THANK YOU SEA TOW

[Sterling]

These abandoned boats in Cape May harbor have been an eyesore and potential hazard. THANK YOU Northstar Marine Sea Tow for doing something about it. Great work and great contribution to the Cape May boating community!

REF>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

CAPE MAY — Equipped with a barge, two tugboats and a runabout, the crew of Northstar Marine Sea Tow worked tirelessly in the rain April 9 extracting three abandoned boats from Cape May Harbor without city approval.

“We decided we are going to do this on our own before someone gets hurt,” Supervisor Phil Risko said. “I can’t imagine the city would have a problem.”

“This is a cooperative effort to clean up the harbor and remove these boats prior to the Cape May Harbor Fest and the beginning of the season,” he said.

[Stripersniper]

That's great to hear. Thank You Sea Tow.

[BrothaBob]

THANK YOU SEA TOW!!!

[kingpin]

Artificial reefs now?

[LadyAngler]

Thank you Phil Risko and the whole Sea Tow Cape May & Northstar crew!

Here's a copy of the article from the Press of Atlantic City.


Salvage company cleans up abandoned boats in Cape May Harbor
By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, 609-463-6711
Published: Thursday, April 10, 2008

CAPE MAY - The U.S. Coast Guard did what it could, but it wasn't enough.
State lawmakers were going to solve the problem, but bureaucracy moves slowly.

Some boat owners said they were going to come get their abandoned boats out of Cape May Harbor, but that never happened.

These are a few of the reasons some people took matters into their own hands Wednesday. There may be legal questions about the operation, but the harbor looks better and is safer for navigation.

The first abandoned boat was removed Wednesday morning and work was under way on a second as a gray and misty afternoon dragged on. A third is targeted for today.



"I'm taking it on myself as a salvage guy to remove boats that are a hazard to navigation. If one of these people wants to make it an issue, they could, but they would have to prove value and there is no value," said Phil Risko of the salvage company Northstar Marine Sea Tow.
Risko's firm and the Cape May Seafood Association are both sponsors of Harbor Fest 2008 set for June 21. Organizers have big hopes for the inaugural Harbor Fest and hope to make it an annual event with a kayak and canoe regatta, a blessing of the fleet, live bluegrass music, fresh seafood and other attractions. That's why Sea Tow stepped in to remove the abandoned boats, some of them eyesores with parts sticking above the water line and others threatening navigation just below it. Sea Tow did the work for free, and the association agreed to pay landfill fees to dispose of the vessels.

"We're trying to promote the harbor's commercial businesses, tourism and the life that's in the harbor. There're too many impacts: environmental impacts and safety impacts," said Rhonda Jackson, a spokeswoman for the Cape May Seafood Association.

A second issue has to do with the children who use the harbor. This includes children learning to sail at the Corinthian Yacht Club and the classes at New Jersey Audubon's Nature Center of Cape May. One of the boats removed Wednesday burned to the water line and sank right in front of the Nature Center of Cape May. Children learning about the harbor could reach it at low tide.

"They're starting classes next week, and they're all upset about that burned up boat," Risko said before removing it.

The crew also began digging a 35-foot fiberglass sailing boat out of the mud. The mast was the only part of the boat sticking out of the water. Risko said the owner of the boat once tried to hire him to raise it but never came up with any money. Risko said the owner then told him he sold the boat.

"I said, 'You sold a boat that was sunk?' He said, 'Yes.' That was two years ago," Risko said.

Tomorrow the crew is tackling the 38-foot wooden boat Bald Eagle. The owner was contacted but had no money to salvage the vessel. In 2006, Risko was hired by the U.S. Coast Guard to raise the Bald Eagle and remove engine oil and diesel fuel that was polluting the harbor. This was done using a Coast Guard fund for such projects, but by law the Coast Guard could not remove the boat because it was not in a channel threatening navigation. It was anchored back in the harbor and quickly sank again.

Users of the harbor argue a boat does not have to be in a channel to threaten children learning to sail or those wading into the water with seine nets to study biology.

State legislation has been proposed for several years now to address the problem of abandoned boats. A bill was approved unanimously this week by the state Senate and now heads to the Assembly.

Sen. Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May Cumberland, Atlantic, one of the sponsors of the bill, said it still faces several amendments. It provides no funds to deal with abandoned boats, but it does give municipalities more authority to remove them. Van Drew said the goal is to get it passed by the end of the year. He was not surprised some took action in the meantime.

"The way the bureaucracy works, sometimes people have to take matters into their own hands," Van Drew said.

Risko said there is still support for the legislation.

"We just felt it would take a long time, and even if the legislation gets passed, there is no funding in the new law. The Harbor Fest is coming up and there is the ongoing problem of the yacht club and the kids using the harbor," Risko said.

The operation was praised by harbor advocates and the city.

"We're happy to see it. We're trying to improve all of Delaware Avenue," said Robert Smith, the city's Public Works director who stopped by to watch the operation.

Chuck Pritchard, a local sailor who has fought to clean up the harbor, said the community is pulling together to protect the water.

"It's one of our great assets," Pritchard said.

[hubris 1]

thats a great thing.........can you give joe baker another one of you classic black and white photos so he can give it to me? the last one framed nicely. i need a sister to it. i too have noticed the sunken boats in cape may. hard to believe, and good for you in cleaning them up. the city of cape may is a bunch of douc...... bag's that cant get out of their own way to accomplish anything. if you wait for them, it will never get done. thank's. we all owe you and sea tow.