buoy tender Cactus--in addition to Marvel saw I picked up from owner Dave, I
rummaged ships contents--thousands of gallons mostly military acquisition
fluids and coatings---acquired during a time the DOD dumped hazardous via public sale--and here --the final chapter of USCG Cactus ---courtesy of Seattle Times
The Cactus' best years were spent in the Coast Guard, working as a buoy tender. But in the 1970s, the vessel was past her prime, so the Coast Guard did what the taxpayer might expect: sold it.
At some point, the Cactus wound up in the hands of David Thomsen. He told the state he bought her for $35,000 and planned to turn her into a floating sawmill.
He also said that he was the "comptroller of the currency"; that he was "part owner of a $300 trillion gold mine"; that he "invented the silicon chip"; and that he owns Microsoft and Vulcan, according to Ferris' file on the case.
"If people can't live in society, boats are kind of a last bastion," Ferris said. "We do get a number of people with mental-health issues."
By the mid-2000s, the Cactus appeared to be little more than a floating junkyard moored in the Foss Waterway.
The law allows a boat one month in the public waterway before it has to move. In September 2003, Thomsen received his 30-day notice. On day 29, Ferris said, Thomsen used the tides, the wind and a 20-foot fishing boat to tow it to Maury Island. Authorities were hesitant to give him another 30-day notice.
"We could end up chasing this vessel around Puget Sound," one official wrote in an email. "Would that create greater danger?"
The vessel sat there for years. By 2008, it was filled with buckets of paint and epoxy; rusted steel plates, rubber hoses, PVC pipe, leaking pails of seam filler, old newspapers, mattresses, boxes of tiles and who knows what else. There was also fuel and asbestos insulation.
Meanwhile, the boat had been pillaged. Ten-foot pieces of metal had been cut out of the deck. Brass valves were removed.
"The only thing that was keeping the boat from sinking was these corks that had been hammered in," Ferris said.
At one point, it broke anchor and went swinging into the aquatic reserve. Another time, according to Ferris, Thomsen called 911 because it was sinking. He got it under control, but King County decided to step in. In 2008, under Thomsen's protest, the Cactus was towed away for dismantling.
Years later, the boat is still sitting at a Ballard shipyard because there wasn't enough money left in Ferris' budget to scrap it. Between moorage fees, cleaning off the junk, pumping out the holds and other emergency measures, it's cost the state more than $348,000 so far. Each month is another $3,000 in moorage.
"We've been baby-sitting this stupid boat for four years basically," Ferris said.
This fall, Ferris said, she'll finally be able to finish the job, thanks to a lump sum from the Legislature.
But the Cactus had taught her a valuable lesson: When you seize a boat, it becomes your boat. And your problem.