The sailboat that had been stranded on Ocean Lake Campground's beach for two days was finally sent back to the ocean Monday afternoon.
The 41,000 pound sailboat was anchored out in the ocean Saturday by two anchors.
Both anchors snapped and the boat drifted to shore around 11 p.m. on Saturday evening.
Horry County Beach Police tried to pull the boat out on Sunday with a back ho, but failed.
They also tried to let the tide carry it out naturally.
Tow Boat US, a professional towing service, was then called out to rescue the stranded boat.
"We're going to hook some lines to this boat and see if we can't drag it out here for the owner," said Bryan Coggeshall, owner of Tow Boat US.
He adds this whole ordeal could have been avoided, "somebody should have been babysitting the boat, keeping an eye on it, and somebody would have been there soon as these anchors broke, then they wouldn't have this issue right now."
Ted Giddings is a friend of the owner and says these things can just happen.
"The anchors were checked daily, they break loose, just like your brakes on your car don't work and it was just an unfortunate accident," says Giddings.
He says the owner, who is said to live in Ocean Lakes Campground, is not embarrassed.
"It happens in boating a lot, but happening in this crowded area, it caused a lot of attention," says Giddings.
Horry County Beach Police says that's not really true.
"It's actually quite rare, it's very unusual for any type of boat to wash up to shore, it's just a bad coincidence as far the anchor breaking and actually making it all the way to shore," says officer Justin Wyatt.
Now that the boat is gone, the owner could face up to $5,000 or be imprisoned for up to 30 days for leaving his boat unattended.
The case is currently under investigation.
