Another cost of COVID: WA state saw sharp increase in derelict boats in 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic caused some people to neglect their boats, one state official says.
The state’s Derelict Vessel Removal Program saw an uptick of derelict vessels mid-2020, said Troy Wood, program manager of the state’s Derelict Vessel Removal Program. That was around the same time Washington state had its stay-home order.
“A lot of people were not going out to their vessels to take care of them because of the lockdowns,” Wood said.
The number of derelict vessels the program deals with fluctuates annually, Wood said. Sometime around 2018-19, it dealt with about 100 vessels. When 2020 came around, it dealt with over 300 vessels.
Wood said when vessel owners think they cannot use their watercraft, they sometimes try to sell them at an inexpensive price on sites like Craigslist.
“Pie-in-the-sky dreamers” would then buy the vessels — dreamers who might not understand the cost associated with owning a vessel, he said.
“They just can’t handle it because they don’t have the financial resources or the knowledge to deal with these vessels properly,” Wood said. “Because of that they tend to become abandoned or derelict.
“I’m the collector of broken dreams.”
The state’s Derelict Vessel Removal Program was established in 2002 by the Legislature, Wood said. Before then, derelict vessels were removed through public works contracts.
The program receives funds through the state, Wood said. For the 2019-21 biennium, the program received $2.5 million from the state’s general fund to remove large vessels. The program also received about $2 million from vessel registration fees and $557,200 from geoduck and aquatic land leases.
This story was originally published July 22, 2021 at 5:05 AM.
