TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Marooned Yacht Closer To Freedom

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 7, 2007

KEY WEST - Looking like Noah's Ark after the flood, a sleek, 158-foot yacht driven aground by a hurricane lies just offshore, mired for most of the past two years in a dispute with the government over how to free it without doing too much damage to seagrass.

Through it all, the boat's owner, Peter Halmos, has insisted on staying aboard or living close by on a cluster of houseboats so he can guard his beloved Legacy against pirates and thieves plying the calm waters off Key West.

A Hungarian emigre who made a 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, which is finally - though slowly, very slowly - being pulled free. He bought the boat in 1995 for $16 million.

Halmos, who is in his early 60s, was aboard the Legacy with six others when Hurricane Wilma struck in October 2005. Instead of heading for the open sea, he decided to drop anchor and ride out the storm near shore.

The anchors did not hold, though, and Wilma repeatedly lifted the boat and slammed it down.

When the storm had passed, the Legacy was aground miles away from where it had anchored, stuck in the sand in a federally protected area where sensitive varieties of seagrass provide a habitat for fish.

If Halmos were simply to drag the Legacy out, it would damage the grass and he could be hit with millions of dollars in fines.

For months, Halmos and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were unable to agree on a plan to remove the yacht. The two sides finally came to an understanding in January - Halmos will have to replant the damaged seagrass at his own expense. Then they had to work out the details of the plan to extricate the boat, then a diving company had to specially make a pump.

The Legacy is moving only about 10 feet per day. With about 1,300 feet to be covered, the job will take several weeks.

The Associated Press

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT