City to Demolish Eight Old Boats

The 50-foot MV Aquafen was slated to be demolished by the City of Morro Bay. Photo courtesy Harbor Department

Morro Bay’s waterfront was scheduled for some noisy work over the past few days, as the Harbor Department planned to get to work removing several abandoned boats to the scrap heap.

Using money from the Department of Boating and Waterways’ (DBW) “Surrendered and Abandoned Vessel Exchange” program (ironically, SAVE for short) the department went out for bids looking for a demolition company to handle the heavy crunching.

“This project,” reads the RFP, “aims to enhance public safety and environmental health by responsibly removing vessels that pose navigational hazards or environmental risks.”

Harbor Director, Chris Munson said the contract was awarded to Terry Johnson Trucking of Santa Maria and the contractors were supposed to get started this past Tuesday (past EBN’s deadline), probably finishing up Wednesday.

The normal procedure for such demolition operations, is to clean the boats of hazardous materials — fuels, batteries and oil — before dragging them up the public launch ramp (or hoisting with a crane) into the parking lot, where an excavator crunches them into pieces and a loader scoops up the debris and dumps it into roll-off garbage dumpster. From there they are trucked to an appropriate disposal site. The contract requires the contractor to make all these arrangements. 

This has been done over the years for every kind of boat imaginable — from a homemade houseboat (the La Vida) to fishing boats and pleasure craft. But the department hasn’t done this many — eight in total — all at once.

The list includes five sailboats (sailing vessels or SVs) and three motor vessels (MVs). Those MVs include two fishing boats and a motor craft.

Likewise, five are fiberglass hulled and three wooden. Their sizes vary from 24-feet to 50 foot and all but one has potential contaminants.

The boats are the 27-foot SV MakuaCal, a fiberglass hull that still has an engine on board.

The 30’ SV Latitude Adjustment, a fiberglass hull with its engine intact is also scheduled to meet with Davey Jones.

Others are: the Grace (SV, 40’ w/engine); MV Filthy Riches (36’, wood, full haz-mat); MV Penny Lynn (33’, wood, engine); SV We’re Here (30’, Fbr., w/engine); SV Otter (24’, Fbr., clean); and the 50’ SV Aquafen (wood, engine, hazards).

Given the list of potential equipment needs, this was expected to be a major operation.

“Contractors may need cranes, barges, street sweeper or other specialized equipment for removal. Details should be included in the work plan,” the RFP said.

They also must document wherever they take the remains of the vessels and write hazmat handling plans.

The boats were docked at several different spots in the harbor with the North T-pier home to three; two were on offshore mooring balls; with one each at the South T-pier, State Park Marina and Bay Front Marina.

When boats become neglected or fall behind in dockage payments to the City, they can be seized through some legal action, either through the State DMV or in the case of federally documented boats, the federal courts.

Most times, the owners sign them over willingly, but occasionally there’s a fight, such was the case with the Aquafen.

Back in February, Director Munson asked the City Council to declare Aquafen “abandoned property,” under the authority of the State Harbors and Navigations Code, “for the purposes of abatement.”

According to Munson’s report, the Aquafen’s owner had accumulated over $12,500 in “unpaid fees” owed to t6he department.

According to the report, Aquafen was on a private mooring in the bay starting in August 2021 but lost the space “for unknown reasons,” according to the report, in December 2023. That’s when the trouble with the harbor department apparently began. 

“The Aquafen,” Munson said, “then docked at the North T-Pier without pre-payment or permission. It has remained there to this day, for over a year.”

The City tried to lien the boat through the DMV with Marine Lien Sale, Inc., handling the matter. The owner was given until March 15, 2024, to pay his bill. 

When that deadline passed, the report said, the City proceeded with the lien process, but the owner disputed it.

“The DMV determined that it could not proceed unless a court judgment awarded the vessel to the City,” the report said, “or if the vessel owner signed over the vessel to the City. No further action was taken at this time because a marine attorney would have been cost prohibitive and the owner refused to sign over the vessel.”

The matter lay dormant until last New Year’s Eve. “On Dec. 31, 2024, Harbor Patrol noticed that the Aquafen was sitting abnormally low in the water. Harbor Patrol proceeded as an emergency to pump approximately 3,000 gallons of water out of the bilge. The owner was notified and later came out to replace the pump.”

The saga of the Aquafen didn’t end there, as the department gave the owner three options — sign it over to the City for demolition, produce a plan to repair the vessel and pay the fees “to remain in Morro Bay Harbor;” or remove it from the harbor. He had a Jan. 3 deadline, and the report said he missed that too. 

“The owner was notified in writing on Jan. 6 and given additional time until Jan. 13 to respond,” Munson said. “The owner finally responded after the deadline and asked for more time.”

His solution — to seek a loan to make repairs to the boat — “was unacceptable and did not align with what was requested,” the report said. Unfortunately, the owner had another problem in Port San Luis (where Munson was hired away from), concerning another boat in dry dock at the PSL Boatyard, “they are on the ‘no services list’ for the nearest haul out at Port San Luis,” Munson said, adding “the proposal was not taken seriously. It would also set a bad precedent for vessels in the same position or considering taking the same action.”

On Jan. 28, the Coast Guard got involved. The USCG “issued the owner a Notice of Federal Interest stating that the Aquafen threatens to pollute a United States navigable waterway.”

That edict came three days after a marine surveyor assessed the boat’s value. “The survey estimated its fair market value as-is where-is as $0,” Munson said, “if the hull was sound and basically operational — $30,000; and if it was fully operational and cosmetically restored — $60,000.”

The report said the Aquafen “was neither operational nor seaworthy for its intended purpose. Further, without frequent pumping the vessel would sink. It was taking on approximately 80 gallons of water an hour.”

Now the Aquafen is headed for the landfill. It’s a sad end to what was once clearly a nice boat. “The owner has strong feelings about the boat and believes it is historically significant,” Munson said. “It was built by Stephens Company for Leo Fender, the founder of Fender Guitars. However, at least eight other Aquafens were commissioned. In 2019, a similar Aquafen in much better condition was listed for $38,500.”

Like a dying man on life support, Aquafen was being kept afloat. “The Aquafen,” the report said, “is entirely dependent on it being continuously plugged into the dock-side power to maintain afloat. If the power goes out, the pump stops working, or it is simply unplugged; the boat could sink within a day or two. The rate at which it is taking on water could increase slowly or rapidly.”

So Aquafen and the other boats to be demolished, have met sad ends. But not all boats that go through this process of abandonment die. There was the case of the Windwalker, a commercial fishing boat that was sold at auction to a fisherman from Washington State who came to Morro Bay specifically for the Windwalker’s auction.

It too was being ordered out of the harbor, and indeed the new owner was given just days to set sail. But Windwalker turned out to be in good working order and sound. The new owner motored out of the Harbor and turned northwards, eventually hauling it out in Humboldt for extensive repairs. 

The F/V Windwalker was fully restored, and the new owner had plans to fish for albacore and, perhaps, sailing it down to the South Pacific on a great adventure to Samoa.