PORT TOWNSEND – The leaking work barge is about an inch too wide for the Port of Port Townsend’s 330-ton Marine Lift to hoist out of the water, officials say.

So Caicos Corporation crew members this weekend were cutting off about four inches from the sides of the barge to allow the Marine Lift to muscle it up on the heavy haul-out Monday at Port Townsend Boat Haven, said Caicos president David Berry on Friday.

The rusty old barge, at just more than 30 feet wide, has been taking on water for weeks, Berry said.

A bilge pump has been fired up occasionally to relieve a flooded stern section of the hull.

“We’re going to haul it out, repair it and put it back in, but we’ve got to narrow up the barge a little bit,” Berry said.

The vessel was listing slightly on Friday near the mouth of Hudson Point Marina, where it has been used to dredge and pull old creosote pilings, part of the port’s $4.08 million marina renovation project.

“There is leakage in an area of pinholes,” Berry explained.

“It won’t sink. It is just one compartment in the stern that is taking on water.”