The Watchdog: Crownsville man's sunken boat scuttles neighbors' water views

Problem: A sequel to one man's sinking boat

A Crownsville man has a bit of a problem keeping his boat from becoming a swimming pool.

This summer the state Natural Resources Police said the owner of a boat, Juan W. Labrador, had tied off his craft to a mooring buoy in the Round Bay area. But as time went on, there just wasn't a vessel of hope for keeping the vessel afloat. It sank to the bottom of the river.

So on June 24, the police charged Mr. Labrador with abandoning his 24-foot sailboat in the Severn River. After being charged, Mr. Labrador had the boat raised from the depths. He also went to county District Court on Sept. 10, where he could have received a misdemeanor fine of $1,000 or a maximum of six months in jail.

Instead, Anne Arundel County prosecutors requested to "stet" the case, which means they placed Mr. Labrador's charges on an inactive docket.

The Capital contacted county's State's Attorney Office spokesman Kristin Fleckenstein last week about the move, but she said her office was unable to pinpoint the rationale for the decision before The Capital went to press today.

But the Herald Harbor neighbors who contacted the Watchdog now say Mr. Labrador needs to retrieve his boat once again. This time, the boat rests on its side in the shallow sandbar of the harbor and has made itself the home for many a lonely barnacle.

“The boat would sink more if it were not for the shallow bottom,” wrote Crystal Cove resident Claude Wiblin in an e-mail. “The eyesore and hazard to other boaters remain.”

Mr. Labrador said he bought the 1964 Rainbow about a year ago from a guy who told him the boat had a self-bailing cockpit. Apparently it didn't, he said. When he heard news of the hurricanes coming, Mr. Labrador said he pulled the boat, which his wife has named Blow Me, around to the sandbar so that if it should sink, well, at least it shouldn't go down so very far, he said. Ike was the cause for the second sinking, Mr. Labrador said.

In Mr. Labrador's opinion, this is a class war. The homeowners who have complained about his boat are "out to get him," he said, because they don't like the way his boat looks, despite its buoyancy level. He claims the neighbors have called the police on him for trespassing on the 4 feet of rocky shore when he's tried to get to his boat from the nearest waters' edge.

"I'd come up and move it if the neighbors wouldn't fight me," he said.

He added: "You look up the definition of abandonment. I mean I was out there every day sitting on my mast. Sorry that it was 20 feet down."

Solution: Whatever floats his boat

NRP spokesman Sgt. Ken Turner said his bureau was unaware of the sub-sea-level whereabouts of Mr. Labrador's boat until The Capital contacted Sgt. Turner on Oct. 3, a Friday.

Mr. Wiblin, however, said he and his wife had contacted the NRP more than two weeks prior to The Capital's phone call.

"We were unaware of this, and we don't pretend to know everything that's going on," Sgt. Turner said. "We welcome the general public to get involved by letting us know if they see something."

The NRP sent an officer out to the scene the following Tuesday, Oct. 7.

During that visit, Sgt. Turner said: "I can confirm the vessel in question is sitting on the bottom. We are investigating the incident, and no charges have been filed at this time."

The NRP is the correct office to bring complaints about sunken or abandoned boats, but taking immediate action on one of these types of cases is difficult, Sgt. Turner said.

The state's legal definition of an abandoned boat, according to Maryland code, is as follows:

A boat left illegally for more than 30 days on public property, marinas, docks or boatyards.

A boat that has remained for more than 90 days at a private marina, boatyard, dock or at or near the waters' edge along private property.

A boat left on any other private property more than 180 days without prior consent.

A boat found adrift or unattended in state waters, in a condition of disrepair and posing a hazard or an obstruction to the use of the waters.

Severn Riverkeeper Fred Kelly said the process is unreasonably slow and the law needs to be amended to move the cases along quicker.

"The process is that the Natural Resources folks, they get the name of the person who owns the boat, then they send them a letter in the mail, giving them X number of time to remove the boat," Mr. Kelly said. "Then, if they don't, they can assess (the boat owner) with a fine or they can charge him with the removal of the boat. One in Sullivan's Cove, it took a year."

Mr. Labrador offers up another solution. As of now, he said he's waiting for "the tide to be in his favor" to raise his boat, but in the meantime, if any of the residents are interested, he's willing to sell.

Did someone sink your battleship? Are you currently battling the eyesore of someone else's sunken ship? Call the Maryland Natural Resources Police at 410-260-8888.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Ever want someone to growl on your behalf? From plowing to potholes, from sediment runoff to sewer blockages, the Watchdog wants to hear about your civic problem. She'll figure out which government agency is responsible, and follow up to see that it's handled satisfactorily.