PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — For months, commuters across the I-205 bridge have seen a curious sight along the banks of the Columbia River near the airport — an abandoned sailboat.

High and mostly dry, it’s been a long time since it has provided anyone good times.

An abandoned sailboat on the bank of the Columbia River. (KOIN)

Alex Jay has been wondering about its history on his lunch time walks.

“You can see there’s a whole bunch of wood pilings and stuff,” Jay said. “It was up on stilts and it had been up there for months like that. Someone was living in it. I don’t know who, I never saw anyone, but there were signs of habitation. And then a couple weeks ago it fell over and all the stilts fell off and I don’t know what happened.”

The Coast Guard got the first complaint in July and then tried and failed to find the current owner.

“We have no plans to remove it at this time, unless it becomes a navigation problem or a pollution problem,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Levi Read. “If a storm puts it in river.”

Read said derelict boats are a problem up and down the Columbia River but it’s often expensive to remove them.

“They are cost prohibitive to make it a concern,” Read said.

A curious couple came ashore one day and investigated the boat closer. They told KOIN 6 News they wanted to try to salvage it.

They said it seemed unlikely to be able to float and they could see a lot of water in the cabin.

“I thought it was a salvage, possibly not,” the man said.

He said some people had been working on salvaging it but hadn’t been able to get it off the rocks, so he thought he’d take a look.

There is a number spray painted on the bow and it appears the boat was registered to a man in Happy Valley.

A relative told KOIN 6 News she hasn’t seen the man’s boat in years.

“I think what’s going on is it’s probably not up to date,” she told KOIN 6 News.

The couple decided the boat was too big to take, so it’s still sitting there — until the river or weather take their toll.