“Lost Boat” may be last abandoned houseboat on Lake Lanier

HALL COUNTY, Ga. — Lake Lanier Association is working to clear the last of the abandoned houseboats on the lake.

On the Hall County side of Lake Lanier, they are taking out the trash - about 40,000 pounds of it.

“This one was one that took us a long time to figure out where it was,” Bonny Putney said.

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Putney is with the Lake Lanier Association. They call it the ‘lost’ boat. A very old, rusty houseboat that was pushed up into the woods where it was left to rot.

“Whoever had it before never took out anything. There were old camp grills, chairs, and floats. It was just full of garbage,” David Bahn of towboat company Marine Specialties said.

For the last 7 years, the association has led the effort to remove all of the junked houseboats. Channel 2 action news has showed you the work. Some of them were along the shore, and some of them sank. They have taken out a dozen at a cost of more than $100,000, supplied by state and county taxpayers.

The ‘lost’ boat is thought to be the last one, at least the last one that they are aware . However, Bonny Putney said in time, there will likely be others.

“There’s thousands of boats on this lake and a lot of them are probably not in very good condition. People don’t want to pay to have them disposed of, so it’s going to continue as long as people think they can get away with it,” Putney said.

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