The San Juan County gave up its Derelict Vessel program on the shelf in 2009 because of lack of funding.

In 2010, Friday Harbor Power Squadron, Roche Harbor Resort, the San Juan Island Yacht Club, the Port of Friday Harbor, the Marine Resources Committee, Jensen Shipyard, Island Marine Center on Lopez, the Common Sense Alliance, and the Friends of the San Juans, joined forces to support the county in managing derelict vessels.

The program reinstated with a $10,000 budget, on the assumption that $5,000 of that would be paid by the local citizen group.

Joanruth Baumann, who formerly managed the program as a Public Works employee, was hired to manage it as a contractor, and started the process to remove a long-term derelict from Deer Harbor. When the vessel sank, it became a re-float and destroy removal project.

San Juan County received reimbursement for this first project under the new program. Total out-of-pocket costs for the project were $25,710.20, which included Baumann’s time; re-floating, removal, and demolition services; and solid waste disposal.  The county also gets credit for “in-kind” services, which included donated use of Cayou Quay Marina’s boat ramp, IOSA volunteers, and 24 hours worth of time from Deer Harbor Boatworks.  With the in-kind contributions, the total base for reimbursement was $27,567.20.  Of that, 90 percent, or $24,810.48, was reimbursed by DNR. Net County out-of-pocket expenditures were $899.72, and half of that will be reimbursed to the Count by the citizen group. Net cost to the County for managing this critical derelict vessel project: less than $450.