Strong winds in Palm Beach, Florida, sent a luxury megayacht crashing into the dock of a private marine club. Footage of this collision, captured by bystander Mackenzie Thompson, was redistributed on Facebook by nautical news media outlet The Triton.
This collision, which occurred on January 26 at around 2 p.m., incurred an estimated $500,000 in damages for the Palm Beach Sailfish Club, which is located at the north end of the island, per the Palm Beach Daily News.
Arrow, the $150 million megayacht, was being pulled by a tugboat through the north end of the Lake Worth Lagoon when strong winds drove the luxury vessel into the marine club's dock.
The yacht was "pushed across the waterfront like a feeble matchstick," the Luxurylaunches report read, before the boat made impact and ran aground on the dock's sandbank.
The collision resulted in five broken wooden bollards and two impacted electrical pedestals, according to the Palm Beach Daily News. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.
It took over 12 hours for the tugboat to finally free the stuck megayacht from the dock's sandbank, per Luxurylaunches.
On this day, wind speeds reached a high of 39 miles per hour, per The Watchers, which is nearly four times the average wind speed in the winter months in Palm Beach.
Historically cold temperatures accompanied this violent wind in South Florida, prompting a catastrophic response among the region's wildlife.
Invasive green iguanas have been falling into a state of "torpor," or decreased physiological activity due to lower temperatures, which causes them to freeze and fall from trees.
Larger ectothermic reptiles in Florida — such as alligators and crocodiles, which rely on external environmental heat sources to regulate their body temperatures — are sunbathing more often as temperatures cool, appearing on Florida's coastlines, where they may encounter humans.
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Save $1,000 this year 💸 Although these cold temperatures and destructive wind activity are unusual, this most recent megayacht accident serves as a reminder of nature's power.
Commenters on The Triton's Facebook post wondered whether there was more to the boat's collision.
"Was there a mechanical issue as well?" one commenter asked.
"Doesn't look like a day to leave the dock … Betcha someone was pushing the departure," another user speculated.
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