Debris finally gone
Ivan remnant removed from local home
BY FRANKLIN HAYES Gulf Breeze News franklin@gulfbreezenews.com
Hurricane Ivan was certainly full of unwanted surprises for many Gulf Breeze residents, but one Santa Rosa Shores resident has dealt with his white elephant, or white boat in this case, longer than most.

Picture courtesy of Glen Ward/Sea Tow The 50 foot "Young Lady" (above left) was removed from Steve Moncreiff's Santa Rosa Shores home during the week of July 9. The boat sat in Moncreiff's back yard for nearly three years after Hurricane washed it ashore in September of 2004.

The 50-foot "Young Lady," owned by Relief Inc. of Atlanta Ga., had been lodged in Steven Moncreiff's yard since Hurricane Ivan struck in 2004 and was finally removed during the week of July 9.

The four-day process had left a gaping hole in Moncreiff's sea wall as of press time, but you won't hear the property owner complain any time soon. Sea Tow representative John ward said his company would rebuild the damaged portion of the sea- wall and fill the void left by the boat. Ward also said the boat was taken to Brown Marine in Pensacola.

"It should have been removed two and a half years ago… Sea Tow did it the way it was supposed to have been done," Moncreiff said of the maritime assistance service provider.

Santa Rosa County paid Sea Tow $18,400 to remove the derelict vessel. The boat's legal owner, Relief, Inc, reimbursed the county government for its expenditure.

"The boat was not insured at the time of the storm because the engines were removed for repairs," said Necie Elizabeth Young, president of Relief Inc. "As such, while the company attempted to insure the boat, we were told that the boat was uninsurable since it was not under power… Due to [Relief, Inc.]'s inability to obtain consent from the homeowner, the company began working with Santa Rosa County for its removal."

Moncreiff said he refused to approve a contract with another marine towing company because they couldn't provide adequate insurance for his property. The homeowner said the original company couldn't provide an insurance binder naming his property as additionally insured, which Sea Tow was able to do.

To complicate matters, the canals behind Moncreiff's property were too shallow to allow a barge and crane close enough to the boat to remove it.

"I knew the owner and I had even fished off the boat before," Moncreiff said of the vessel, which had been moored near his home on Sunset Lane. "I needed to rebuild my house so the boat was not a big concern [at the time]."

Ward said his company had seen its share of large boat removals in the aftermath of hurricanes in 2004 and 2005, but the Young Lady was certainly the most recent hurricanerelated derelict vessel he's had to remove.

"If they'd have called me three years ago I could have done it then," Ward said.