PORT TOWNSEND — The owner of a schooner that was dashed onto the Boat Haven breakwater by a storm one week ago hoped it would be lifted out of the water Thursday evening, but he wasn’t betting on it.
“This situation has changed three or four times every day all week,” said Jim Kruse, an Orcas Island resident who had anchored the vessel outside the breakwater last week.
On Thursday, Kruse and his fiancee, Libby Garcia, were in the Boat Haven observing the rescue and raising the $15,000 deposit required by the Port of Port Townsend to remove the boat from the water and store it in the Boat Haven until it can be repaired.
“I don’t want to talk about what’s happening now because it won’t be true by the time you get it into print,” he said.
The Phoenix, a 60-foot, 51-ton schooner, was anchored outside the breakwater when heavy winds and high tides pushed the boat onto the rock wall last Friday afternoon, according to Capt. Roger Slade of Vessel Assist in Port Hadlock.
Slade initially worked on the recovery, stabilizing the vessel and patching a hole on the starboard side, but Kruse has since changed to Craftsman United for the rescue.
Slade, who had said renting a crane can cost as much as $15,000 a day, said he understood Kruse’s decision and “there are no hard feelings.”
Deputy Port Director Jim Pivarnik said of Kruse: “He’s been very respectful and agreeable and said he wants to work together to make this happen.
“We agreed to haul and store the boat but wanted to make sure the taxpayers weren’t on the hook for the expense.”
The masts were removed Wednesday and Thursday as workers attempted to dislodge the vessel from the rocks and tow it into the Boat Haven.
Pivarnik said he hoped crews would be able to drain the water out of the boat before bringing it into the Boat Haven.
“It already weighs 51 tons but will be much heavier if it is filled with water,” he said.
“If that’s the case, there is no way that a 75-ton lift will be adequate; we’ll need to use the 300-ton lift.”
Kruse said he is insured only for $7,500 toward the boat’s recovery, a shortfall he blamed on “me not reading the policy carefully.”
Hoist and Yard Manager Terry Khile said he took representatives from the state Department of Ecology to view the vessel and they determined that no pollutants had leaked from it.
Kruse has owned the Phoenix since 2006 and had just finished applying a new coat of paint and replacing the mast before relaunching the boat days before the storm.
Kruse and Garcia have an emotional attachment to the boat, which served as their home.
The couple’s three cats had been left in Orcas Island and fortunately were not on board when the storm hit, Garcia said.
“She was really beautiful,” Garcia said of the Phoenix.
“She’s still beautiful, but she looks a little awkward right now,” Kruse said.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
