Midway through last week, a boat with no name sank into the waters of Gastineau Channel. As of Monday afternoon, the 28-foot vessel was still submerged, having broken free of its line in Aurora Harbor and drifted to the area of the channel near the Breeze-In Grocery in Douglas.
Harbormaster Dave Borg said Monday that Docks &Harbors officials and Coast Guard officials were meeting that afternoon to discuss what steps to take next. Borg said this is a fairly rare situation, and they’ll give the boat owner a chance to take care of the problem first.
“I have actually talked to the owner of the vessel,” Borg said. “His plan is to get it out of the water. We have to give him the opportunity to do that.”
The owner, who is a long-time harbor patron, told Borg that he has done this before. He hopes to drag it up on the beach and let the water drain out of it. Borg theorized that rainwater might have filled the boat and caused it to sink.
Borg said the boat went down midway through last week, and then broke loose of the tug that was holding it in place on Thursday and has been drifting since then.
The Coast Guard posted on Facebook this weekend and Borg said Monday that there aren’t any major environmental concerns with the boat. There does not appear to be any leaking fuel, he said.
