NAHANT — Recovery workers spent Thursday morning picking up the pieces after storm winds earlier in the week caused a large recreational boat to break free of its mooring and drift across Nahant Wharf, damaging several smaller boats in its path before finally coming to a halt on Tudor Beach.
While on its route of destruction at around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, the 50-foot, wood-hulled trawler reportedly hit and swamped a 23-foot lobster boat, while also dragging a 32-foot schooner toward a cluster of rocks adjacent to Crystal Beach.
The schooner ultimately broke free, but the trawler’s owner, Stephen Grooms, said his boat hit the rocks at a high speed, causing extensive damage and the release of an undetermined amount of diesel fuel into the water from one of several fuel tanks.
“I left work around 7 in the morning to come home and check on (the boat) because it was getting so rough here, but when we pulled up to the beach, she actually was coming through the crowd of boats,” Grooms said, gesturing to the area where his boat had become unmoored. “We raced home to get our dinghy, but by the time we got back here and got launched in the water, she was already on the rocks.”
Grooms, who purchased the 54-year-old trawler about two years ago and was in the process of restoring it, added that as soon as he saw his boat drifting through the water, he knew he had to act quickly.
“She weighs 47 tons, so the second the mooring broke, I mean, that’s a freight train coming through,” he said.
Jim Passanisi, owner of the 23-foot lobster boat, was at the scene Thursday morning to watch as Sea Tow retrieved his vessel, which had hung partially-submerged in about 20 feet of water since the day before.
Referencing a picture a friend sent him of the collision as it occurred, the retired lobsterman said he was unsure if his boat could be repaired.
“We’ll get through it,” he said. “I’ll just rebuild it or buy a new boat. I see the cabin is still on it, so that’s a good thing.”
A press release from the Nahant Harbormaster stated Coast Guard Sector Boston was immediately notified of the oil spill, and Coast Guard and MassDEP response teams were dispatched to the scene just before noon Wednesday for cleanup.
Representatives from Sea Tow were also on site and contacted Clean Harbors Environmental Services to remove all remaining fuel from the vessel.
Considered unsalvageable due to severe structural damage, the trawler is set to be taken apart by salvage crews early Friday morning.
Elyse Carmosino can be reached at [email protected].
