Why this board needs a section devoted to Florida...

[Cain]

http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_south_pinellas/redington_beach/Mysterious-%27ghost-yacht%27-comes-ashore-in-Redington-Beach

Authorities are investigating why a million dollar yacht washed ashore Wednesday night without anyone on board. The mystery may be deeper than the waters out in the Gulf of Mexico.

United States Coast Guard officials sent search crews looking for a possible missing boater, but suspended search efforts Wednesday night after coming up empty.

The vessel had been registered in Florida and Delaware, but those tags are outdated.

Officials from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said the vessel is now registered with the federal government.

Witnesses say when the 48 foot vessel named Makin' Waves washed ashore, the engine was running and the lights were on.

People who live along Redington Beach are shocked.

"We do not see something like this often. I have lived here since 1958 I have never seen a boat this size beached like this," said resident Rob Klingel.

More http://edition.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/08/26/florida.ghost.boat

The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its search for a possible missing boater after an empty yacht mysteriously washed ashore near Madeira Beach in Florida.

The search was suspended Wednesday night, Coast Guard officials said.

The empty 48-foot boat washed up on the beach about 1 p.m. Wednesday, triggering a police investigation and a Coast Guard rescue mission.

The Coast Guard sent out two rescue vessels and a helicopter but was not able to locate anybody.

Adding to the mystery is the fact that the vessel is registered to the federal government, CNN-affiliate WFTS reported.

Also when the ship came ashore the engine was still running and lights were on, witnesses told the affiliate.

The sight shocked some.

"We do not see something like this often. I have lived here since 1958 I have never seen a boat this size beached like this," Rob Klingel told the affiliate.

Danita Gainey who lives in Redington Beach which is near Madeira Beach, said the sight gave her a bad feeling.

"I do not know what to say. I can't explain it. I don't want to say anything bad. It's hard to say anything good when you see something like that," Gainey said.

Deputies from the Pinellas County Sheriff's office are investigating the incident and trying to track down the owner of the boat.

And more

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/aug/26/261135/abandoned-boat-was-sold-in-2008-to-mexico-bound-ma/news-breaking/

The owner of a 48-foot Mexican yacht that mysteriously ran ashore with no one onboard and its engines running said today he had reported it stolen from a Cancun marina days earlier.

Arturo Millet Reyes said the yacht was taken from private marina on Saturday and that he reported the theft to local police. Millet, 43, who owns a professional soccer team in the Mexican state of Yucatan, said the Mexican Coast Guard had been on the lookout for the yacht.

"I am was very worried about what had happened," Millet told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "My first concern was what they were going to do with the boat, if they were going to traffic drugs or something."

The yacht, named "Makin Waves," washed ashore midmorning Wednesday on Redding Beach, about 480 miles away from Cancun.

Investigators said they saw no signs of violence on the boat, which they were in the process of towing away this afternoon.

Millet said officials told him that the plasma TVs had been removed from the boat. He did not know what other damage may have been done to the yacht, which sells for about $1 million new. Millet said he has stored the yacht at the Cancun marina since he bought it in 2008.

Millet owns the soccer team Merida F.C., which plays in Mexico's second-tier league.

Dozens of curious people lined Redington Beach this morning, trying to get a closer look at the boat and efforts to get it off the beach.

The vessel out of Jupiter had an expired Florida registration but a current Delaware registration and U.S. documentation, according to the sheriff's office.

The boat had a Mexican flag at the bow and an American flag at the stern.

Coast Guard officials received a call from the sheriff's office at about 1 p.m. Wednesday that the boat ran aground. The boat had no documentation to determine the owner.

So yeah.  Your guess is as good as mine when it comes to this.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Well, that's creepy as fuck...

[Cardinal Pizza Deliverance.]

That sounds like the intro to an episode of the Twilight Zone, man.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

The owner doesn't seem to explain what his connection to the federal government is 
I dunno, do we have spies in Mexico?

That is pretty odd. Reminds me of Dracula.

My guess is that the Rapture finally happened. Turns out there were exactly 7 truly saved Christians in the world. They happened to be on that boat.
That or sea monsters.

[Cain]

I dunno, do we have spies in Mexico?

Well, there is a drug war being waged in the north of the country and it was until recently one of the bigger oil-exporters.  And wherever you find drugs and energy resources, the CIA and DEA are never far behind (though on which side of the conflict is highly debateable).

The problem is Mexican cartel politics are hard enough to keep up with on their own.  Factor in the three letter agencies across the border and you're entering Thirty Thousand Xanatos Pileup territory.

[Thurnez Isa]

That sounds like the intro to an episode of the Twilight Zone, man.

It sounds almost like the intro to Lucio Fulci's Zombi