POULSBO — The Queen of Sheba, a 105-foot wooden boat, has been towed from the muddy banks of Lemolo, where it was beached, to the Port of Poulsbo’s marina.
With the tide coming in and with fresh morning light, the boat was towed from Lemolo to the port’s marina at approximately 7:12 a.m. on Dec. 12. Crews with Global Dive and Salvage Inc stayed with the wooden boat overnight, as it was beached off of Lemolo. The tide came in, and out, and crews kept the vessel from going further into land or smashing against a nearby jetty. A severe storm moved over Liberty Bay that night; it was a considerable effort to keep the vessel stable.
The Department of Natural Resources stepped in to take charge of the boat and hired Global to tow it.
“DNR took emergency temporary possession of the Queen of Sheba in order to get it off the shoreline and move it to the dock,” said Joe Smillie with the Department of Natural Resources. “The owner will have 30 days to arrange to have the boat taken somewhere else before DNR initiates a salvage process.”
“We did require the people who were on the boat to get off prior to recovering it because it would not be safe for them to be on board while our contractors recovered and towed it,” he said.
Port Manager Brad Miller said he told DNR representatives that the port would allow the department to moor the Queen of Sheba at its marina as long as the department would take care of all costs involved with the boat, and that the owners would not be allowed to stay on the boat.
“The owners of the boat will have 30 days to pay the bill that is still incurring fees,” Miller said. “They’ll have to pay for the fees for Global showing up and doing what they did, and they will have to pay for the moorage fees. It’s going to be well in excess of $10,000. DNR probably spent $10,000 last night on Global alone.”
“In all likelihood, this boat is going to the dumpster in 30 days.”
Having the Queen of Sheba at the port’s marina is a relief to Lemolo resident Patrick Hanson, who had the vessel sitting in the mud just off of his waterfront property. Hanson arrived home around 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 10 to find a few firefighters hanging around his property. It piqued his curiosity.
“I look down and there is a very large boat and it looks like it is pretty close to shore,” Hanson said.
That night, the Queen of Sheba was swinging like a “pendulum” in the water, swinging back and forth around its anchor, according to Hanson.
“Every time it got to about 90 degrees, it seemed like it would come in,” he said. “It came within 50 feet of the jetty, which is all concrete.”
Hanson spoke with the firefighters and got the scoop on the vessel. He learned that the Coast Guard wasn’t coming.
That night, the Queen of Sheba spent the night in the mud with its bow facing south to Bainbridge Island. The next day, after another high tide, it was in the mud again, with its bow facing north to Poulsbo.
Hanson wasn’t going to wait for things to progress. He got on the phone. He first called the Poulsbo Police Department.
“I said, ‘Hey, you guys towed this out here and what are you gong to do about it?'” Hanson said. “They said it is not in their jurisdiction and I would have to call 911.”
So Hanson called 911, but got a dead end there as well. He then called Poulsbo Mayor Becky Erickson, but she was away from her office in meetings. Then he called the Coast Guard, state Sen. Christine Rolfes, and even the governor’s office.
The Coast Guard did dispatch a boat to the scene, but only came to remove a person onboard who had a foot infection and transport the person to medics in Poulsbo.
Hanson then watched two other people exit the Queen of Sheba in a dinghy and leave the scene.
A Suquamish police officer came to the scene about three times as well. The tideland is within the Tribe’s fishing territory.
Eventually, Mayor Erickson called Hanson back and told him she was speaking with DNR and trying to find a way to get the vessel off the shore. Within a few hours, Global Dive and Salvage was on the scene.
“The mayor has been very responsive,” Hanson said.
