Hollywood’s shipwrecked sailboat will be gone soon
HOLLYWOOD – A stranded sailboat that’s become somewhat of a tourist attraction since landing on Hollywood beach seven weeks ago will soon be hauled away — at taxpayer expense.
Owner Chad Lisi said he wasn’t able to pay for the boat’s removal, so now the city is hiring someone else to the job. A private contractor will haul the boat away later this week to the tune of $10,000, said Hollywood spokeswoman Raelin Storey.
The 32-foot craft should be gone by Friday. It’s already starred in dozens of selfies and videos.
“Some appreciate the photogenic position of the boat, and they enjoyed taking photos with the shipwreck,” Mayor Josh Levy said Monday.
Others saw it as more of an unwelcome squatter on the beach.
“Everybody and their brother has been out there taking pictures with the boat,” resident Dan Kennedy said. “It’s an eyesore.”
Hollywood officials wanted the boat removed right away, but state law required them to give the owner 45 days to move it on his own, police said.
His time was up on Friday, June 15.
Lisi, 42, could not be reached for comment Monday.
He previously told the South Florida Sun Sentinel he bought the boat for $1,500 the week before it ran aground.
“You can’t sail it because all the lines are dry rotted,” he said at the time. And the motor hadn’t been run in 10 years.
So Lisi was using a new motor to get the boat from Fort Lauderdale to Key West, but it conked out on April 26. Lisi swam to shore, leaving the boat on its own.
Five days later the anchor line broke. That’s when the boat ran aground near Harding Street.
“It’s a tourist attraction now I guess,” said longtime resident Carl Ignacuinos. “But if a bad hurricane comes that thing could send that thing further inland off the beach.”
Resident Ann Ralston found the whole thing amusing — except for the part about the taxpayers picking up the tab.
“You couldn’t write a script like this,” she said. “Junk on the beach. That’s what it is.”
Commissioners Debra Case and Kevin Biederman said they’d like to see the city get its money back — but admit it’s a long shot.
The city attorney is researching it, Case said.
Biederman said he’s one of the few who hasn’t posed for any selfies with the vessel.
“I’m not looking for any public spectacle,” he said.