sailboat washed ashore

'Ghost ship' belongs to Texas man whose world sailing dreams might be dashed

A “ghost ship” that recently washed up on a Florida Panhandle beach was traced to a Texas man who’ll likely lose much of his life savings after purchasing the vessel he had hoped to sail around the world.

Francine Farrar couldn’t believe her eyes early on the evening of June 18 when a 45-foot sailboat with no one aboard eerily floated toward her family’s beach rental in Pensacola.

“I saw this tattered sailboat, it looked ghostly, just kind of coming in,” Farrar, a 46-year-old Meridian, Mississippi, homemaker, told NBC News last week.

The craft washed ashore and the strange sight of a sailboat on the sand quickly became a source of neighborhood fascination, said 35-year-old Pensacola resident Allie Garrett.

“We called it the ‘ghost ship.’ It quickly became known as the ‘ghost ship’ across Pensacola beach,” said Garrett, a meteorologist and storm chaser who took multiple photos and drone footage of the prone vessel.

Wayward boats are common during Florida hurricane season as vessels succumb to high winds and get taken off their moorings.

“We just thought this sailboat broke loose from the marina, that someone didn’t tie it down well enough,” Farrar said.

But this beached ship turned out to have a far more complicated journey to where it now sits in Pensacola.

Shortly after locals posted images of the craft on social media, those pictures gained the attention of 39-year-old Michael Barlow, whose life was saved weeks earlier during a harrowing Coast Guard rescue in the Gulf of Mexico.

Barlow immediately recognized the images and video to be The Lady Catherine III, which he purchased in Fort Pierce, Florida, in May.

“I knew it was her,” Barlow said.

The Catherine pushed off from Fort Pierce on May 21, Barlow said, with plans to dock in Rockport, Texas, where he was closing down an excavation business and selling off belongings to start a new wandering life.

“We were just going to explore the world,” Barlow said of his wife and 9-year-old son. “We’re normal people. We have normal finances, very, very basic. And this is the only way I could take my son and show him there’s a whole world out there, beyond what’s in America. It’s the only way to do this realistically until this happened.”

Barlow and a friend were headed back to Texas when high winds and massive waves that would eventually become Hurricane Alberto lashed the Catherine and rendered it inoperable.

“We went through storms one after another, after another, after another, and then that last storm just hit us and exploded my front headsails,” Barlow said in an interview from Honduras, where he’s temporarily living and teaching scuba. “We lost our headsail, we lost our motor, and we were getting turned. It was unforecast and it was devastating.”

He added: “The seas were the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. I’ve been on the water my entire life, worked on offshore fishing boats, and I’ve seen some gnarly seas. But this was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

A Garmin satellite communication device was one of the few electric or gas-powered tools not destroyed by crashing seawater, and Barlow was able to get word to authorities on shore that he was stuck in dangerous waters.

“We were fine right now, but we have no control of the boat and it’s getting worse,” Barlow said, recalling his message to the Coast Guard. “We starting to get turned sideways. The waves were rolling the boat. There was not much we could do.”

The Coast Guard in New Orleans said it was alerted to two boaters whose “vessel became disabled approximately 190 miles south of Panama City” on June 1.

A Coast Guard helicopter and surveillance plane found Barlow and his friend on the Catherine, officials said, but a boat-to-boat rescue was out of the question in those unstable waters.

“‘We can come get you right now, but you have to leave the vessel,’” said Barlow, recalling the choice Coast Guard rescuers gave him. “‘You’re definitely rolling the dice on your life if you stay.’ It was just a bad situation, and it was getting progressively worse.”

Barlow picked a rescue over the boat he purchased for $80,000.

“The aircrews arrived on scene, the helicopter aircrew hoisted the two persons aboard and transported them to Panama City Airport in Panama City, Florida,” a Coast Guard statement said.

Barlow said he was reasonably confident the Catherine would show up again, and it did, 17 days later and nearly 200 miles away.

“We did our best to leave her in the best condition to make it through the storm,” Barlow said. “We lashed everything down and we hoped she could ride it out.”

Now, the sailor has nothing but bad choices ahead of him.

He could pay $20,000 to have the Catherine taken to dry dock for repairs that could very well total more than its pre-Alberto value.

Or he could shell out about $28,000 to simply have the vessel taken away and demolished, which would at least stop the financial hemorrhage .

“If we’re talking about business numbers, it’d make more sense to scrap the boat,” Barlow said. “That’s just the stone-cold truth.”

He’s now in talks with state and local officials in hopes of finding a solution in coming weeks.

As the owner of a “derelict vessel,” Barlow has to move it away or possibly face a third-degree felony, punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 and even prison time, officials said.

“Yes, our officers have been in contact with Mr. Barlow,” Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesperson Faith Fawn said in statement. “He has 30 days from the date the uniform boating citation was issued to bring his vessel into compliance.”

Barlow said he’s not giving up on his world-sailing dreams even if this Catherine misadventure costs him so much of his life savings.

“I said I can make another 80,000 bucks and we can carry on with life and try again or we can sit around here and try to be tough guys and really lose it all,” Barlow said of his final moments on the water aboard the Catherine.

“This definitely did not shake my resolve as far as sailing goes. I love the ocean. I respect the ocean. It’s relentless and beautiful at the same time.”

Senior Breaking News Reporter

Payton May is an intern with NBC News' Social Newsgathering team.

Rima Abdelkader is a senior reporter for Social Newsgathering at NBC News in New York.

Large sailboat washes ashore on the Outer Banks…

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Large sailboat washes ashore on the Outer Banks with 95-year-old mariner inside

The Coast Guard was notified that the boat, named Siesta, lost a rudder and beached itself in Carova. One person was on board, identified by witnesses as a 95-year-old man from Florida. No injuries were reported.

On Sunday, the Coast Guard will oversee removal of diesel fuel from the sailboat to prevent any possibility of pollution, Coast Guard public affairs said in an email.

“The sailboat will be secured on the beach through this afternoon and tonight,” the email said.

On Thursday, the Coast Guard rescued three adults and a 15-year-old from a sinking sailboat off the coast of Cape Hatteras .

Kari Pugh, [email protected]

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'Mayday mayday!': The harrowing tale of Pensacola Beach's mystery washed-up sailboat

PENSACOLA BEACH, Fla. -- Driving down Pensacola Beach currently, you can't miss a 45-foot sailboat washed up in the sand.

"Lady Catherine III" washed ashore earlier this week .

For Michael Barlow, the boat was a family dream.

"I was going to go teach in Honduras. I teach scuba diving," Barlow told WEAR News. "When the season was over, I was gonna come back. My family and I were gonna move on board and take off after hurricane season."

But how it ended up washed ashore on Pensacola Beach is a sea tale that takes us 180 miles off the coast of Florida in open ocean.

Barlow planned on making the 884 mile-journey across the Gulf of Mexico from Fort Pierce, Florida to Texas with a friend. They studied the weather patterns for days, then officially set sail at the beginning of June.

"The forecast was beautiful," Barlow said. "We had 15 to 20 knots on our backs all the way home to Texas."

But a week into the voyage, the weather quickly changed.

"The seas started building, wind hit us and it was 30 to 40 knots," Barlow said. "It pretty much stayed that way for the next two days."

"When it started getting crazy, I knew the boat could handle it and we just sent it," he added.

Barlow said over time each storm would pass. But said the boat took minor damage each time.

Barlow was still able to stay in contact with family who were tracking his position at home with a Garmin tracker. He battled the storms for three days until the damage to the boat became too much.

"The auto pilot broke in the first storm, so we had been hand steering for three days," Barlow said. "[My friend] had all the symptoms of hypothermia and he went down below and passed out. He was unconscious throughout all of this. ...I'm sitting there and watching these seas build, so I started hammering on the radio going through the procedures just seeing if there was someone within reach that could help us. No one was responding. I went through 'pon pon pon pon, mayday mayday!' -- and no response."

Barlow says a feature on his Garmin ultimately saved his life.

"I pondered it and I hit the SOS on my Garmin and they put me directly through to the Coast Guard," he said.

The Coast Guard told Barlow it would take them three hours to fly out to rescue the two men.

"They told me they were looking at the radar and said, 'You are fixing to get slammed again. We can come get you right now. But we are three hours away and you have to leave your vessel,'" Barlow said. "I said to come get us."

The coast guard station in New Orleans sprang into action and got airborne within minutes.

Rescue swimmer Richard Hoefle was assigned to the mission.

"One of the big challenges with getting out there -- apart from the distance -- was the weather," he said. "We were going to be dodging storms, flying left and flying right to get around these storms passing in the Gulf."

By the time they arrived, it was completely dark.

"When we showed up. The boat was just battered. It was moving back and fourth in the waves," Hoefle said. "I was getting sea sick from the helicopter just looking at these guys."

Hoefle jumped from the helicopter into the water and swam to the boat.

"It was like a movie," Barlow said. "Bro jumped in out of a helicopter in these mad big seas and swam over to us with nothing but snorkel gear on."

"We are the Coast Guard, we are the absolute best in the world for this," Hoefle said. "You can just see the relief as they see the light at the end of the tunnel."

Barlow and his friend were hoisted into the helicopter and flown back to Panama City. The boat was left bobbing in the ocean until it washed ashore on Pensacola Beach a week later.

"Looking at the pictures of the boat, she survived," Barlow said. "She got damaged of course."

Francine Farrar was one of the first to witness the boat come ashore. She found Barlow on social media.

"I've been talking to him all day trying to help him out," Farrar said. "People have been stealing stuff off the boat."

"I just wanted to help him out," she added. "I would want someone to help me out. So I went and got a lock."

Farrar watched over the boat until Barlow arrived in Pensacola Beach on Friday.

Barlow said by the time he got to the boat, all of his valuables were taken. But he's thankful to be back home with his family.

"I've got a 9-year-old son and a beautiful wife," Barlow said. "We had plans to go sail and travel and we worked real hard to get here, so I was gonna come home."

Barlow started a GoFundMe for sailboat recovery efforts. You can access it here.

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Sailboat that washed ashore on East Beach sold, new owner hopes to restore it

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – One of two boats that washed ashore in Santa Barbara during this week's storm is being given a second chance.

The Varuna — a 40-foot wooden sailboat — has been sold and is in the process of being recovered. Todd Black says his brother saw the boat on the beach and thought his company could help the owner move it.

Instead, the former owner sold the boat to Black for $100.

Black plans to ship the boat to his family’s home in Los Osos, repair it, and hopefully, sail it again in Morro Bay.

“It’s a glorious boat," Black said. "It’s why I was down to save it. This thing is worth saving. I don’t want to smash it up."

The boat spent the past couple of decades in Santa Barbara. It washed ashore on East Beach Tuesday morning following Monday's storm.

Radio and TV personality Red Skelton was said to have owned the boat before its previous owner. That owner says the rutter broke before the storm and hopes to see it fixed and back on the water soon.

Black said he's willing to put in the work to restore the boat to its former glory.

"I’m going through every means possible that I have to make it happen,” he said.

A few miles south, a fishing vessel washed ashore in Montecito at Butterfly Beach. The family that owns the boat named "Surfish," as well as a handful of local volunteers, worked early Wednesday morning to try and free the boat in hopes of getting it upright when high tide comes in.

"We are trying to get it off the beach not only to protect the beach but this is our livelihood, I mean this is everything for us so really hoping we can get it up and going," said Rose Brown, owner of Surfish.

The owner of the other boat that washed ashore on East Beach during Monday's storm said they had no plans to put it back in the water. Officials said each owner would have 72 hours to get the boat cleaned up off the beach.

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Crews remove sailboat that washed ashore in Jacksonville Beach in October

Crews came Tuesday to remove a sailboat that washed ashore on Jacksonville Beach in October.

Heavy machinery was brought onto the beach to dismantle the boat.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

Action News Jax told you last week the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission issued a warrant for the boat’s owner, John Rehberg .

According to court records, he failed to pay the necessary fees to transfer the title of his sailboat to FWC.

Action News Jax learned that Rehberg was arrested by the Jacksonville Beach Police Department on Dec. 13.

RELATED: Running out of time: FWC to take possession of stranded vessel at Jax Beach by midnight

He was charged with abandoning his boat and released from jail the next day.

As these legal issues continue to unfold, those from and visiting Jacksonville Beach expressed concerns the boat has since become a safety hazard and public nuisance.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks ]

“It could really become a danger. You know, because we have seen a lot of kids, you know, climbing on it,” Carla Minton said Thursday.

“There’s graffiti on it, the masters, or not, the boom, maybe it’s called, is laying over on the beach over there. So eventually, it could become a safety hazard,” Randall Passman said Thursday.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter ]

This all began when Rehberg said the boat lost power and washed to shore on Oct. 23 . Since then, the story has gained attention up and down the Florida coast.

“We’re from New Smyrna Beach and Titusville, which is about an hour and a half south. And we came up and like ... he had said, we’ve been seeing it on the news for quite some time,” Minton said Thursday.

PHOTOS: Crews remove sailboat that washed ashore in Jacksonville Beach in October

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.

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Stranded sailboat owner faces challenges.

by Ryan Paice | Be the first to comment

The clock is ticking for a sailboat that washed ashore on Anna Maria Island.

Michigan resident James Golembiewski, the boat’s owner, told The Islander Feb. 16 that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission gave him 21 days — until March 7 — to recover the 1981 Young Sun 35-foot sailboat named Lucky Us 2 from the shoreline in Holmes Beach.

If Golembiewski fails to remove the boat or raise the $10,000 needed for a tow, the FWC will remove and dispose of the boat and charge Golembiewski with its cost.

At press time for The Islander on Feb. 20, Golembiewski scuttled his plans to make an attempt at high tide with a group of boat captains and their boats to pull the sailboat into deeper water.

Golembiewski, 37, said he purchased the sailboat in Jacksonville last November for about $14,000 and spent almost as much for repairs ahead of its launch in December.

He has been a professional tree climber for 15 years and has little experience in sailing, but his childhood friend from Michigan, identified to The Islander only as Nick, has sailing experience and was along for the voyage.

The pair set off with Anclote Key in Pinellas County as their destination — a 400-mile trip — and made it around much of the Florida peninsula without many issues, even picking up another passenger along the way.

“We’ve had difficulties here and there but we’ve overcome many electrical obstacles, mechanical obstacles,” Golembiewski said. “We are high-spirited. … It has been a real journey.”

However, by Feb. 11, the vessel’s luck appeared to run dry.

Golembiewski said the sail ripped early that day, so they crafted a makeshift sail with the remains, using a technique called “reefing.”

The makeshift sail was good enough to take them another 50 miles, when a storm came up and weather conditions were too rough to continue.

“All of a sudden these waves started hitting us real hard and real bad,” Golembiewski said. “It was like being in a car wreck over and over again.”

Golembiewski and the crew anchored in 16-20 feet of water a couple of miles off the coast of Holmes Beach with hopes the storm would pass.

“I said, ‘We’ve got a good anchor, we’ve got a good boat, we’ll be fine,’” Golembiewski said. “This boat is designed to cross oceans. This boat is designed to go to different worlds.”

However, after 4-5 hours of waiting, the storm worsened, and the three sailors voted 2-1 to call for a rescue.

Golembiewski voted “no,” banking on the boat’s durability, but he changed his mind after the U.S. Coast Guard vessel arrived and advised him to evacuate the vessel.

Senior Chief William Flores of the Coast Guard Station Cortez told The Islander Feb. 17 that they received the call for a rescue around 3 a.m. Feb. 12.

Flores said when the Cortez crew found the vessel, there were waves 6-9 feet high and 25-knot sustained winds.

“They were having a real hard time and getting beaten up by the swells,” Flores said.

The Coast Guard tied up to the sailboat and escorted the trip from Lucky Us 2 and brought them back to shore.

“It was definitely a dangerous situation and we’re thankful we got the call early and were ready to get out there,” Flores said. “I’m really proud of the crew here and that they answered the call, did great given the circumstances and three lives were saved.”

“They did an amazing, fantastic job,” Golembiewski said.

A few hours after Golembiewski and his passengers were rescued, people reported seeing the sailboat crashing in the waves on the shore around 79th Street in Holmes Beach.

Golembiewski said he found the boat extensively damaged and the anchor broke off.

The boat also was missing a dinghy motor and grill, which were observed earlier when it washed ashore, according to Golembiewski.

The two removed gas and oil cans from the beached vessel, then tried to make the wreck as presentable as possible.

“Our first thing that we wanted to do was secure any diesel or anything that would hurt this beautiful island and area,” Golembiewski said.

Despite the boat’s condition, Golembiewski said it would still be able to sail if brought to deeper water.

His goal was to raise the vessel and complete the remaining 49-mile voyage to Anclote Keys off Tarpon Springs, where they intend to repair the boat.

Golembiewski told The Islander Feb. 18 that a local fisherman offered advice on how to shimmy the boat back out to sea with elbow grease, and they were going to try his method to avoid the cost of removal.

In the meantime, they’re living in a shuttle bus they own and brought to the area.

City code compliance supervisor JT Thomas told The Islander Feb. 16 that the city would not use taxpayer funds to pay for the vessel’s removal.

Thomas said code compliance would monitor the vessel and ensure it didn’t pose a threat to beachgoers and the environment.

“It wasn’t like it was negligence, they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. But now that the boat is on the beach, we got to make sure that we don’t have our taxpayers and visitors in harm’s way of a big old giant sailboat,” Thomas said.

“We’re going to secure it and make sure they get it off our beach safely,” he added.

Golembiewski Feb. 15 created a GoFundMe campaign, “Help Unbeach Lucky Us 2,” to raise money for his cause. He said any extra money would be donated to a good cause, as suggested by Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth.

“We really do love the boat and we will not walk away from it,” Golembiewski said. “If this does work out and we leave Anna Maria Island, we will leave with thanks to the community.”

The GoFundMe campaign had raised $1,681 from 38 donors as of Feb. 18.

People can donate by visiting gofundme.com/f/74vefz-help-us-unbeach-lucky-us-ii.

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‘It was my dream to sail her back to the Keys’: The story behind derelict Opal Beach boat

For nearly a month, a derelict sailboat that washed ashore on Opal Beach has become the subject of stunning photos and curiosity on multiple local social media groups.

On Jan. 6, a member of the "All Things Navarre Beach & Pensacola Beach" group asked if anyone knew about the beached sailboat, but it didn't receive much attention.

A second post featuring an image of the boat and its "captain" - a great blue heron that was photographed near the boat - was posted on Feb. 3. This post received substantially more engagement and sparked several other people to go out and take photos of the boat set against the backdrop of Gulf Coast sunsets.

Commenters on Facebook have expressed admiration for the boat's beauty, questioned how it got there and joked about its increasing popularity.

On Jan. 30, the boat’s owner, Daniel Faulk, took to Facebook to finally tell his story.

Buying the Capitol Yacht Neptune 24

“That just so happens to be my baby,” said Faulk.

According to his post, Faulk purchased the sailboat in April 2022 after he and his wife divorced. “It was my dream to sail her back to the Keys,” he said.

Faulk's Facebook page includes video of him on the boat in the days prior to it becoming beached earlier this year.

Faulk explains that he has had an autoimmune disorder since he was 15 years old, eventually becoming an above-knee amputee.

Last year, Faulk’s kidneys went into acute failure and flatlined in April 2022, he said. Faulk miraculously survived but the experience made up his mind: He needed to make his dream a reality. After recovering, Faulk spent all of his time and money on the boat.

Removing derelict vessels: With seven active area cases, removing derelict vessels is a time consuming, costly process

How the boat became derelict

About a month after first launching from the Archie Glover boat ramp on Avalon Boulevard, Faulk ran into severe weather as he sailed toward Destin.

According to Faulk, two storms were lined up and it went from a beautiful day in the water to “something from the movie ‘The Perfect Storm.’“

Faulk says that a kayak attached to the boat was dragged under, pulling hard on the cockpit, and forced him to cut it free. Winds cut through his main sail and ripped them from the mast pole.

“I was truly terrified I wouldn’t see daylight,” Faulk said in the post.

“I was thrown about like a rag doll. I took a blow to the head so severe it knocked me unconscious for hours, apparently. I was at the Lord's mercy. Next I just remember waking up on a ventilation machine fighting for my life once again. If not for two amazing angels who found me washed up and the wonderful Park authorities acting fast and having LifeFlight set down.

Escambia County Public Information and Education Officer Davis Wood said that LifeFlight responded to a call on Dec. 13 around 11:37 a.m.

LifeFlight was dispatched to assist with a medical emergency just before the National Seashore at beach access 2. According to Davis, a capsized boat was reported nearby.

A plea for help

Faulk said he has tried to recover the boat, but he’s unable to afford the cost.

He ends the Facebook post requesting any help he can find.

“I'd truly love and entertain any help I could get. Anything and everything would be something. I need help, basically. I'm happy everyone has been enjoying my beautiful little craft but it's time for her to come home, so please, if anyone could or can help I'd gratefully appreciate it. She's so beautiful she truly deserves more than this so please if anyone could help I'd be in your debt.......Thank you and God bless”

Whose responsibility is a derelict boat?

Owners are primarily responsible for removing abandoned and derelict boats . County or state law enforcement will work to find the owner if it becomes abandoned.

Most derelict vessel removal projects in Florida require environmental permitting from one or both of these entities: Florida Department of Environmental Protection , United States Army Corps of Engineers .

The owner must then pay to have the vessel removed and transported to an approved landfill for destruction.

Owners that don’t comply in Escambia County can be cited or charged criminally for derelict boat or felony dumping. Local entities can then work to find grant money to remove it from the water after the owner is convicted.

Who pays for derelict boat removals?

Boat removals are expensive, sometimes rivaling the cost of the boat. While owners are primarily responsible for the cost, abandoned boats are removed by the county or city.

Sometimes local governments pay these expenses out of pocket, but they can also apply for state grant funding to offset the cost.

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'Ghost Ship' Washes Ashore on Florida Beach One Week After It Was Abandoned At Sea amid Storms

Michael Barlow's dreams of exploring the world have hit a major snag after he was forced to abandon his sailboat

Abigail Adams is a Human Interest Writer and Reporter for PEOPLE. She has been working in journalism for seven years.

A so-called “ghost ship” that washed ashore in Florida has been traced to one man who dreamed of sailing around the world.

The mysterious sailboat was found on June 18 on the shore of a Pensacola beach, according to NBC News and CBS affiliate WKMG-TV .

Michael Barlow told ABC affiliate WEAR-TV that he and a friend were attempting to travel 884 miles from Fort Pierce, Florida, to Texas the week prior when they ran into inclement weather and sought rescue.

Barlow said he wanted to “explore the world” on the boat, called The Lady Catherine III , alongside his wife and 9-year-old son, per NBC News. Now, those dreams are dashed.

“This is the only way I could take my son and show him there’s a whole world out there, beyond what’s in America,” Barlow explained. “It’s the only way to do this realistically until this happened.”

Barlow and his friend left Fort Pierce on The Lady Catherine III on May 21, according to NBC News.

After battling storms for three days, Barlow told WEAR-TV he finally made contact with the U.S. Coast Guard using his Garmin satellite device’s SOS system. He believes the device may have saved their lives.

However, Barlow said authorities told him they were three hours away and that he would ultimately have to abandon the vessel. Barlow agreed, according to WEAR-TV.

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Once Barlow and his friend connected with the Coast Guard, rescue swimmer Richard Hoefle leaped from a helicopter and swam to the duo.

“It was like a movie,” Barlow recalled. “Bro jumped in out of a helicopter in these mad big seas and swam over to us with nothing but snorkel gear on.”

One week later, The Lady Catherine III washed ashore. Francine Farrar was one of the first people to spot the vessel and found Barlow on social media, according to WEAR-TV.

"I've been talking to him all day trying to help him out," Farrar said. "People have been stealing stuff off the boat."

Barlow now has two options, according to NBC News. He can either pay $20,000 to have the sailboat taken to dry dock for repairs, or pay $28,000 to have the vessel moved and demolished.

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“If we’re talking about business numbers, it’d make more sense to scrap the boat,” Barlow explained. “That’s just the stone-cold truth.”

Barlow is reportedly now working with officials from Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Department to determine next steps. He also launched a GoFundMe campaign to help recover the vessel.

Fish and Wildlife officials said Barlow has 30 days, starting from the day he was issued a citation for the boating incident, to move the vessel, according to NBC News.

Barlow said this incident “definitely did not shake my resolve as far as sailing goes,” and plans to continue to pursue his dream of sailing around the world.

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36 advisories in effect for 5 regions in the area

‘sad to see her go’: sailboat owner out of time to remove vessel from jacksonville beach sand, salvage crews hired by state could begin dismantling, hauling boat away soon.

Tarik Minor , Anchor, I-TEAM reporter

Aaron Farrar , Weekend Anchor

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – Capt. Luke Rehberg says he’s given up on his efforts to get his 40-foot sailboat back into the ocean . He realizes the reality is that the sailboat will have to be taken apart piece by piece and hauled away by salvage crews hired by wildlife officials, who are making the captain pay the bill.

Rehberg said that bill could cost as much as $30,000, and Rehberg’s cousin started a GoFundMe account to help pay for state officials to remove the boat. You can donate here.

It’s the end of an era for Rehberg, of Thomasville, Georgia, who said his fondest memories of his boat will be “standing on the deck and looking out at the water.”

He said that while he was out at the beaches to watch the recent air show, he hit some rough water and the boat’s engine failed, its sails ripped because they were old and the anchor couldn’t keep the vessel from running ashore in high surf.

“It’s the end of a long watch and the end coming soon is something to be grateful for at this point,” Rehberg said.

He’s been living on the boat 24/7 since it came ashore Oct. 23 , saying he’s ready for the comforts of heat, air conditioning and dry covering. He said even on rainy days, dozens of people try to board his vessel for various reasons, which is why he’s been standing guard.

“There are a lot of people who want to take advantage of you, thieves,” Rehberg said. “But far overwhelming -- it’s been a positive experience, the people of Jax Beach have been positive and helpful, and I’m glad I’ve met them.”

Rehberg, who told News4JAX he plans to move permanently to Jacksonville Beach, said he’s been working hard to make it as easy as possible for salvage crews to remove the sailboat from the beach, which could begin this week.

“I will get an Airbnb this weekend and be in an apartment, hopefully, soon and return to normal life,” Rehberg said.

He dismantled the rear mast that has a sail inside of it, broke down booms that hold the sails and removed rigging, rope, block and tackle, and took out the safety pod.

Rehberg explained that the removal process includes making sure the boat does not have any contaminants that can spill onto the beach before moving it, then dragging it up the sand far enough from the water that crews can break it apart or cut it into pieces to haul it away on a truck. He said removal could take just hours as long as the crew has adequate equipment.

“This used to have two masts and all the rigging that you can see here that went along with that. I’m going to take down the other one, in other words, have the deck slick and clean so there’s nothing over their head and nothing to go on the ground or in the water when they get here,” he said.

He’s not looking forward to the bill from the State of Florida but remains grateful for the experience.

“Sad to see her go, but I’m glad I was able to do what I said I was going to do and stay here until it’s removed and no longer a hazard,” Rehberg said. “It is a very good vessel. I am sad because of what has happened, but it is a small victory and a hard lesson learned. The victory being that I am seeing it through to the end.”

Copyright 2023 by WJXT News4JAX - All rights reserved.

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Tarik minor.

Tarik anchors the 4, 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. weekday newscasts and reports with the I-TEAM.

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Abandoned 45-foot boat washes ashore LA County beach

Photo courtesy LA County Lifeguards

MARINA DEL REY, Calif. - An investigation is underway after a 45' abandoned sailboat washed ashore a beach south of Marina del Rey. 

There was no one aboard, officials said.  

"Due to a low morning tide, rescue boat crews were unable to remove the vessel from the shoreline," authorities said. 

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Crews will try to remove the boat this afternoon when the tide is higher. 

No other information was immediately available. 

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Action News Jax Now

Sailboat washes ashore on Jacksonville Beach near Hampton Inn

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — A sailboat is stuck on shore on Jacksonville Beach.

It’s happening near 15th Avenue North near the Hampton Inn Jacksonville Beach/Oceanfront in the area of 1st Street North.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

A viewer sent us video of the boat. The First Alert Weather Team said the surf is rough in that area.

A witness told Action News Jax’s John Bachman that he was standing next to the officer who responded. The owner of the boat told the officer he was anchored 1/4 of a mile off Neptune Beach when the boat’s motor and anchor broke, causing it to wash ashore.

Here are some pics for closer look. Thank you Jon 📷. @ActionNewsJax https://t.co/kHk2hedXXj pic.twitter.com/LnS1XaJYAs — John Bachman (@BachmanANjax) October 23, 2023

The owner of the beached sailboat, John Lucas Rehberg, says he has been served with a Derelict Vessel Notice saying he must remove his boat or pay nearly 15,000 dollars to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

As of Monday, Oct.30th, Rehberg has 18 days to comply.

Photos: Sailboat washes ashore on Jacksonville Beach near Hampton Inn

Sailboat washes ashore on Jacksonville Beach near Hampton Inn A sailboat got stuck on shore on Jacksonville Beach near 15th Avenue North near the Hampton Inn Jacksonville Beach/Oceanfront in the area of 1st Street North on Monday evening, 10/23/23. (Photos shared by Jon)

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Tropical Storm Debby blows $1 million in cocaine onto Florida beach

Storm surge from Tropical Storm Debby has flooded Florida's coastal streets , rivers and low-lying areas. It also produced a cocaine bonanza.

"Hurricane Debby blew 25 packages of cocaine (70 lbs.) onto a beach in the Florida Keys," Samuel Briggs II, acting chief patrol agent of the U.S. Border Patrol in Miami posted Monday on X , formerly known as Twitter.

A Good Samaritan discovered the drugs, which Briggs said had a street value of over $1 million , and notified authorities. The location of the beach was not specified.

Drugs wash ashore in Florida, a lot

Drug traffickers moving drugs from South America to the U.S. and using Caribbean " transit hubs " often result in floating packages of "square groupers." Often drugs in waterproof packages are left to float with a signalling device for pickup, such as was used in a massive 2-ton bundle of cocaine found off the coast of the Island of Sicily last April. Some may be in the water after being washed overboard by mistake.

Square grouper is a nickname that the Coast Guard called bales of marijuana thrown off boats and out of airplanes along South Florida's coast during the '70s. Eventually, the nickname expanded to include floating packages of cocaine.

In June a recreational boater found 65 pounds of cocaine worth over a million floating off the Florida Keys .

Divers retrieving what they thought was garbage on the ocean floor found 25 individually wrapped kilograms of cocaine with fake Nike labels. The very next day, 25 more packages washed ashore in Alabama . Another million in drugs washed up in the Keys in May.

Last year, 67 pounds of cocaine was found on a Volusia County beach with a street value of approximately $970,000. Earlier in June, bundles of cocaine washed up on a Volusia County beach three times in five days . Authorities said the drugs, which showed up on shores between Ormond Beach and Daytona Beach, were believed to have been dropped from 30,000 feet by drug traffickers.

In April 2023, Vero Beach Police officers were conducting a lighting survey for sea turtles just after midnight when they found 20 bricks of cocaine weighing 57 pounds washed up on the beach. The street value was estimated by the USBP at $700,000.

In the same month, three packages of cocaine worth over $100,000  were discovered washed ashore in three different beach areas in Walton County.

Not the first time a hurricane has found drugs in Florida

In 2019, Hurricane Dorian pushed a duffel bag containing 15 kilos of cocaine worth about $300,000 onto a beach in Cocoa Beach and a single brick of cocaine onto a beach in Melbourne.

What do officials do with drugs found washed ashore?

Once tested, drugs, or a sample of them. are kept secure for investigation and prosecution, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency told Fox 59.

Once a case officially closes, or there is no prosecution, illegal drugs are quickly destroyed by a closely overseen contractor or turned over to other agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Sword in the ... sand? What to do if you find a weapon, drugs or artifact on a Florida beach

What do I do if I find drugs in the water or on the beach?

Leave it alone and call local authorities.