All vessels were moored at a private dock on Steamboat Slough.
Vessel #1, an undocumented/unregistered retired ferry vessel named MV Kirkland, was having engine work done.  The vessel was started in gear and hit the stern of vessel #2, DOUBLE PLAY, pushing it about 40' down the dock into vessel #3, a Blanchard Utility boat.  The engines then went off and the vessel moved backwards, probably from the recoil of the moorage lines.  The engine then started a second time and the vessel hit vessel #2 again, pushing it down the dock and into stern, then right alongside its starboard side.  The engines then turned off.

The owner of vessel #2 then emerged from the vessel and contacted mechanic who had been working on vessel #1's engines.  mechanic said he was unaware the vessel had been started in gear.  Owner2 contacted owner1 to make arrangements to repair his vessel.  Owner2 said he was told later that the estimate of the damages was $30,000 but he also thought the company making the estimate made a high estimate to avoid having to make the repairs.  Owner of vessel #1, said he felt the estimate was an attempt to get more money than the actual cost of repair.  He also said that mechanic was not authorized to start the engines and was hired to paint the engine room.

No further action was taken by the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office.
Everett                       