City of Chelan considers refurbishing marine patrol boat

CHELAN – After a quarter century of hard use, most of us could use a major makeover and the Chelan County Sheriff’s marine patrol boat is no exception. Sgt. Rob Huddleston made that case when he addressed the city council on March 12 to discuss the merits of a major refurbishment of Marine 2 and compared the cost of that option to the purchase of a new boat.

“It was built for the Sheriff’s Office in 1999 and it’s getting old,” said Huddleston. “A lot of little things needs to be repaired or replaced.”

Huddleston said the boat’s hull is sound, so the most cost-efficient option involves a major replacement and upgrade of components. He contacted SAFE Boats International to inquire what a rebuild would cost.

“If we replaced it with a similar boat, it would cost well over $400,000 now,” said Huddleston. “A full refurbishment would mean literally taking everything off the boat, stripping it to bare metal and putting everything brand new -motors, instruments, electronics - comes to $156,000,”   

Headquartered in Bremerton and founded in 1996, SAFE was named for its pioneering wrap-around collar design: Secure Around Flotation Equipped. According to its website, safeboats,com, the company designs and builds highly reliable and extremely durable vessels that help keep military, law enforcement and fire professionals safe as they carry out their duties, protect citizens and work to save lives.

“The boat has spent its entire life on Lake Chelan,” said Lake Chelan. I would estimate in the 25 years it has been on Chelan…75 percent of the time has been within the City of Chelan waters.”

Marine 1 is the big boat moored in Manson Bay. Huddleston said discussions are underway about replacing it, not refurbishing it.
Marine 3 is a North River-built single-engine inflatable stationed in Wenatchee. 

“We use that mainly as a traveling boat,” said Huddleston. “It is used in Lake Wenatchee and the Columbia River.”

Chelan led the state with nearly 600 inspections and warnings last year, said Huddleston. It hosts the largest percentage of rental vessels in the state. He asked his marine patrol deputy to look at the addresses where those people who were contacted resided. 

“Out of close to 600 it was 82 percent were from out of Chelan Valley,” said Huddleston. “I know there is tourism money out there that might be able to be used for this purpose, so my request is that the City of Chelan be willing to help with refurbishment of that boat.”

Council member Goedde observed that 82 percent of the violators came from outside the area “Sounds to me like it’s a lodging tax source revenue.”

City Administrator Ware Farris concurred with Goedde and recommended the council act in early April so the boat can be refurbished and back in service in time for the summer boating season. Farris said. 

“We’ll be bringing this back with some numbers for you to approve,” said Farris. “We still need an equitable adjustment as far as how much the City of Chelan pays and how much the county pays.”

Huddleston said he secured a time to get the work done.

“SAFE boat has slotted us for a build and as soon as we get it over there they can start,” said Huddleston. “They said we will have it back before summer.” 

Huddleston said Sheriff Morrison is conferring with the county commissioners about a replacement schedule.

“One thing the sheriff’s office does not have in place – and has never had in close to 28 years I’ve been here – is a scheduled replacement for things like this,” said Huddleston. “Sheriff Morrison ss having the same exact conversation with the county commissioners to see how much money there is at the county level. It’s a huge investment.”

The major waterways the Chelan County Sheriff's Office Marine Unit is responsible for, include Lake Chelan (55 miles long), 70 miles of the Columbia River, Lake Wenatchee, Wapato Lake, and the Wenatchee River.

Mike Maltais: 360-333-8483 or michael@ward.media