{"id":177579,"date":"2026-03-04T09:55:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T09:55:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/177579\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T09:55:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T09:55:30","slug":"florida-beach-town-facing-42k-bill-to-remove-abandoned-boat-turned-tourist-attraction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/177579\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida beach town facing $42K bill to remove abandoned boat turned tourist attraction"},"content":{"rendered":"

FLAGLER BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 For over a month, a massive 45-foot sailboat has turned a stretch of coastline into a tourist attraction \u2014 now the city wants it gone.<\/p>\n

The boat’s journey to shore began on January 24, when firefighters with the Flagler Beach Fire Department<\/a> say the boat lost power and began to capsize in crashing waves.<\/p>\n

“We had two adults and one infant on board,” Fire Chief Stephen Cox told ClickOrlando<\/a>. “The issue we had was that the seas were about six to seven feet, and they weren’t able to get off the boat.”<\/p>\n

The family was rescued, but their beached vessel remained, battered by the Atlantic.<\/p>\n

See also: Fort Pierce on the hook for nearly $200k Crabby’s dockside unpaid taxes and rent<\/a><\/p>\n

Since the rescue, the boat has seen hordes of visitors flocking for photo-ops, with some saying it’s a scene out of classic television.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s amazing to see that, “Paula, a resident, told ClickOrlando. “It reminds me of growing up and watching Gilligan\u2019s Island<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

Despite the curiosity it draws, Chief Cox told reporters that the boat remains a hazard, and the city wants it gone “ASAP.”<\/p>\n

But it’s not that simple.<\/p>\n

Because the owners surrendered the ownership to the state, the logistics of removing it are now left to taxpayers.<\/p>\n

According to ClickOrlando, the initial removal estimates were upward of $80,000 until one contractor said he would get the job done for $42,000.<\/p>\n

Comment with Bubbles<\/p>\n

BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT<\/p>\n

Currently, the city is seeking alternative ways to recoup the money, including state grants and legal action against the boat’s original owners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FLAGLER BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 For over a month, a massive 45-foot sailboat has turned a stretch of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-177579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}