An abandoned 54-foot cabin cruiser beached since last summer on Beer Can Island in the St. Croix River in Hudson, Wis., has been towed away after the owner racked up more than $40,000 in fines from the city.

Calling it an “eyesore,” Dave Jarvis, of St. Croix River Cruises in Hudson, worked with three other men to get the boat, the Sweet Destiny, towed off the island on Friday.

Hudson Mayor Rich O’Connor said the city was grateful the boat was removed.

“We really appreciate it, it is very helpful and we hope we don’t experience anything like this in the future,” he said Friday night.

“We were all kind of sick of looking at it,” Jarvis said. “If we didn’t do it, who would’ve done it?”

So Jarvis called the city and asked if towing the boat on Friday would interfere with any plans the city had.

They didn’t hire us,” Jarvis said of the city. “We just did it.”

In December, the owner of the boat had racked up more than $44,000 in fines, according to Police Chief Geoff Willems. It is unclear how much the owner, Grayson McNew, owes now.

He did not return emails for comment on Friday night.

A crew of four spent all day Friday removing the beached boat.

Dave Jarvis and his father, Gordy, worked with Wayne Prokosch and Josh Stokes from River City Welding in Red Wing, Minn., beginning at 8 a.m. and finishing up with the boat settled in for the night at Jarvis’ dock at 5 p.m.

Getting the boat off the island was the “right thing to do,” Jarvis said. “Let me put it this way, it’s been a sour topic in our community for quite some time and honestly, an eyesore. Everybody has been wanting that boat off of there. There are safety issues and environmental hazards. It was time. It was time for somebody to do something and we have the knowledge, ability and experience.”

Jarvis said the boat will be towed to Red Wing on Monday where it is possible someone might buy it for next to nothing.

“It might be scrapped or refurbished. It is really a wreck. Everything would have to be replaced,” Jarvis said, noting the boat would need a lot of work, including a new engine and electrical system.

McNew apparently bought the 1981 Bluewater Intercoastal in 2024. The boat, which was beached on the sand, apparently had a hole in its hull and sank halfway, Willems said. It also had its rudder ripped off, he said.

“He thought he got a good deal and that he could fix it up and do something with it,” Willems said. “Then life happened, and he didn’t have the money or time to fix it up.”

In August 2024, Hudson officials contacted McNew, of Afton, and told him he had until Oct. 1 to remove the boat or he would be charged for the removal and towing of the boat. McNew “stated he understood,” according to police reports.

But the boat remained marooned on the island until Friday.

McNew, who has twice run unsuccessfully for the Minnesota House, first came to the attention of Hudson officials in July when he docked the cruiser at the city’s new boat launch in Lakefront Park, Willems said.

“It was parked there for, like, a week, and we started getting complaints about it,” Willems said. “So we called him and said, ‘Hey, the boat’s got to move.’ He moved it out to (Beer Can) Island and then just left it there.”

O’Connor also said the city hoped that all the publicity the boat had received along with legislation working its way through legislatures in Wisconsin and Minnesota prohibiting the abandonment of watercraft will act as a deterrent to anyone else tempted to abandon a boat.