Looks like Legacy is finally coming ungrounded

Looking like Noah's Ark after the flood, a sleek 158-foot yacht driven aground by Hurricane Wilma lies just offshore Key West, Fla. -- two years after the storm. Finally, though very slowly, the yacht is being freed after the boat's owner and the goverment agreed how to remove it without doing too much damage to federally protected seagrass.
Through the dispute, owner Peter Halmos has stayed aboard or lived close by on a cluster of houseboats so he can guard his beloved Legacy against pirates. (He knows about security; he made his fortune selling theft protection to credit-card holders.)

Halmos estimates he is spending more than $1 million a month maintaining the houseboats and moving the Legacy.

"After two years, you kind of get numb to it. It used to make me physically sick," he said.

It won't be his last expense. He will have to replant any damaged seagrass. But in several weeks, he -- and his Legacy -- will be free.
 
Federally protected Sea Grass? Something that grows back all by itself? Where do we get these kinds of people?
Do they have to Genetically engineer somebody who'd protect something as perennial and self-regeneratinga as Sea Grass?

I'm wondering why they didnt drop a couple of anchors out in deeper water and winch the Yacht off the sand?
 
I kinda thought there'd be a way to attach some sort of floatation collars to unground it on a real high tide. The amount of money spent so far is fantastic. Some sort of floatation along with proper rigging and a couple of heavy lift helos. Even if the fines were high for the sea grass damage. Pay that expense and establish a non-profit group for the study of the area ecology. I think we have enough people with enough brains and experience to collect a nice consulting fee to solve the problem. No cure no pay, it's been happening in marine salvage for years.
 
The boat draws 11 feet and is in 2 feet or less of water with a normal tidal range of about 3 feet or less.

I was involved in pulling a 72' boat off the same type bank in the same area. And the problem is the State and the Feds do not want you do and additional damage to the bottom as you get it out. And they want to be on site when you do any work involving moving the boat.

The grass take years to regrow and the bottom erodes away do to tidal flow untill the grass does regrow. So they claim to use your fine to replant. But I've seen areas that were not replanted after a year or more since the boat was removed.
 
What's cheaper, spending $1 million a month to stay near it and protect it, or just yanking the darn thing out and getting slapped with a couple million dollar fine from the EPA? He shoulda yanked it out long ago and dealt with the fines, it woulda been cheaper.
 
bob... yeah sure... and who's going going to pull it ? no salvage company or captain is going to do anythign without the USCG approval... read the article, maybe you'll understand the logistics.

i understand the importance of sea grass but they're taking it too far...
 
I could be way off but a barge or 500 barges with cranes should be able to pick it up and then move the barges to deeper water and lower it.

With the money spent so far it would seem like it's worth at least a shot.
 
The water is so shallow around the boat that you could not get barges in without doing more damage to the bottom around the boat. And it must displace in the neighborhood of 600 tons since a 174' Perini Navi is listed as displaceing 700 tons.
Those large tower derricks you see at high rise construction sites can raise only 20 tons or so from what I understand. And they are bolted to solid ground.

It would take something like this to raise it:

http://www.gerwick.com/pdf/other/090e_heavy_lift_equipment.pdf

And even if you could get it near the boat, good luck getting the DNR to let you bring that in. :-)

And as Pascal alluded to, no salvage company can move it without the State's and/or Federal agencies (if it's in the Federal area) approval.
 
i wonder why the heck the boat ran aground in the first place... it's not like wilma popped out of nowhere, we had plenty of time to see it coming... i believe it was a cat 5 off the yucatan before weakening into a minor storm over florida. can't believe large yachts like this even considered staying in key west.
 
I was doing a search on that boat when this 20+ year old thread popped up

Looks like it just sunk in Ft Pierce

IMG_7676.jpeg

IMG_7675.jpeg
 
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