Ash borer, storms make mess of marina

Recent storms in Port Washington, combined with the destruction wrought by the emerald ash borer, have created a mess in the city marina.

Harbormaster Dennis Cherny told the Harbor Commission Monday that dead trees washed down Sauk Creek during the storms that hit the area two weeks ago, littering the marina.

“It’s amazing. I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said, noting that it’s typical to see one or two trees float into the marina every couple years.

So far this year, he said, his crew has removed about 25 large trees and there are more waiting to be pulled from the marina.

“These aren’t small trees,” Cherny said, noting many are 25 to 50 feet long.

One was so large that the marina truck couldn’t pull it from the lake, he said, noting Great Lakes Marine used its semi-tractor trailer to pull out the tree, which he said was about 60 feet long and 30 inches in diameter.

One tree is stuck on the rocks near the blue bridge Cherny said.

“I don’t know how we’re going to get it out,” he said. “We’re going to try.”

The trees are making a mess in the marina, Cherny said.

There isn’t a danger of the logs damaging boats if they hit them, he said, because they don’t travel with the force needed to damage vessels.

But, he said, it’s sometimes difficult for boats to maneuver around them. If a boat were to ride over them, he said, they could cause damage to the propeller.

“They’re a nuisance,” Cherny said.

Crews typically use the marina boat to rope the trees and drag them to the launch ramps for removal.

“It’s a slow process,” he said.

Cherny said he’s astounded the trees made it down Sauk Creek, noting there are plenty of twists and turns in the waterway where they could be forced out of the water and onto land.

“How they make it down the creek, I don’t know,” he said. “How come they don’t get hung up? I don’t know what’s causing this. Why didn’t we see them before?”

Ald. Mike Gasper, a member of the commission, said many of the trees are ash that were likely killed by the emerald ash borer in recent years.

A marina tenant at the meeting praised the marina crew for its work. “I’ve lived here 40 years and it’s worse than I’ve ever seen it,” he said. “It’s incredible. They’re doing a good job removing them.”