Nahant board wants to take precautions with boats

NAHANT – Nahant officials are preparing the town wharf for another season of coastal storms by revising its boat storage application to include more precautionary measures. Tudor Wharf is marked as a hazard area on the Federal Emergency Management Agency?s flood plain map and experienced extensive damage during Hurricane Sandy last fall, so selectmen added a section to the application asking boat owners to secure loose gear like prams and mooring buoys or store it elsewhere.?Hurricane Sandy hit us really hard last year,” said Vice Chairman Perry Barrasso. “We?re acknowledging the potential risk of unsecured gear.”Town Administrator Andy Bisignani said most boat owners usually just kept their gear under their boats, but without proper storage, waves crashing over the walls during a storm could cause the gear to move around on the wharf.?It could knock out jack stands and cause boats to tip over,” said Selectman Michael Manning. “One boat could hit a neighboring boast and cause a case of dominos.”Manning said the town has dealt with issues of boats toppled on top of each other “in recent history.”The application will also let boat owners know that the wharf is not responsible for any damage that may come to the boat while being stored over the season.Bisignani added that there?s been no fee increase for storing boats – the fee is still $10 per foot for the season.The new application will be available online this week. Anyone who signed the form before it was revised must sign a new one to acknowledge the changes.The selectmen added that boat hauling day at the wharf will be Oct. 9 and Oct. 18. Those who are interested should call Jocelyn Marine for an appointment at 978-462-9717.