There was an incident just before midnight last night near Mushroom Beach at Helliwell Provincial Park. Two fellows had problems with their boat motor and were just able to limp into the sandstone shelves north of the beach. They refused help from the fire department, choosing instead to weather out the night close to their boat.
In the morning they discovered their boat had been beat up on the rocks, the motor had come off the boat and sunk, and the gas can was no where to be seen. Apparently wallets, keys, and some other personal items are also sleeping with the fishes, as they say.
They arranged a ride off island and assured both me and the Coast Guard Environmental Response dispatcher that their boat was sunken and wouldn’t be a hazard. I had Firefighter Lewis go investigate, and just as I suspected, we now have a tin boat on the shelves near Mushroom Beach.
At this point HIFR is “clear of scene” but as a frequent admirer of this stunningly beautiful spot I’m looking for suggestions on how to deal with this. I think that the seats are packed with Styrofoam that will be spread far and wide if the boat breaks up much further. I’m thinking that hauling it up the cliff and disposing of it at the recycling depot is the only environmentally sound method of dealing with it.