay just below Marine Drive are testaments to the raw power of the sea. But sunken vessels also pose a threat to marine waters. Filled with fuels, heavy metals and coated with toxic paints, sunken boats pose serious threats to the ecosystems of Bellingham Bay.
Dave Warter, operations manager for Squalicum and Blaine harbors, said at least one boat sinks in either harbor each year.
“The real concern of ours is any release of petroleum products — lube oil, diesel and hydraulic fluid,” Warter said.
He said the owner of the boat is always responsible for clean up, although many do not have the resources to clean up the spills and raise the sunken vessel, leaving the Port or Coast Guard to salvage the boat.
In 2001 and 2002, the Washington State Legislature passed two bills regarding derelict vessels. One provided the Department of Natural Resources with statutory authority to remove and dispose of derelict vessels; the other created a fund to finance those actions. Boat owners must now pay an additional $2 for annual boat registration and an additional $5 for foreign vessel identification. DNR defines a derelict vessel as any vessel illegally left in state-owned waters for seven consecutive days, that is threatening life or property, in danger of sinking or already sunk.
Prior to the legislation, no state body had statutory authority to address derelict vessels. The United States Coast Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers have federal authority to deal with vessels only when they pose a significant threat to the environment or navigable waterways. DNR was forced to rely on owners or trespass and nuisance laws to initiate vessel removal, which often meant boats were left to degrade and damage the environment.
Sarah Wilson, program manager for the Derelict Vessel Removal Program, said the program establishes a hierarchy system to help remove the most potentially harmful vessels first.
“There are quite a few potentially nasty chemicals on vessels — especially diesel and petroleum products,” Wilson said. “Lots of boats have PCBs in them, lots of hull paints can be up to 76 percent heavy metals.”
According the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, although diesel can quickly degrade, it can kill fish, invertebrates and seaweed that comes into direct contact with spills. Diesel can also be fatal to birds if ingested and can cause hypothermia if their feathers become matted from the fuel.
At 59, Amann has seen his share of rough seas and raging storms, but despite the dangers of boats above or beneath the water, he said he loves the freedom he has on the ocean.
Amann said he still sails around the San Juan Islands and is interested in talking about multi-hulled boats with anyone. Well aware of the damage a sunken boat can cause to both people and the environment, Amann keeps a close eye on the weather and meticulously maintains his boats.
