Hastings Boat Owners – Check your slips

Caught a big one last night.
If this is your boat call Dakota County.

This boat was floating downriver from Hastings last night.
I made sure it made it to Prescott safely and no further.

First i inspected the boat for anybody on board.
I radio’d Hastings train bridge for advice. They didn’t know what to do.

LD2 overheard (i was on 14) and Radio’d me and gave me Dakota County and Tow Boat US numbers.

Dakota county doesn’t answer phones apparently.

Tow boat US was not interested, and their boat is put away.

Sun went down and i inspected boat again (Easier to see below deck compartments with flashlight after dark) and wanted to make damn sure it was empty since i wasn’t getting any support up to this point.

Talked to a co-worker who works with Dakota County. He advised that 911 is the only number you can call even for non-emergency.

Called 911 when the boat was 1/8 mile from Prescott.

Got in contact with Sheriffs.

Once i knew someone was coming i nudged it into St Croix waters in Prescott (Slower current) and dropped my anchor to hold it in place. I knew they wouldn’t show up with enough boat to pull it upstream if it made it past Prescott so figured i better do what i can.

Good to know my cat river anchor can hold a 40’r!! (Should get anchor returned to me today)

I left and kept an eye on the situation from my house.

Sheriffs/FD showed up around 7 and were done by 8:30. Tied it up to docks in Prescott.

I wasn’t going to let this boat sink in my river! Someone had to do something.

It is docked in Prescott today.

Boat is being remodeled. Materials strung about and tools also. Not-operational. Must’ve come from a harbor in Hastings. Didn’t come from Kings cove as that is iced over. Numbers reported.

That was my adventure on the river last night.

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FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

Got in contact with Sheriffs.

Once i knew someone was coming i nudged it into St Croix waters in Prescott (Slower current) and dropped my anchor to hold it in place. I knew they wouldn’t show up with enough boat to pull it upstream if it made it past Prescott so figured i better do what i can.

They damn well better show up with enough HP to get the job done. Every time I see a county patrol boat on the water, it’s ridiculous overkill. Usually an expensive saltwater center console with twins on the back. Or my personal favorite, the Feds/NPS upstream of Stillwater patrolling in a Midnight Express CC with a pair of 250s on the back. Talk about swatting flies with an elephant gun.

Good work ropin’ that boat and getting it back to the corral, Fish! As you say, don’t want that thing sinking and causing an even bigger mess. Somebody’s going to have some ‘splainin to do.

Grouse

FBR, I started reading your post and almost immediately thought it was going to be about the boat in your picture. This boat is familiar to me. It showed up tied off in the Hastings Marina (vermilion river docks) about 2 months ago. I go by it every time I boat the vermilion river in and out from my house. Every time I went by I thought I was going to see a homeless person sleeping in it.

This image shows where it was parked, even tho its a old image and the docks on vermilion aren’t set up this way anymore.

This incident of how the boat got into the main river is VERY suspicious to me. Run down boat, letting lose right before this area is about to freeze just months after showing up…. Someone did this blatantly. It was tied off very well and the dock was holding part of the boat up as it floated like it had taken on a little water.

As well, the current on the vermilion at that location flows different directions depending on the Miss level/current. Right now it is still flowing slightly in from the Miss but that is about to switch. Someone pushed/dragged this boat out into the current.

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Looks blatant to me as well. Notice how there are no license numbers? I’d be willing to bet the HIN has been scratched off also. I wonder if they realize there is likely a hidden HIN somewhere else as well.

Did you contact the coast guard?

There is a license number and i reported it.

You are a good guy FBR!!

Well done FBRM!

Nice job Andy! Reminds me of the one that sunk at the dock a few years ago. That was Prescott if I remember right.

Walter White?

Salvage rights.

Good on you Andy for doing the right thing.
uhm,that isnt BK’s boat is it?? he said something about doing some remodeling.

Couldn’t be mine unless it drifted upstream 18 miles.

There was a very old pontoon with attached dock stuck in the backwaters a few years ago. No numbers to Id it.

Every spring with high water it would go drift further down stream until the river ended up digesting it.

Since the winter season has just started, it’s possible the owner hasn’t paid it’s slip charge and it was set free. I’m not saying…just saying. It’s not like we’re having high water…

It’s going to be interesting to hear the ending to this story.

There was a boat about this size half submerged on an island just south of 494 this fall. There was a tent up on the island so I asssumed they pulled in there and the boat submerged somehow in the high water.

Was there for a few weeks in a row and then gone last time I was down there. Tent was still on the island, though. Based upon the back 10 feet of that boat being underwater it would’ve been a helluva an effort to get it out. Wonder what happened to that one.

15 days later the boat is still tied up in Prescott.

Wonder if they’ll pull it or let it sink this winter.

That boat will fill up with snow melt and only get heavier.

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

15 days later the boat is still tied up in Prescott.

Wonder if they’ll pull it or let it sink this winter.

That boat will fill up with snow melt and only get heavier.

I know it’s a totally different scale, however, they left that old mine sweeper beached in that same area as well. That was like 10ish years ago and took about 5 years to completely disappear.

Claim it and its yours. Anyone wants to dispute it and you should at least end up with 50% of the value of it. Its called marine salvage rights.

Did nature take the old minesweeper boat? I remember seeing and reading about it, but then forgot about it. Did it sink or just wash downstream.

Johnie Birkel wrote:

Did nature take the old minesweeper boat? I remember seeing and reading about it, but then forgot about it. Did it sink or just wash downstream.

Its still there, just sinking deeper and deeper into the mud every year. Haven’t been by it in a couple years now but I’d guess it’s only visible during low water now.

Just did some googling and it sank in 2007, the last news story I can find on it was 2011 and removal didnt look promising.

Johnie Birkel wrote:

Did nature take the old minesweeper boat? I remember seeing and reading about it, but then forgot about it. Did it sink or just wash downstream.

It is visible now. Hasn’t gotten any deeper since i moved to Prescott. It is sitting on Rock/sand.

Mike W wrote:

Claim it and its yours.

That’s how the mind sweeper ended up where it did.

I stopped in Prescott yesterday morning to take a look at the house boat. It’s just with the FW is looking for and not too big of a motor either

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Apparently the owner wants to have it towed to S St Paul and the City of Prescott is giving the owner a ticket every 4 hours… from a fairly solid source.

I wondered what kind of parking job that was with the starboard side put right up on the city dock and then for it to sit there for weeks. Very strange situation.

It has been removed.

I think the boat was drug up the ramp and loaded on a flat bed.

Lots of fiberglass rash on the ramp.

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That will leave a mark.