MV Enchantress: Hail and farewell?
There’s at least one in every elder home: beaten up, broken down, aged beyond recognition, living to regret a misspent youth, looks like hell. You can count the days of his life just looking at his face. But he refuses to die.
That’s the MV Enchantress, a World War II-era tugboat that was run aground near Anacortes. It was built during the War, served in the military — maybe — and ended up getting bought and sold seven times over the next half-century. For awhile it was one of the green-and-white Foss boats, running up and down the coast.
Its final owner was a shady character named Richard Carnes, a wheeler-dealer out of Sedro-Woolley. In June 2000, Carnes abandoned the MV Enchantress and another boat, the Ronnie S., offshore. Local officials mulled filing charges against Carnes, but before they could do anything about it, a business partner shot Carnes to death. (Sadly, it wasn’t over the boat, as one Flickr user claimed: it was over a busted timberland deal.)
The Ronnie S. was removed early, but officialdom let the Enchantress sit around for awhile. Lots of photographers took many pictures.
Problem is: the tug is crumbling, the lead paint is a hazard, and it’s sitting on some creosote pilings that need to get removed. So, the state is about to haul it off.
OK, I get it: environmental responsibility, stewardship of the Sound, yadda yadda. It’s still a shame.
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