A sinking feeling to start the boating season in Port

By KRISTYN HALBIG ZIEHM

Ozaukee Press staff

PORT WASHINGTON - The Port Washington marina was only open for three days when a boat tied up in a slip on the fuel dock filled with water and sank on April 3.

Assistant Harbormaster Lisa Rathke said she was surprised to see the 24-foot powerboat named Reel Blessed filled with water and held up by only the line that attached it to the dock when she got to work at 7 a.m.

“It was fine when we left on Tuesday,” she said, noting the boat was the second one put in the water on Monday, the day the marina opened for the season.

Harbormaster Dennis Cherny said the vessel was filled with water, held up only by the lines securing it to the dock.

The marina staff called the boat‘s owner, Joel Strassburg of West Bend, and the Port Fire Department and Ozaukee County rescue boat crew for help.

Three divers from the fire department used ropes to secure the boat, then the marina staff used a pully system to get it out of the water.

The county crew used its large pumps to remove the water from the boat, Cherny said.

They floated the boat to the launch ramp, where Strassburg had his trailer waiting, Cherny said.

Strassburg later called to say that the bolts that attach the outboard motor to the transom, which are usually sealed, had leaked, causing the boat to take on water, Cherny said.