Journey of once-sunken sailboat reaches end, volunteer salvor feels left high and dry

No good deed goes unpunished. That's how Mark Griffin is feeling after he volunteered for public safety reasons to help raise and haul away a sailboat that sat at the bottom of the St. John River near Browns Flat for months with only the tops of its two masts visible.

Griffin, a Canadian Coast Guard contractor, took on the venture last month with hobby diver David Grandy and says it's been an ordeal ever since.

He estimates he spent between $5,000 and $10,000 in time, fuel and equipment between July 5 and 7 — closer to $30,000 if it had been a paid job he bid on.

That doesn't include the roughly 12 days he spent "babysitting" the moored Not a Starship at his Belleisle Bay marina to ensure the 13-metre boat didn't sink again. He had to wait for word from the coast guard about how the agency wanted to deal with the disposal, he said.

The boat did actually start to sink again at one point, when a 3,000-gallon-an-hour pump, which Griffin used for keeping pace with the water the vessel was taking on, malfunctioned.

"It wasn't down that far, but it was going down," he said. "If I would have went away somewhere for a day or two, that boat would have been sitting at the bottom at my place."

Grandy estimated the operation cost him close to $2,000 in time, materials and drysuit repair.

Meanwhile, according to Griffin, they both sought legal advice when Grandy allegedly received a letter from the coast guard warning that he, having taken possession of the boat as the salvor when they hauled it — and therefore assumed ownership —could face up to $6 million in fines or three months in jail if he didn't see to its disposal.

"That really, like, floored us," said Griffin.

Salvor assumed ownership, liability, says coast guard

Grandy declined to comment on this, and coast guard spokesperson Megan Gallant did not confirm or deny when asked by CBC News. She did say, however, that "a salvage company claimed salvors rights and, therefore, assumed ownership of the vessel."

"At the same time, the company became liable and responsible for all the costs of the removal under the [Wrecked, Abandoned or Hazardous Vessels Act]."

Gallant declined to clarify to whom she was referring as the "salvage company," citing privacy, but before the salvor "took on full ownership and liability, [the coast guard] informed the salvor of their obligations and responsibilities under [the act]," she said in an emailed statement.

The sailboat was 'removed from the marine environment' on July 19, according to Coast Guard — about five months after it started to sink. (Mark Griffin)

Under the act, a vessel's owner is responsible for using the boat safely, keeping it in good working order and properly disposing of it when it reaches the end of its life.

"This also includes being responsible for any response efforts that may need to be taken to eliminate threats of pollution or hazards posed by the vessel," said Gallant.

"[The coast guard] can direct vessel owners to take measures to prevent, reduce, or eliminate hazards. We can also take actions to address hazardous vessels and hold vessel owners liable for the costs of addressing cleanups and remediation action we take."

Non-profit stepped up to cover disposal costs

To add insult to injury, Griffin said, the coast guard was prepared to pay a local salvage company to haul the boat out of the water and dispose of it, and he wasn't given an opportunity to bid on it.

The coast guard did not issue a tender, according to the spokesperson, but did receive a quote for the work from a local salvage company. Gallant declined to divulge the name of the company or the value of the quote.

That company didn't end up doing the work anyway.

"The owner of the vessel (the local salvage company that claimed salvors rights) indicated it had already been partially removed from the marine environment and they would complete it," Gallant said.

Not a Starship, which sat on the bottom of the St. John River after the spring thaw, was eventually moored at Mark Griffin's property in Erb's Cove for about two weeks last month. (Michael Heenan/CBC)

Griffin said he had already arranged for a local excavation company to do the job — partly because he was tired of being stuck with the boat tied up at his property in Erb's Cove, the former Belleisle Bay Marina, which he used to operate, while awaiting further direction from the coast guard.

"I have to go to work, I have to make a living too," he said.

He was also worried Grandy might get stuck with the coast guard contractor's bill, he said.

The boat was ultimately hauled out, dragged up the beach, crushed, and disposed of in four dump truck loads at a "proper" undisclosed location on July 19, said Griffin. The St. John River Society, a local non-profit organization, stepped up to cover the costs.

"The society has a couple of main mandates and one of them is the wise, sustainable use of the river," said executive director Dino Kubik, before turning to what he called the environmental threat.

"And the longer that vessel was sitting at a dock … every day that was there, that was a moment of jeopardy.

"So anything we could have done to make sure that it came out in a timely manner and was disposed of correctly, that was within our mandate, and our directors in the Hatfield Point area … wanted to play that role," and ensure safe access to the river.

The total was in the "sub-$10,000 range," said Kubik.

'Didn't make a dime'

"I never got a dime of it," stressed Griffin. "Everybody's wondering how much money I made. I didn't make a dime doing this. Neither did Dave."

Griffin did salvage and keep one of the boat's two aluminum masts, which he previously told CBC could each be worth about $50,000 if the right buyer was found, but that could take years.

He said he'll probably "either cut it up for scrap, or if somebody wants a flagpole, come get it, cause it'll cost me that much to haul it to the dump."

Griffin said he kept one of the boat's aluminum masts but will give it away to whoever wants it and can haul it away. (Denise Miller)

That's what he did with the other mast, he said. He gave it to the owner of the exacavation company handling the disposal to make a flagpole. An old wooden steering wheel went to the river society.

Griffin said the boat was stripped of contaminants, including the motor, fuel tanks and anything containing oil, before it was scrapped.

No word on consequences for original owner

As for Jordan Tatton, the original owner and person who let the boat sink in the first place, the coast guard did not respond to repeated questions from CBC News about what penalties or costs he has faced — if any.

Gallant said only that the original owner agreed to give salvor's rights and ownership under the Wrecked, Abandoned or Hazardous Vessels Act to the local salvage company.

Tatton did not respond to a request for comment.

Not a Starship frozen into the ice on the St. John River near Browns Flat, as seen on Feb. 14. (Roger Cosman/CBC)

The boat, which slowly started to sink into the ice in February, wound up at the bottom of the river by April with an early breakup of the ice.

It sat more than 400 metres offshore from Browns Flat until Griffin and Grandy raised and hauled it.

'Nobody got hurt'

"No good deed goes unpunished," Griffin said. " That's exactly what everybody's saying. That's the funny part about it. 'Why would you do it?' I heard that so many times."

Still, the boat's gone now and "nobody got hurt," he said. "If somebody would have got hurt, [the coast guard] would have been in a lot of kaka."

"Would I do it again? Within a second. I wouldn't even think about it," said Griffin. "Would I do it differently? I would not get in touch with anybody to tell them I'm doing it."

Mark Griffin says he had already arranged for a local excavation company to dispose of the boat by the time the coast guard advised him July 18 that a salvage company the agency received a quote from would be on site the next day for removal. (Mark Griffin)

Grandy said he has no regrets either.

"I'm glad it's out. The hazard is gone," he said in a statement.

Asked what, if any environmental clean up was required, Gallant, at the coast guard, replied: "CCG was not involved in the removal, salvage or cleanup process of this vessel."

Griffin says all contaminants were removed from the boat and it was disposed of properly. (Mark Griffin)

She did not say which body would be responsible for ensuring a safe cleanup.

Gallant did say the coast guard conducted a pollution and hazards assessment Dec. 11, which concluded there was no risk "at that time."

The New Brunswick Department of Environment spokesperson Clarissa Andersen directed inquiries to the coast guard, as the lead agency.