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OWNER OF RIVERBOAT IN EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP PUSHES VESSEL BACK INTO WATER
The Press of Atlantic City (Pleasantville New Jersey)
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
July 29, 2013 Monday
by Joel Landau, The Press of Atlantic City, Pleasantville, N.J.
July 29--Egg Harbor Township's riverboat is back where it belongs. The
Belle Miracle Ann returned to the water in the township near the
Longport-Somers Point Boulevard on Wednesday, said its owner,
Leonard Dagit.
The historic riverboat, one of the South Jersey's more unique roadside
attractions, sustained damage and washed ashore after Hurricane Sandy
in October. Dagit did not have a monetary figure for the damage,
noting some of his other properties -- including his home -- were
also damaged and that it was a cumulative cleanup.
Dagit had to wait for the boat, which dates to the 1920s, to be
restored before it could be moved several hundred feet back onto the
water at the Anchorage Poynte community.
"So far so good," he said Thursday night, adding it was a relief to
return the large vessel to the water. "A lot of people in the area
will be affected by Sandy a lot longer than this."
A large crane and excavator were used to push the boat onto the water.
Dagit said they waited for a full moon and high tide so the water
level would be at its highest.
"If it wasn't (moved Wednesday), it would have been (moved) next
month," he said.
The multilevel boat was first brought to the back bays of Egg Harbor
Township in 2005 by Hosrof "Sonny" Bagraduni, the Armenian-American
owner of a West Atlantic City hotel. Bagraduni died in 2008 before
he could renovate the vessel -- then known as the Tarlan Rose --
as a floating event hall.
Two years later, Dagit purchased the boat, renamed it the Belle Miracle
Ann and towed it to its location near the entrance to Anchorage Poynte.
The boat's purpose is mainly for private parties that Dagit said
occur only a couple of times a year.
The Press of Atlantic City (Pleasantville New Jersey)
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
July 29, 2013 Monday
by Joel Landau, The Press of Atlantic City, Pleasantville, N.J.
July 29--Egg Harbor Township's riverboat is back where it belongs. The
Belle Miracle Ann returned to the water in the township near the
Longport-Somers Point Boulevard on Wednesday, said its owner,
Leonard Dagit.
The historic riverboat, one of the South Jersey's more unique roadside
attractions, sustained damage and washed ashore after Hurricane Sandy
in October. Dagit did not have a monetary figure for the damage,
noting some of his other properties -- including his home -- were
also damaged and that it was a cumulative cleanup.
Dagit had to wait for the boat, which dates to the 1920s, to be
restored before it could be moved several hundred feet back onto the
water at the Anchorage Poynte community.
"So far so good," he said Thursday night, adding it was a relief to
return the large vessel to the water. "A lot of people in the area
will be affected by Sandy a lot longer than this."
A large crane and excavator were used to push the boat onto the water.
Dagit said they waited for a full moon and high tide so the water
level would be at its highest.
"If it wasn't (moved Wednesday), it would have been (moved) next
month," he said.
The multilevel boat was first brought to the back bays of Egg Harbor
Township in 2005 by Hosrof "Sonny" Bagraduni, the Armenian-American
owner of a West Atlantic City hotel. Bagraduni died in 2008 before
he could renovate the vessel -- then known as the Tarlan Rose --
as a floating event hall.
Two years later, Dagit purchased the boat, renamed it the Belle Miracle
Ann and towed it to its location near the entrance to Anchorage Poynte.
The boat's purpose is mainly for private parties that Dagit said
occur only a couple of times a year.