Disgruntled Saquatucket Boat Owner Battles With Harbormaster

 HARWICH – The sign of the door to the harbormaster’s office at Saquatucket Harbor reads: “Boaters' bathrooms are out of service, sorry for the inconvenience. Per: Harbormaster.”

 Frank “Len” Greiner is a two-slip tenant in the municipal harbor. He keeps his harbor cruise vessel White Shark and his charter boat Magellan in the marina. The bathrooms specifically provided for boat owners who lease slips in the harbor, which are accessed through a punch key lock, have been closed for several weeks, he said. 

Greiner also said the public restrooms, which are accessed from the outside deck at the harbormaster’s office, are locked at night, leaving boaters or transient fishermen who come in all hours of the night to use the boat ramp with no restroom access.

According to Greiner, the inability to access bathrooms at night forces people to use the bushes surrounding the parking lot as a toilet. Greiner said he has witnessed a man defecating in a bucket and then disposing of the contents in the harbor. He questions the closure given the amount of money the town is spending on sewering in town to keep nitrogen from reaching the town’s harbors and inlets.

Greiner said the public bathrooms should be open 24 hours a day or self-contained sanitation units should be provided for access.

Town officials refute Greiner’s charges. The public restrooms have been open 24-hours a day, and the boaters’ bathrooms are closed because of severe structural degradation, according to Town Administrator Jay McGrail. Harbormaster John Harker said there is major leaking around a drain that has been impacting the floor joist, causing structural issues beyond the capability of the department of public works to repair, which is why an insurance claim is being pursued.

Greiner didn’t buy those claims. “When in the history of modern plumbing has your toilet not been fixed imminently and operating while an insurance claim is taken care off?” he said. 

There have been a number of issues between Greiner and Harker over the past couple of years. Greiner has been cited on a number of occasions by Harker for alleged incidents in which Greiner’s vessels struck stationary objects in the harbor, verbal confrontations with other boaters and slip tenants, navigational concerns, and customers leaving the White Shark with alcohol containers sold on the harbor cruise vessel.

One incident report cites Greiner urinating in the parking lot.

Harker said his department has tried to work with Greiner. 

 “We try to work through things with our tenants in the harbor,” Harker said.

Greiner said Harker has “treated me badly. He uses the same level of discretion as the robot that travels the aisles at Costco.” 

Harker said the public restrooms accessible from the deck have been open 24 hours a day since the boaters bathroom was closed. 

 “That is not our normal summer-season practice,” he said. “We typically lock those facilities overnight because of past vandalism. But we made the exception specifically so that boaters would have round-the-clock access.” 

Greiner has raised a couple of additional issues with the management of the harbor. The town’s pump-out boat, which visits vessels in the harbors and mooring fields to dispose of septic waste, is not working, he said. Boat owners received notice in June and it remains out of service, he said. 

 “Where is the septic going? It’s not going over to Saquatucket Harbor for the pump out there,” Greiner said.

Harker and McGrail refuted Greiner’s comments about the pump-out boat status. The town’s dedicated pump-out vessel experienced mechanical failure, but the town has additional pump-out capacity, according to Harker. A new pump-out facility was installed in 2025 and accommodates vessels of all sizes. Waste is discharged into an onshore septic system, he said. 

The harbor department has five pump-out carts at several locations around town that can be moved to address the needs of boaters, he said. A cart can also be placed on a boat to be taken out to service vessels, Harker said. There is also a 270-gallon trailer that can be driven around to do pump outs, he said. These services address pumpouts without interruption, Harker said, adding that his department has had no complaints about the service. 

 “We offer enough services so we don’t need to restore the vessel pump-out service any longer,” McGrail said. 

He also said the harbormaster this spring decided not to use the town-owned bottom paint containment system that collects chipped bottom paint, contaminants and any spilled paint when vessels are cleaned and repainted in the area dedicated to those activities. He said there is green paint all over the parking lot. 

 The large modular pad that served to collect chips, barnacles and spilled paint has become severely damaged over the years. Last year, it suffered a serious tear, said Harker. 

 The department has developed a basket and sock collection system in the two nearby drains in the parking lot that collect any debris from the hull cleaning process, he said. The materials go into a leach containment and filtration system, according to Harker.

 “It does not go into the harbor,” Harker said.

 “The tarp system seems less effective than the sock system,” according to McGrail.

Both Greiner and Harker come from a maritime background. Greiner is a graduate of Massachusetts Maritime Academy. He was a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve, a Gulf War Veteran, and worked in petroleum transportation in the U.S. Merchant Marines. Hacker is a retired Coast Guard commanding officer.

 “John does a phenomenal job in running the department,” McGrail said. “He’s squared away and takes a strategic approach, and is as good as any harbormaster I’ve ever worked with. John’s not going anywhere, so you have to work with him.”

There have been no other complaints about the bathrooms, pump-out boat or the paint contamination tarp use, according to Harker and McGrail.

McGrail said he invited Greiner in to talk with him, adding the town wants to find a way for Greiner and Harker to co-exist in Saquatucket Harbor.