NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – The burned out Spirit of Norfolk has floated in Virginia waters for the last time.
Saturday, what is left of the former 188-foot dinner boat was seen being towed out of Hampton Roads, bound for Florida where it is to be sunk as an artificial reef.
Following in tow with Skippin Sue, an a 110-foot offshore supply vessel, the pair will soon lie at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico as part of Okaloosa County, Florida’s artificial reefing program.
Last year, county leaders voted to pay Norfolk-based Coleen Marine, Inc. up to $782,000 for the purchase and transportation of both vessels.
The former Spirit will actually transferred over to the U.S. Air Force and will first be used in military exercises, before it becomes an artificial reef according to an Okaloosa County spokesperson.
The former Spirit of Norfolk sailed the Elizabeth River for 30 years before a June 2022 fire burned for days and the vessel was deemed unsalvageable.
The former Spirit of Mount Vernon of Washington D.C. was renamed the Spirit of Norfolk and christened on April 30, where it continues to cruise to the Naval Base and back.