A mast sticking out of the water; a deckhouse exposed at low tide; an old runabout lying on its side on the bank. Boats abandoned by their owners come in all shapes and sizes, but one thing remains the same: These derelicts take time, money and effort to remove, and the costs are often borne by the boating public.

WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCESGreybeard was one of the first vessels removed from San Juan County waters under the new Washington state program. A small runabout might cost as much as $2,000 to haul away and break up at a landfill. A 30-footer might cost three times that much. Add another $25,000 if it's sunk and needs to be raised. Local governments must often pay for derelict removal out of already under-funded waterway improvement accounts. Many states have made grants available to reimburse some or most of these costs, but funding for these programs is inconsistent.

Most states have a list, often several hundred vessels long, of problem boats. Generally, priority for removal is based on the boat's location and factors such as whether or not it is a hazard to navigation, is in a stable position or poses any sort of environmental hazard. Boats in this last category are frequently dealt with first, sometimes directly by the state.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Coast Guard has the authority to move derelicts that pose a hazard to navigation, but not to dispose of them. For vessels that aren't a hazard to navigation, a different, lengthier process takes over. The exact procedure varies from state to state, but the steps are similar.

First a vessel has to be declared abandoned; the state must attempt to contact the last registered owner; legal notice has to be given to the public; finally, the state can assume possession of the vessel. In some states the seizure is conducted by the counties, but the process remains the same. After the state or county assumes custody, the local authorities can take over.

VARYING SUCCESSWASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCESDerelict removal schedules are prioritized. It can be years before a low priority boat is removed.

States have had varying success dealing with the derelict boat problem. A dedicated program with steady funding improves a state's chances of containing the problem, but even then, states such as California and Florida, each with large boating populations, still find the number of derelicts increasing.

In Florida, which has thousands of derelict boats in its database, the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission tags and declares boats abandoned. Once a year, the state transfers custody of the boats it has seized to the counties; the counties can then remove the vessels on their own schedule.

When funds are available, the state provides grants to requesting counties to reimburse a portion of the cost of removal. In 2007, Florida targeted 850 of the worst vessels for removal, but removal is funded by grant money, and the well has been dry for years.

Florida funds derelict removal through the Florida Coastal Protection Trust Fund, which is generated by a tax on petroleum imports. The account is managed by the Department of Environmental Protection, not the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Legislators must make a special effort to transfer some of the Coastal Protection Trust Fund to Fish and Wildlife for the purpose of removing derelicts, or else the money dries up – and the Florida legislature has not done so since 2003. As a result, some counties have begun tagging and seizing derelicts on their own.

Other states have specifically created funds generated by boating taxes and fees to use for derelict removal. Washington state created such a fund in 2002 by increasing vessel registration costs by $2 per year. The fund's balance was about $700,000 in fiscal year 2006. The steady funding has allowed the state to reimburse 75 percent of the cost of removal for 86 vessels since the program began, with more listed.

Washington's San Juan County began a 19-vessel roundup in 2003. Of the cost of about $240,000 for the entire project, the Derelict Vessel Removal Program covered approximately $180,000.

CALIFORNIA'S APPROACHAbandoned commercial vessels contribute to the derelict problem in many different states.

California, which has a large problem with derelict boats, particularly in the canals and rivers of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, came up with a two-pronged approach. Lawmakers passed a bill that makes declaring a vessel derelict and assuming custody easier. But a proposal to keep abandoned boats from ending up in the waterways in the first place is still in limbo.

In 2005, California passed a law allowing law enforcement agencies to remove abandoned vessels from waterways. Under the law, the amount of time abandoned vessels may be held by law enforcement before being sold at auction was reduced from 90 to 60 days. By reducing the delay, officers avoid additional problems and costs that occur while vessels remain in the water.

The state passed the law in hopes that more local authorities would take advantage of funds tabbed for derelict removal. Each year approximately $500,000 is set aside from money generated by boating fuel taxes.

This approach was championed by the state's Abandoned Vessel Advisory Committee, which also sent a recommendation to the California Department of Boating and Waterways to create a pilot program to accept unwanted boats in the Delta counties. According to Russ Robinson, a past president of Recreational Boaters of California and BoatU.S. member who represented recreational boaters on the committee, the pilot program would allow owners of older, worthless or unwanted boats to turn them in to the sheriff's department as an alternative to abandonment.

The proposed program would run for three years and offer rebates on landfill fees or other means of making the turn-in program a low-cost option for disposing of an unwanted boat. By preventing the abandonment of unwanted boats the state should save money in the long run. The concept has already been put into practice on the Chesapeake Bay, with a good result. But California lawmakers have yet to pass the initiative.

MARYLAND'S PROGRAM

The state of Maryland has aggressively attacked its abandoned boat problem. Derelicts in Maryland waterways are removed through grants from the Waterway Improvement Fund, which is funded through the excise tax on boats and a small percentage of the state motor fuel tax.

About $300,000 is budgeted each year for grants to the counties. The Natural Resources Police administer the program. In addition, Baltimore County has its own vessel removal program that works directly with owners to remove boats before they are abandoned. "It's much, much cheaper to take them out that way, than once they are sunk," says Bob Gaudette, director of the state's Waterway Improvement Fund.Weather is often a major cause of abandonement. This boat was left in ruin by Hurricane Katrina.

Based on that rationale, Baltimore County's Department of Environmental Protection and Resource Management (DEPRM) quietly initiated a simple but effective program in the early 1990s. Residential waterfront owners in Baltimore County who can transport their unwanted boat to a designated county ramp can have the boat pulled from the water and disposed of for free.

"We used to charge 25 percent of the cost of disposal, but the program is so low-cost that we stopped doing that," says Candice Croswell, of the Baltimore DEPRM. "The owners have to coordinate with us. They must sign-over the title, and the gas tank must be empty," says Croswell. If those conditions are met, a disposal crew will chop the boat up and put it in a dumpster on the spot.

The department also acts proactively, conducting a biannual survey to identify derelict, abandoned or distressed vessels with the goal of contacting the owners to initiate removal procedures before the boat sinks or becomes unseaworthy. Baltimore County Marine Police also keep an eye out for older boats that might be unwanted or on the verge of sinking with the same goal in mind. If they can keep the boats from becoming derelicts, it means that much more money in the budget to do dredging and other debris removal.

Abandoning a boat doesn't just cost taxpaying boaters, it can also cost the negligent owner. Most states will bill the boat's registered owner for the cost of disposal if they can find them. And if they determine the abandonment was deliberate, the owner can be fined or even serve jail time.

Part of the 2005 law in California makes abandoning a boat a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $500 to $1,500 fine on top of removal costs. In Maryland, deliberate abandonment is already a misdemeanor punishable by six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, both of which can double for a second conviction.

"We don't want hazards in the water," says Gaudette. "We don't want environmental threats in the water. We want them out of the water."