Update Jan 3

After multiple attempts, re-sinkings, and weeks of delay, the abandoned sailboat at the Don Armeni boat launch was finally taken away on January 3 by a crew from TowBoatU.S. At one point the boat was pumped out by the Seattle Fire Department, only to see it sink again and remain tied to the finger pier, a hazard to navigation and preventing boats from using that space. 

The crew did not fully re-float the sailboat but using a diver, managed to attach airbags to it to get it off the bottom and able to be towed away.

Update 9:45am Dec. 25

The sailboat that has been tied up to the finger pier at Don Armeni boat launch has sunk yet again. It represents a navigation hazard and obviously blocks others from docking there. Seattle Fire Department people and according to neighbors even members of the Coast Guard were seen to have come down to have a look. The boat was pumped out last night but overnight sank again. There's no official word as yet on what might be done but typically the city hauls them out of the water (sometimes with help from the SPD dive squad to attach a line) and then loads them on a flatbed truck. That has not happened as yet.

Original Post Dec. 24

A 22 foot sailboat called Little Brother, last registered in 2020, was abandoned at the Don Armeni boat launch on Dec. 14. It did not draw much attention despite the fact that it went underwater yesterday. 

A neighbor across the street said, "I saw a guy leave it there 3 weeks ago. He never came back! It's been sitting there ever since. It sank once, yesterday. Then resurfaced this morning at 2am"

But once it sank a second time it prompted a call to 911 and more than 10 units responded but quickly "code greened" once it became clear no one was on board.

Emergency responders nonetheless brought a pump to the scene and pumped the water out.

The neighbor further explained, "I watched him leave the lot with trailer at a high rate of speed! It was strange."

The craft was last registered in 2020 and is most likely stolen the neighbor speculated.

This isn't the only boat abandoned in the area recently. A larger sailboat, allegedly abandoned by a local drug dealer was tied up south of Salty's on Alki a few weeks ago. It was not securely moored and the person who tied it up had been arrested on warrants as part of a major drug bust according to neighbors who saw the arrest take place. That boat was not attended to and subsequently took on water and remains sunk about 30 feet deep. 

It can cost over $10,000 to properly dispose of a boat that is no longer in working order. Some owners are choosing to abandon them instead; causing big problems for marina managers and the environment.

Here's a fact sheet on Abandoned and Derelict Vessels from NOAA. 

https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/publications-files/2017_ADV_Fact_Sheet.pdf