Did you see a beached boat on the shore of this Tacoma park? Here’s what we know
A live-aboard boat that sat on Thea’s Park beach in downtown Tacoma for a week was moved Monday evening.
The Tacoma Fire Department said it became aware of a white-and-blue boat beached on the Thea Foss Waterway over the weekend. Environmental nonprofit Communities for a Healthy Bay said its employees first noticed the vessel almost a week prior on Sept. 23.
The Fire Department takes over as “Harbor Master” in rare cases like derelict vessels that have washed ashore around Tacoma, spokesperson Chelsea Shepherd told The News Tribune on Monday.
Shepherd said the department was not aware of any fuel or sewage leaking from the boat. Fire Department employees planned to work with the state Department of Ecology to pump 80-100 gallons of fuel out of the boat before a crane barge transported it to an impound site, she said.
Jasmin Adams is communications manager for acting spills with the Department of Ecology. She told The News Tribune on Monday evening that because the fuel tanks were intact, the salvage company decided to drain fuel from the vessel after it had been moved.
Adams said her department first heard about the incident Friday. After talking with the boat owner, staff determined the vessel had a hole in it, and the owner decided to beach it so it wouldn’t sink, Adams said.
Initially the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound responded and didn’t see any fuel or sheen in the water, she said. On Saturday, the Fire Department checked on the vessel again and found the owner removing items, Adams said.
The News Tribune visited the boat Friday morning. A man who said he lived on the boat told the newspaper a leak had been fixed and there was no risk of pollution. Janelle Thomas, an owner of the boat, told The News Tribune on the phone later that day the boat would be moving soon.
The Tacoma Police Department received three calls about the boat last week, police spokesperson William Muse said Friday. One call was a complaint about the boat being tied to a tree and blocking the sidewalk and two other calls alleged transients took over the boat, he said.
This story was originally published October 1, 2024 at 5:15 AM.
