By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — She’s old and tired, and has done her duty.

The Annie — a 26-foot flat-bottomed scow that began life as an oyster boat then served the local water-quality watchdog group Harbor Watch another three decades — is ready to drift into the fog.

The salty wooden vessel owes no one a dime — paint peeling, wood looking soggy and tired. The stern can no longer hold a weighty outboard motor. She wasn’t seaworthy for last year’s water-testing season and a loaner-boat from a local oystering operation was a kind but short-term solution for Harbor Watch’s needs.

An effort is afoot to replace Annie, and Harbor Watch needs your help.

Grants have been obtained by the group now berthed at Earthplace, but the bulk of the cost is hoped to be earned at the Cocktails and Clams fundraiser from 5 to 7 p.m. June 10 at Copps Island Oysters (Norm Bloom and Son), 7 Edgewater Place in East Norwalk.

If you can’t attend the event, but would like to support the cause, click here.

“We need a boat of our own to keep collecting our valuable data,” said to Nikki Spiller, Harbor Watch’s director.

Some $60,000 is sought, this time for a more durable vessel, she said.

“We are looking at having a very similar boat built for us, but just with aluminum construction,” Spiller said. “The new boat will have a flat bottom, low sides to easily reach the water, and ample deck space for our staff and interns to conduct research.”

If you’re not sure what Harbor Watch does, it monitors the water quality for rivers and harbors in Fairfield County, and in some research cases throughout Connecticut. It helps ensure water is safe for swimming, boaters and for Connecticut’s historic aquaculture operations.

Spiller, the director of Harbor Watch for about a year, started as an intern in the summer of 2009.

After graduating Marist College with a degree in environmental science, she was hired as a staffer by Harbor Watch. She’s now the skipper.

“I love the job,” Spiller told the Westport Journal. “We do so much, every day is a little different. We have lots of great projects that we’re working on and we’re solving real-world problems.”

“It’s a very rewarding job,” Spiller said.

Thane Grauel grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond for 35 years. Reach him at editor@westportjournal.com. Learn more about us here.