Salvage of grounded Aleutian Storm on Sonoma Coast State Beach nearing finish

What remained of the storm-battered Aleutian Storm in the weeks after it grounded on Salmon Creek Beach is being carved into pieces and hauled away.

Crews and heavy equipment will soon leave the shoreline and return it to the visiting public once again, a state park official said Friday.

The work has been hindered by harsh weather and rough surf, and requires salvage crews to synchronize their efforts with tides that come in and out twice a day, shoving more sand around and into the wreckage, which already is partially buried.

“The removal is contingent on tide and swell conditions, which have not been good, and to remove (it) they have to dig out sand which comes back every day, which takes time from the tidal window to make progress,” said Jennifer Stock, media liaison for the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary.

But “they’ve made considerable progress, and the final salvage is in site,” said Bill Maslach, California State Parks Sonoma-Mendocino District superintendent.

South Salmon Creek Beach and Bodega Dunes parking lots — located at either end of the shoreline on which the Aleutian Storm landed — remained closed, but Bodega Dunes was expected to open “soon,” Maslach said.

The beach remains open for use in the meantime, except for areas within 100 yards of the boat where heavy equipment continues to work.

The 57-ton boat ended up in shallow water off the Sonoma Coast State Beach late Feb. 9 and ran ashore shortly after.

San Francisco-based Capt. Chris Fox, his crew of three men and dozens of fishermen and supporters from around the region tried for two days without success to free the 58-foot vessel from the sand and turn it toward open water so it could be towed off shore before it settled in.

There was an estimated 1,500 gallons of diesel fuel on board at the time, and an unknown volume leaked into the ocean, part of the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, on the second day of the operation. Attempts the next day by a professional salvage company hired by Fox to remove any additional fuel resulted in just 137 gallons being secured.

A second salvage company, Parker Diving and Salvage, was brought in Feb. 14 by the U.S. Coast Guard with plans to try to pull the vessel above the high tide line for safer fuel removal and salvage operations before the arrival of a significant weekend storm.

But the hull — by then weighted down by sand and saltwater — proved immovable. Further assessment of the vessel showed severe damage on the starboard side that likely rendered the vessel too unstable to move, anyway, a U.S. Coast Guard official said at the time.

A concrete ballast added to the challenge, Maslach said.

Maslach said he was unaware of any additional fuel being removed, saying there wasn’t any left in the wreckage.

State parks personnel have been monitoring the area, a nesting site for a tiny endangered seabird called the snowy plover, to ensure salvage crews can remove debris from the beach without interfering with the birds.

“So far, they’ve been doing a good job” cleaning up the beach, he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan (she/her) at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @MaryCallahanB.