ABANDONED OR NOT?
Boat’s owner, Norwalk in dispute over finding a home for storage
NORWALK — A yacht left anchored off Sheffield Island could be seized if its owner fails to get the boat’s paperwork in order and provide a new place to store it, an attorney for the city said.
The Swany, a 72-foot sailboat, has been run aground in a dispute between its owner, James Harding, and the city for several months.
Harding had until Saturday to find storage or a new mooring for the vessel, but it was not immediately clear if the city plans to take possession of the boat.
Swany remained in the Long Island Sound off the Sheffield Island shore on Sunday with yellow caution tape draped around the perimeter of the boat.
“We’re not looking to get the boat,” Deputy Corporation Counsel M. Jeffrey Spahr said Sunday.
Spahr said the city’s “fondest dream” would be for Harding to take the vessel and store it safely.
Harding was also required to apply to the U.S. Coast Guard to renew the boat’s documentation, according to a database of abandoned vessels maintained by the
state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
Harding said Monday that he has not abandoned the vessel, which he said he purchased 14 years ago in Bermuda.
“They’re hassling me saying I abandoned it,” he said. He said the boat needs to be moved to a location where he can row out to work on it.
“I’m a sailor, I’ve been all the way up to Maine and down to the islands,” said Harding, who said he lived on the boat for four years.
Local officials have accused Harding of abandoning the boat after asking him to remove the vessel from the visitors dock in Veterans Park, where they say it was illegally tied up in March.
In May, three teenagers were arrested after police say they stole more than $2,000 worth of equipment off a boat anchored near Sheffield Island. The boat was later confirmed to be the Swany.
During the Harbor Management Commission’s meeting in June, Harbor Master Gregg Scully said Harding was supposed to have the boat removed by Memorial Day, but was given an extra month to resolve the issue.
“His 45-day period was over (Memorial Day), so we’ve extended him another 30 days and to work with him to try to get his paperwork together — his registration and hopefully he can find a spot to bring his boat to,” Scully said during the commission’s June 3 meeting.
The additional time meant Harding had nearly 80 days to register the boat, which Scully said was uninsured.
The dispute began after it was discovered Swany was illegally tied up at the public docks at Veterans Park, Scully explained during a May commission meeting.
Scully said Harding was dismissive when asked who gave him permission to tie up the boat there.
“‘I don’t need permission, I’m a Norwalk resident, I can do whatever I want, the docks belong to me, nobody can make me pay’— blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,” Scully recalled Harding saying. “There’s no reasoning with the guy.”
Harding said he tied the boat up at the public dock “for the safety of the vessel.”
He said he is unable to get out to the boat to work on it where it’s moored off Sheffield Island.
Spahr said the boat will be sold if the city takes ownership of it.
He said the city would try to recoup any costs from the owner for hauling it out of the water or storing and selling it.
He said the city would take Harding out to the boat anchorage if he plans to move it.
“We’ll give you a ride,” Spahr said.