A 15-metre, handmade yacht that ran aground on Queensland's Rainbow Beach has been removed and disposed of ahead of poor weather forecast for the weekend.
The Thalassa ran aground about 10pm on June 22 in front of the Rainbow Beach Surf Lifesaving Club.
Maritime Safety Queensland secured the vessel and directed the owner to move it within three days.
When that didn't happen, it engaged Clayton's Towing Services to remove the wreckage ahead of poor weather forecast for the weekend.
Mike Clayton said the vessel was uninsured and its retrieval was one of the most difficult and high-pressure recoveries he had done.
"We had to use suck truck units to suck all the sand out, there was probably 15-tonne of sand inside of it."
Adding to the pressure was the incoming tide and soft, boggy sand on a beach that ordinarily would not have vehicles on it.
"We winched our trucks on and off but we got stuck and then the tide turned," he said.
"At one stage there we had a massive boat on the back of the truck and our truck was sunk and the winches couldn't pull it."
He said some locals arrived with a front loader which got them moving again — a couple of kilometres up the beach.
He said the beach recovery took about six hours followed by hours demolishing the vessel off-site.
Mr Clayton said it was a "success" that the fibreglass vessel was able to be removed intact.
"Just a bit of the back section was already broken off on it," he said.
Local businessman Rob 'The Iceman' Gough who filmed the retrieval questioned whether or not the structure was seaworthy.
"Imagine the environmental damage this thing would have made if it broke up on the beach," he said.
Who owns the boat?
The ABC has not been able to confirm the owner's identity.
Mr Clayton said the owner was at the beach and took photos while the boat was being removed.
"I didn't have time to even think about talking to him to be honest, I feel sorry for the gentleman involved," Mr Clayton said.
Rainbow Beach photographer Cru Scanlon said the owner was retrieving items after it washed up last week.
"He said just before I was leaving that he was getting all of his stuff out to auction it off on the beach," Mr Scanlon said.
Locals grateful
Rainbow Beach is a popular tourist destination and in the middle of school holidays, locals were worried about having the broken-down wreckage on the main beach.
"The community was really genuinely concerned that their beach was about to get wrecked by a boat especially through a holiday season right now," Mr Clayton said.
"If you started putting fibreglass debris all over the beach, it's not what they want to attract people there."
He said the community was relieved to see it leave the area.
Maritime Safety Queensland is investigating the cause of the incident and general manager Kell Dillon said costs could be recouped through court if needed.
