Abdoned ship.

P

Peg Leg

Bronze Member
May 29, 2006
1,520
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I have found an abandoned ship in the marsh that was blown into this area sometime in 2005. I have the name of this boat and the location (GPS).
How do I go about finding more information on this boat.
It is really in the woods so to speak and surronded by oyster bars. The water is less than 2 feet deep and the only way to get to it is by airboat.
Peg Leg
 

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It may very well belong to the insurance company if they paid the owner a full claim. The good news is that if you salvage the ship, you are entitled to a healthy salvors reward. The insurance company may be willing to grant you the rights or even title. Many boats were built of ferro cement (concrete) for a while. They are no longer poplar due to much improved construction materials. The value would be in the parts / engines / electronics, etc. I', suprised those are still intact. Good luck

Mike
 

I'm glad you were able to find the boat's info, PegLeg.

Sounds like the boat must have been washed way up into the marsh in a hurricane. Even though ferro cement is brittle, as compred to fiberglass and steel - it would easily survive a storm surge induced ride up into soft mud and weeds.

In fact, most of us boaters know that the best place to put your boat during a hurricane in your area (if you don't haul it) is in an area just like you describe (except a little deeper! ha ha).

I'm not sure you'll be able to collect any salvage on the vessel unless you are able to move the vessel and/or its parts. The vessel is still in distress and wasn't exactly recovered. Maybe you can recover the content? It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Either way, the owner will probably be very happy. It was probably presumed lost in a hurricane or something. I'm not sure if the owner would have been able to have insurance on it, as ferrocement boats are notoriously hard to find coverage for, especially in your area.

Great find!
 

hi peg,
hullyard is the yard where the vessel, started its life, that is where the hull was laid, and some yard finish boats and some dont.
the johnson name could mean the vessel was finished by custom workers, and there was a typo in the documentation procedure.
 

PegLeg,

Everything you found makes perfect sense for a ferrocement boat. This is all accurate data. Here's what I can tell about the history of the boat from your post:

1) It's ferrocement. This means (typically) that is was finished by an amateur in his back yard. This is why the yard name is the same as the owner's name. Also, typos are rampant in the USCG database. My info in there is also loaded with typos. Making a vessel yourself and documenting it with your name as the manufacturer is absolutely legal.

2) Where did you find out where the craft was "said to be docked?" This information is not available through the USCG database. It's hailing port, St Petersberg, can be set to any town in the USA, regardless of where the boat actually is from. This is no restriction as to where you can choose your hailing port to be, including places like Denver, CO.

3) The vessel most definitely did not get into the 2ft of water by itself. Remember all the hurricanes? Remember the storm surge? When a hurricane creates storm surge, the water levels can be 10 feet or more higher than they are right now. It would have had no problem making it into the marsh in 12ft of storm induced surge, especially if it broke loose and was blown in there by the storm.

What you have found is one of the hundres of vessels that broke free of its mooring (dockage) during one of the many hurricanes that plagued the Gulf shores. After breaking free, it drifted around at the mercy of the storm, and the owner had no idea where it went. It was never found because people didn't look up into that particular marsh where you can only go via your air boat (Cool toy!!).

It's not nearly as mysterious as you are thinking. Just a simple case of a boat breaking loose and drifting inland via the storm surge. It's definitely a home-built ferrocement sailboat that was thrown around by one of the hurricanes.
 

Ahhh.... with the additional info, it would appear that the boat isn't a sailboat but a boat that was used commercially for fishing. So, it's a lost fishing boat. Oddly, it's ferrocement. I'm not sure there are many of those out there. It's a rare one indeed!

It is odd that it was removed from fisheries service. Either they set it adrift to collect some insurance, or declared it lost at around that time. Very strange.
 

Well, when you start parting out the boat, I'll bid on the anchor windlass and the radar if it has either. :) Lots of boat parts have hit ebay after the storm season.. Have you been inside the boat? Might be contraband. You might get lucky and find a logbook. Tons of drug boats (and airplanes) are simply abandonded once the trip is complete. Sounds like mother nature moved this one inshore, but it could have been a free floater to begin with. If it is sea worthy, you might could cut a deal with a salvage company and split the salvage.


Captain Mike
 

Peg Leg,

I'd also like to put in my "order" for a watermaker or any other items you might recover. :)

If you want to PM a list when the time does come, I'll certainly purchase some stuff!
 

hi guys,
dont start selling the boat off yet, just the permits to move anything these days are all but unattainable, if the batteries, fuel and oils are removed, in the world of wetlands this boat on a radar screen now resembles a natural habitat.
peg, i would like to follow up and investigate this for you, but dont get stary eyed as working katrina i did get several permits for vessal removal, and was also denied some.
p.m. me and dont get anxious.
ill check my resorces for the insurance or morgage co..
jas
 

thanks Riobravo,

Don't want to hijack PegLeg's thread, but if you ever run across a 2K radar setup, I'm looking for one. I have a 36 ft sailboat that I'm outfitting for live aboard/ dive platform/ treasure hunter. Also looking for a small (400-600 watt) inverter preferable pure sine.
Oh, and since you asked... :D... looking for a used underwater metal detector...

Thanks...

Now back to your regularly scheduled (PegLeg) programming..
 

bongo,
if the insurance co paid off on the boat,then they are responsible for the removal.we are finding that out at the marina im cleaning up.1 boat was sunk,the owner got paid,the insurance co paid someone to remove it but they didnt do it.so we contacted the insurance an they paid us $3000 to remove it.there was no fl numbers just a faded name,we tracked it down an it turned out it was in another slip at the marina and on record with all the info.fish and game knows about all the wrecked boats,they do remove the easy ones.they also track down the owners an fine them if they wernt insured.also on any salvage of a vessel,you can only charge 3% of the boats estimated value by law.so if it costs you 10k to removeit an its only worth 1k then no one is gonna pay you for it so in 90 days its yours.wrecked boats arent worth much.but the parts are.but they have to be abandoned by the owner before you can even set foot on them.alot of the wrecks along the icw are being watched by the local police an marine patrol.
 

FISHEYE,
Thanks for the information.
I have heard from several people that have been on this boat that the fuel is still in the tanks. As we all know this IS going to cause a polution problem in the future when and not if the fuel starts to leak.
I am digging deeper in trying to locate the REAL owners of this vessel.
Thanks again
Peg Leg
 

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