MELBOURNE BEACH, Fla. – Torn loose from her Key West anchorage by Hurricane Irma's gusts, Cuki the "ghost ship" floated more than 300 miles up Florida's East Coast before becoming beached at Spessard Holland South Beach Park.
Wednesday, Cuki's unusual voyage came to a close. The abandoned Columbia white-and-blue 45-foot sailboat — which had become an oddball Space Coast landmark — was demolished, her debris bound for the Cocoa landfill, News 6 partner Florida Today reported.
Absolute Marine, a Melbourne contractor, deployed heavy equipment to tear Cuki's fiberglass hull into manageable pieces. The vandalized vessel was half full of sand, said Matt Culver, Brevard County boating and waterways program coordinator.
Following an investigation, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission declared Cuki a derelict vessel on Dec. 13. The agency will pay 75 percent of the estimated $12,000 removal bill, with the remaining $3,000 coming from Brevard County's boating and waterways operating budget.
"The County has an urgent need to remove the vessel because it has been grounded on the beach for nearly 16 months, is breaking apart, and is a critical danger to the public (because of the ease of public access) and the environment (from continuing deterioration)," Brandy Elliott, FWC assistant general counsel, wrote in an email to Culver.
Cuki's demolition drew a crowd of onlookers who shot photos and video alongside sunbathers and pompano fishermen.
First, a small track loader started noisily chewing holes across the sailboat's hull. The machine's metal jaw ripped out cabinetry, cushions and rotting woodwork, piling the pieces atop a blue tarp. The track loader tore apart the boat's signature "Enjoy This Planet Responsibly" graffiti mural, which featured a green UFO with a purple tentacle.
Then a large yellow John Deere excavator rumbled along the beach to the scene from Coconut Beach Park, a mile to the south. Within 45 minutes, the excavator had dug out the sailboat's buried keel, which Culver estimated weighed 10,000 to 12,000 pounds.
Culver said Cuki's masts "just disappeared" from the watercraft at the hands of vandals, months ago. Beach-goers had fashioned a makeshift swing from lines attached to the mast, prompting him to post a trio of red-lettered "Safety Hazard Keep Off The Boat" signs.