'Very treacherous': Fishing boat gets grounded in Ocean City while on its way to AC boat show
OCEAN CITY, N.J. - A boat captain may be losing sleep after his boat was unexpectedly beached on Tuesday after heavy downpours and high winds.
Stranded right here on Ocean City's beach, the captain was ironically on his way to a boat show when heavy gusts of winds caused major problems for the two boat captains on board.
The conditions proved to be dangerous when high surf grounded a brand-new, center console duel engine fishing boat on North Side Beach.
"Very treacherous. I mean, it’s very windy, high surf," said one boat captain on board.
RELATED: 'My pride is hurt': Man's new sailboat washes up on Ocean City beach after hitting rock jetty
Ocean City officials say a second boat got stranded near Malibu Beach, a couple miles away. FOX 29's Chris O'Connell was told that the vessels, owned by a boat dealer, were sailing rough seas north from Stone Harbor-Avalon on their way to an in-water boat show opening in Atlantic City on Thursday. Two passengers on board were not hurt. On Monday, FOX 29 was there when a sailboat ran aground just 10 blocks away.
"You are surprised obviously because it’s a fairly new boat. It looks like it’s brand new actually and not sure what happened or why they were moving it on a day like today," said Greg Castellane, an employee of SeaTow in Atlantic City.
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Castellane says he was shocked to see anyone on the water with weather conditions as bad as they were on Tuesday, but some people, like surfer, Jimmy Naplacic of Ocean City, live for the intense weather.
"I grew up surfing this kind of stuff," said Naplacic. "Riding my bike to surf in this, so it was fun and exciting. A northeast wind like this, we get excited because waves usually come after."
While the weather may have been fun for surfers, Castellane says it surely was not good boating weather.
"This is not ideal boating weather to say the least," he said. "The boat had no power, and when you are in these kinds of conditions, you know, personal safety comes before the value of the boat."
A truck arrived on Tuesday night to help hoist the beached boat to shore, but there's been no word if it will ever make it to the boat show. Depending on the tide, the boat may be stuck on shore for the next day or two.