Man wanted after leaving derelict sailboat on New Smyrna Beach shore for several months

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. - More than two months after a sailboat ran aground on New Smyrna Beach, the Volusia Sheriff's Office issued its owner an arrest warrant. 

Michael Grimes, 49, is facing a felony littering charge after abandoning the boat and refusing to pay for its removal, according to the warrant.

"You can see the whole thing from the top of the house looking down," Janet McGarry said on Tuesday. "Yeah, it's in the way."

She and Thomas Smith live across what's now become an eyesore near Drum Avenue in unincorporated Volusia County. 

"Yeah, the fun's over. It was a novelty for a while. Everybody and their brother's been here to see it, taking a picture, and, you know, having a big time with it, but we're ... we're over it," Smith said.

For them and their neighbors, it's now become a safety concern. 

"It's a threat, really, because we get huge tides here sometimes, and a really big wind or a rogue wave or something could actually wash it up and hit one of these walkovers right in front of our neighbors," Smith said.

Deputies from the Volusia County Sheriff's Office have been trying to get in touch with Grimes since Nov. 16, about three days after he ran the boat aground during bad weather. He was last spotted at the Marriott on Flagler Avenue but had checked out before deputies arrived. 

Through their investigation, deputies discovered that, hours after Grimes grounded the sailboat, he contacted a salvage company, Sea Tow, to get a removal quote. The estimated cost was $15,000.

 Grimes told the company, according to his arrest warrant, the boat "wasn't worth that much" and didn't want to pay for its removal.

Deputies were able to get in contact with Grimes' wife, who told them she had no idea he had bought the boat in October for $30,000. And just like the deputies investigating the case, she says she, too, doesn't know where Grimes is located. 

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For now, people living near the derelict boat just hope it gets removed soon. 

"We're just hoping that the city or unincorporated New Smyrna Beach, somebody, will help handle it and take care of it," McGarry said.

A spokesperson for VSO says the county does not have any plans at this point to remove the boat. 

FOX 35 reached out to both Grimes and his wife, but neither responded. 

The man who sold Grimes the boat, who does not want to be identified, told FOX 35 News that Grimes had discussed wanting to sail it to Fort Myers and was surprised to find out he had sailed up the East Coast. The man also said Grimes gave no indication he had ever sailed or operated a boat.