Where did the North Boat Harbor boats go?

How do you relocate147 boats and the moorings they’re tied to?

Harbormaster Glo Wollen found the way.

As Petersburg’s North Boat Harbor took on the appearance of an old west ghost town, it was evident that boats were being relocated with a minimum of fuss.

“It took a lot of juggling — sometimes moving boats hour by hour,” Wollen said.

“The planning has been underway for the past two years. We started the process with the assumption that everybody was going to be inconvenienced,” she added.

In addition to the existing pleasure and commercial vessels, Wollen had to accommodate six large commercial boats that are new to the fleet.

Some boat owners have hauled their vessels into storage yards or their driveways. Others have shared slips with seine or gillnet vessels temporarily while the skipper is on the fishing grounds.

Equally important, Wollen said, “We were able to get rid of the harbor floats.” Almost all were sold to a long list of local residents who have hauled their old but still useable selections to new locations.

Harold Medalen and Tonka Seafoods purchased the cement floats and some of the floats will reappear at the Beachcomber Inn in Scow Bay where the dock and ramp are being rebuilt.

Wollen said the transient floats will be retained by the Harbor Department and will be converted to a 40x40-foot work float for the troll fleet.

Wollen said the harbor demolition has gone well and Western Dock and Bridge will have the harbor ready for the dredge contractor, S&S Construction in Sitka to begin work on Sept. 1.

According to City Manager Steve Giesbrecht, the dredge spoils will be transferred to the Alaska Marine Lines yard by barge, and Rock-n-Road Construction will haul 4,000 truckloads of dredge spoils to the city landfill site. Giesbrecht said the contractor will use the airport bypass road to ease traffic congestion on Nordic Drive.