As the year comes to an end, a boat that washed up on a Brevard County beach after Hurricane Irma remains and draws crowds, while its removal is caught up in the courts.
- Ghost ship remains on Melbourne Beach
- Ship from Key West washed on shore in September
- Ship's removal is tied up in the courts
Vacationers, snowbirds and out of school kids are hitting the beach this week to see "Cuki" -- the captainless ship that has been beached since mid-September.
"We walked about a mile down the beach to see it again," said Lori Demijan from Illinois.
Demijan and daughter Bailey are vacationing with her snowbird parents in Melbourne Beach.
She's seen thefamed abandoned boat that washed up hundreds of miles from Key West. But since her last visit in November, the ghost ship looks much different.
"It's pretty beat up," she said.
Rough weather, and moreso people, have done a number on the 45-foot-long, several ton, boat.
It's been stripped down to bare bones. Anything valuable has been taken off by scavengers and locals.
But some, like Lori and her daughter, decided to take a swing on a rope someone put up from the mast.
Others took more pictures of the famed ghost ship, still grounded, far away from home.
The removal of the ship is still caught up in the courts down in Key West. Its owner remains in jail on attempted murder and kidnapping charges.