Our pal, Joanna Cloud with the Lake Lanier Association (LLA), spent the better part of a year trying to remove an abandoned boat from Lake Lanier.
The remnants of a 19-foot fiberglass-hull runabout that floated ashore near Lanier Park campground were removed on August 13, 2015.
Sounds easy, right? You tie a rope, drag it out of the water and Bang! — you’re done. Hardly.
In Joanna’s words, “It took a village to remove that thing!”
The boat had been completely stripped of the engine, battery, steering wheel, hardware, and everything.
There were no registration numbers or other identifying information on the vessel.
So, the Lake Lanier Association worked with the US Army Corps of Engineers and the DNR to have it declared as abandoned … because (hello?) it was abandoned.
The easy part was publishing a legal notice in the newspaper. The hard part was finding money or sponsors to actually get the thing moved!
Robert Estrada of TowBoatUS donated his time and resources towing it from Lanier Park over to East Bank park boat ramp.
There was a concern that the vessel might sink in just that short distance. Having Robert participate was a big benefit, in case something started to go awry on the tow.
Once over at East Bank, Travis Terry of Terry’s Towing winched the vessel onto a flat bed and towed it, free of charge, to the land fill.
Republic Services waived the tipping fee for us at the land fill.
Thanks to one and all!
What kind of irresponsible jerk would just abandon a boat on the lake ? I wonder if the owner realized that abandoning his boat on the lake, presumably with no lights on it created a real hazard for other boaters, especially after dark ? Probably doesn’t care as long as he got his dope, other valuable items out and removed the serial number before someone else saw what he was up to ! Probably very, very behind on his payments and just abandoned it. Some people don’t deserve a boat or car.