A U.S. Senator’s effort to help acquire a long-desired new rescue boat for North Whidbey Fire and Rescue has failed.

Chief Marv Koorn informed the fire district board Tuesday the deal the department had been working on with Sen. Patty Murray’s office for obtaining a surplus Coast Guard boat to replace the 17-foot M-25 unit has fallen through.

“I received a letter from Murray that basically says we are not going to be able to get a boat,” Koorn said.

This leaves the department with several options.

First there is the sheriff’s boat that would cost the fire district $20,000 or more to repair and then require entering into some sort of joint agreement with the sheriff’s department for its use.

Second, there is the 27-foot demo boat built by Bullfrog that has been at the Camano Fire Department for the last couple of months.

“Camano does not have the money to buy it, but we can purchase the boat for $60,000 or less,” Koorn said. “Thirdly, we can write specifications for a new catamaran boat and award the bid for approximately $120,000.”

Each of the first two options has some drawbacks.

According to Koorn, there may be some “strings attached” regarding the use of the sheriff’s boat. He said he will know more by the fire district’s March 12 meeting.

“The sheriff’s boat would do the job, but it’s not as nice as we would like,” he said.

Commissioner T.J. Lamont said he didn’t want any strings attached and directed Koorn to get with Sheriff Mark Brown to see what the strings might be.

With the Bullfrog boat the cabin does not lock up, but it is a 27-footer as opposed to a 25 or 26-foot unit.

After discussion, Lamont and Larry Morse gave Koorn approval to begin putting together specifications for a bid on a catamaran-type boat.