On Thursday, September 15, the Port of Port Townsend commenced demolition and disposal of the vessel “Patrol Number 1”. The vessel was left on Port property following the termination of the Boat Haven Boat Yard tenancy of Patrol No. 1’s former owner.
The Port has made every effort to find a solution that would leave the vessel with a responsible owner capable of restoring her. The Jefferson County Superior Court’s order terminating Patrol No. 1’s owner’s tenancy afforded the former owner a month to access the site to remove the boat and other left property. The former owner failed to do so. A public auction was held in May and there were no bidders – even at an offered price of $1.
Following the public auction, the Court’s order afforded the former owner an additional month to remove the boat and property. Again, the former owner failed to do so. The Port proffered three informal settlement proposals to the former owner seeking to avert demolition and disposal of the vessel. At each turn, the former owner rejected these offers. Instead, the former owner opted to pursue protracted and unsuccessful legal maneuvers against the Port of Port Townsend, which cost the Port a significant amount of taxpayer money to defend. The former owner’s legal schemes cast a long shadow over the vessel and worked to obstruct the Port’s efforts to find a purchaser willing to complete the project and preserve the boat.
It is a sad day, and the Port is solemn in fulfilling its duty. We take very seriously our obligation to maintain Jefferson County’s maritime culture and heritage. However, we must fulfill our fiduciary duty to the public to conscientiously and diligently manage the unique properties and operations entrusted to us.
The responsibility for the demolition and destruction of Patrol Number One rests entirely upon the shoulders of the former owner. We deeply regret that the former owner’s decisions have necessitated this outcome.
Please…this sounds just like more lame office worker reasoning… This a historical boat…irreplaceable ..lost forever….perhaps you all need to take a refresher course in creative thinking and stop making protocol your bible…
Yes, you may have had all the legal rights to do what You did, but as a business owner that has had many interactions with the port, one can not put all the blame on Mark Landry. You the Port Of Port Townsend where the last owners of that vessel and it need not be destroyed and I fell very strongly that it was a very bad decision for our community. There where two commissioner that could have stop this and they wanted it done.
You had no advertisement for any of the free or 1$ vessel at your booth at the wooden boat show, where 1000’s of people attended who love wooden vessel, a missed opportunity.
The two former managers have left legacy that will continue to haunt us all for years to come for their lack of Fiduciary Duty and bad decision making. This was just one of the fire they started.
The yard where it was destroyed is not part of the working yard covered by the shipyard permit and has been a no work storage area. No storm drains or dikes. Then there was fuel spilled as the contractor ripped the tanks out that went all over the ground. Who changed the rules for this to happen behind the locked gate and not on a properly prepared area.
Washington State made Puget Sound a “Maritime Heritage Sanctuary” and I for one do not want Port of Port Townsend to be any part of destroying Vessel of any type. Every piece has to be trucked hundreds of miles away to be properly disposed of. This is very bad for our working maritime trades…