DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — A 92-foot luxury boat worth several million dollars beached in Delray Beach since Friday was removed Sunday afternoon.
TowBoatrUS Ft. Lauderdale was able to move Past Time, which had lost power and beached at Linton Avenue, out of the sand.
The yacht was moved out of the way at 3:15 p.m. and headed on a three-hour trip to Viking Service Center in Riviera Beach.
Captain Larry Acheson, president of the company, said he had 20 people working to remove it since Friday.
"We had various vessels all with different missions," he told WPTV. "We had to pull the diesel fuel off board. Various people on the beach and various people on the disabled vessel. If it starts taking on water, we had to have people running the pumps."
Acheson said he could not disclose information on the owner.
Seth Stern with Wavy Boat, who had been taking video of the boat Past Time the past few days, told WPTV reporter Chris Gilmore "You'll never see a boat like this beached again in your lifetime."
The Viking 92's engines locked up and a generator malfunctioned in high winds, Stern said.
"This is not a small boat. This is not a small operation," Stern said.
On Sunday, crews with the Fort Lauderdale towing company were trying to get the yacht back in the water, including pumping out fuel.
Despite several failed attempts, they planned to get it back in the water at high tide.
"The attempts that I have witnessed have been unsuccessful due to the lines snapping due to the sheer weight of the boat," Stern said. "Today it's nice to see they're pumping off all the fuel and oil to prevent any kind of environmental spill for when they do pull this boat off. It'll also lighten the boat tremendously, making the rescue much easier."
Stern did some research to see the value of the boat.
"I looked one up just to see the prices and there's currently one listed for $12 million, but it doesn't have some of the same bells and whistles as this one," he said. "So the estimation of $15 to $16 million is fairly accurate on this boat. However every day it sits here getting battered by the waves that value has to go down."
Another boat has been stranded at Jacksonville Beach for two weeks.
Luke Rehberg told First Coast News he has decided to demolish "Aqualon," which he had called him.