Crews spent Saturday working to remove a shrimp boat that washed ashore outside a Myrtle Beach hotel during the surge from Hurricane Ian.
But the process may take several days, said Myrtle Beach police spokesman Tom Vest.
The Shayna Michelle, which currently sits at an angle in the sand right behind the Grande Beach Resort, is a vessel belonging to Aaron Robinson, owner of Holden Beach Seafood in Supply, North Carolina.
Vest said there was “no chance” the boat would be gone by Saturday.
“We are working with the owner to have it removed from the beach," Vest said. "The hope is to refloat it next week. I’m told they will be dredging tomorrow and bringing tugboats in to try and pull it back out to sea. Ultimately, we are just securing but we are hoping for the best.”
Officers are closely monitoring the boat and placed barricades on the beach to keep bystanders away from it.
One person, a 50-year-old Myrtle Beach man, was arrested after he climbed aboard the vessel while it was stuck in the surf. The man was charged with disorderly conduct.
No one was on board when the Shayna Michelle was taken to shore by Hurricane Ian. Crew members had already been rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard.
When the shrimp boat lodged in the sand on Friday, Robert Wallace spotted it from his bed at the Compass Cove resort on South Ocean Boulevard. Wallace, who came to the Grand Strand from the Charlotte, North Carolina, area for the fall bike rally, walked to the door and immediately pointed out the boat to his girlfriend, Katrina Fiolka.
"I couldn't tell what it was," he said. "I saw the lights on it. A silhouette was all you could see."
Once the couple figured out what they were watching, the sight floored them.
They left their room and got as close as they could get to the boat that night. On Saturday, they were at the barricades watching the crews work on the vessel. With the hurricane putting a damper on the bike week festivities, the shrimp boat's arrival provided something to see.
"This has been the most exciting … definitely," Fiolka said. "It's not every day you see a fishing boat on the beach."
Charles Perry contributed to this report.
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