A half-sunk 54-foot cruiser boat abandoned on Beer Can Island in the St. Croix River has been causing headaches in Hudson, Wis.
As of Monday, the owner of the boat had racked up more than $44,000 in fines, according to Police Chief Geoff Willems.
“How these boats end up in Hudson every year, I have no idea,” Willems said Wednesday. “This is the fifth one in the last two years.”
The boat’s owner, Grayson McNew, apparently bought the 1981 Bluewater Intercoastal, named Sweet Destiny, earlier this year. McNew, 27, of Afton, did not return an email seeking comment and could not be reached by phone.
McNew, who has twice run unsuccessfully for the Minnesota House, first came to the attention of Hudson officials in July when he docked the cruiser at the city’s new boat launch in Lakefront Park, Willems said.
“It was parked there for, like, a week, and we started getting complaints about it,” Willems said. “So we called him and said, ‘Hey, the boat’s got to move.’ He moved it out to (Beer Can) Island and then just left it there.”
The boat, which was beached on the sand, apparently had a hole in its hull and sank halfway, Willems said. It also had its rudder ripped off, he said.
“He thought he got a good deal and that he could fix it up and do something with it,” Willems said. “Then life happened, and he didn’t have the money or time to fix it up.”
In August, Hudson officials contacted McNew and told him he had until Oct. 1 to remove the boat or he would be charged for the removal and towing of the boat. McNew “stated he understood,” according to police reports.
The Hudson City Council in September passed a measure that added “inoperable, unregistered, junked or wrecked watercraft that is incapable of buoyancy on water or not seaworthy” to the city’s abandoned vehicles ordinance. The ordinance calls for a series of escalating fines for each day an abandoned watercraft remains in place within city limits.
‘Get this thing out of here’
In early October, Willems said he told McNew, “‘Get this thing out of here by the end of October, no harm, no foul.’ He did not do that.”
On Oct. 14, McNew contacted police to tell them he had sold the boat. A Facebook Marketplace listing for the boat, included in police reports, showed he was asking $500.
“No title – can provide bill of sale,” the listing read. “Partially sunken on beer can Island outside of Hudson. Engines are water logged. Ran before she sank, failed starboard rudder packing. $500 OBO.”
When police contacted the alleged buyer, an Elko New Market resident, he said he changed his mind about the purchase after he “went and saw the boat and (saw) the condition it was in,” according to police reports.
A man from Alabama then allegedly purchased the boat for $250, but that sale also apparently fell through, Willems said. “He decided that it was too much to deal with, so he was going to move back to the Ukraine instead of taking the boat,” Willems said. “Apparently moving to a war zone is more attractive than getting that boat off the island.”
At the beginning of November, officers began issuing a daily citation – via the U.S. Postal Service – to McNew. As of Monday, the fine total had topped $44,000, Willems said.
Two of McNew’s court dates “have already come and gone, in which he did not appear or contact the court, so it appears that he’s going to let this stuff go into default,” Willems said. “It’s his responsibility to get that boat out of there until it’s legitimately owned by another person.”
McNew told police that his attorney told him “not to touch the boat,” Willems said. “I said, ‘Well, that’s really bad advice. It’s going to get very expensive for you.’ When I asked him who his attorney was, he said, ‘I’m not at liberty to say.’”
Fortunately, Sweet Destiny does not appear to be leaking oil, fuel, coolants or other hazardous liquids into the river, he said.
Costly removal
Three other watercraft have ended up in the city’s impound lot over the past two years; another boat that was abandoned on Beer Can Island was removed this fall after the owner contacted his insurance company, Willems said.
Removing McNew’s boat is going to be costly “because it’s partially sunk, and the back end has to be lifted out of the water with a barge crane and then pumped out,” Willems said. “It’s going to cost the city multiple thousands of dollars to get that boat out of there and have it towed to our impound lot, which is where it’s going to sit forever. Nobody’s going to want it. We can’t even give it to a salvage company. They don’t want it.”
Willems, who joined the Hudson Police Department 18 years ago and has served as chief since 2018, said he is shocked anyone would abandon a boat.
“Boating is an expensive hobby, and it’s an expensive piece of machinery, so conventional wisdom indicates that you have that investment, and you use it for fun and enjoyment, that you’re not just going to take it somewhere and leave it,” he said.
He recommends people refrain from making major watercraft purchases on social media.
“Here’s my advice: ‘Stay off of Facebook Marketplace.’”
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