PORT ANGELES — On Feb. 16, Franklin Gasper’s sinking boat will become the public’s problem.
That’s when the Montana Drifter, a 36-foot boat that has been wedged on rocks near the Rayonier mill site at the end of Ennis Creek since a December storm, will be declared derelict if Gasper does not move it out of the Port Angeles Harbor, according to the state Department of Natural Resources.
Gasper, who goes by the name of Montana Gasper, said he will not move it.
“I don’t have the money to salvage it,” he said.
Once the boat is declared derelict, it will be up to the Port of Port Angeles, city of Port Angeles and DNR to decide how it should be removed from the harbor, said Jeffrey Schreck, aquatic lands manager for the Department of Natural Resources.
DNR will reimburse up to 90 percent of the cost of removing abandoned vessels, he said.
A letter from DNR dated Dec. 17 was delivered to Gasper on Jan. 17.
The declaration of the boat as derelict is to be made 30 days after Gasper received the letter, Schreck said.
The letter also says that Gasper is being fined $8.11 per day until the boat is moved out of Port Angeles Harbor.
Gasper said he is helpless.
“I live on $396 a month after bills,” he said, adding his income is from Social Security.
Gasper also said he no longer owns the Montana Drifter, having given it to a man named Don whom he met in a restaurant lounge on Marine Drive.
“I met him at Castaways. I asked him if he wanted it, and I gave it to him right there,” Gasper said.
Gasper doesn’t know the man’s last name, and said he has no record of the transaction.
“I’ve been trying to find him, and I can’t. I don’t know where he is,” Gasper said.
Gasper said a man named Roy — whose last name he doesn’t know– gave him the Montana Drifter in exchange for a car.
Gasper had lived aboard the Montana Drifter until it began sinking after a Dec. 14 storm.
Gasper’s present boat, which he lives upon, is also a gift, he said, adding that the donor wanted to remain anonymous.
The Drifter is moored off City Pier, he said.
New boat must be moved
But it can’t stay there, Schreck said.
Gasper, along with other owners of small vessels now anchored in Port Angeles harbor, will be required to remove it from the harbor.
“I feel bad for the guy, but if they started going adrift, it could be a dangerous situation for other vessels, him and potentially they could wash up on the beach, which would be a really bad situation.”
The Montana Drifter was one of three boats grounded on the shores of the harbor during a Dec. 14 storm.
The owners of the other two boats were quickly salvaged and anchored in the harbor.
Gasper, who was living aboard the boat when the storm hit, moved it offshore and anchored it in the harbor. It has holes in its hull, is resting on rocks in the water and is sinking.
A group of people led by Jay Ketchum of Affordable Services of Sequim was prepared to help Gasper move the Montana Drifter in early January. Platypus Marine Inc. staff was also ready to fix the boat.
That effort stalled when Gasper said he no longer owned the boat and so could not sign a liability release form to absolve Ketchum’s company of responsibility if something should happen to the boat during the move.
Although the boat has holes in its hull, no water contamination has been found, said Port Angeles Fire Chief Dan McKeen has said.
Gasper has said that the boat had about 5 gallons of fuel. The Coast Guard said that so little fuel would pose only a minimal environmental contamination risk.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
