Keyport's waterfront is banged up after sailboats are freed by nor'easter
Seven sailboats at the Keyport Yacht Club were set loose by intense waves and winds. One of those battered the railing along waterfront park and destroyed a pier.
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The Bayshore region of the state was pounded by the Nor’easter. In Keyport, homeowners were able to escaped the effect of flooding but boat owners along Keyport Bay weren't as lucky.
The railing along Keyport Waterfront Park was dented in some places and torn apart in others after a 38-foot sailboat was continuously thrown against it by intense waves on Sunday. That boat, the Kingfisher, was one of seven to be freed by the storm from the nearby Keyport Yacht Club.
That sailboat also destroyed a pier that was home to the Keyport Princess, a popular-85-foot fishing boat and whale watching boat which the owner fortunately moved one week ago.
"We moved it last Monday basically because we knew a northeast wind was coming. We can’t really stay here with any winds sustained above 20 mph. The boat just takes too much of a beating," said owner Victor Hartley.
Hartley was back at the waterfront surveying the damage.
“That sailboat could’ve easily taken out the boat. “The sailboat actually pinned against the dock sideways and it must have backed out somehow a little bit and it’ just started sawing into the dock," said Hartley.
Hartley says he moved his fishing boat to a safe place in Belford however Keyport Princess will be out of business until Hartley finds another dock. He had been renting use of the dock on the waterfront, which is owned by Keyport.
Hartley says the Keyport mayor and council are trying to help find a new dock.
