Sailboat stranded on Dungeness Spit

Published 3:30 pm Tuesday, September 8, 2020

Owners of a sailboat are working with state and local officials to remove their boat from the Dungeness Spit after the boat ran aground on the evening of Friday, Aug. 28.

Jennifer Brown-Scott, a Project Leader at the Washington Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Complex, said the boat became stuck at about the three-mile mark of the spit on the Strait of Juan de Fuca side.

Initial response was by the Clallam County Sheriff’s Department and the U.S. Coast Guard, Brown Scott said.

“We are in communication with the owners (and) they are working to get the boat removed,” she said. “We do not have an estimated date of removal.”

Chad Kaiser, general manger of the New Dungeness Light Station Association, said his organization was also monitoring the situation.

He said boats getting stranded on the spit is not a common occurrence, happening about once every three years.