Ascrap yard off a canal in stuart, fla. is littered with million-dollar yachts smashed by hurricanes. Cranes hoist broken carcasses onto rusty barges. Torn hulls are patched with boards and glue. A Little Blue heron in the reeds watches grease-smeared salvagers refloat the Guy-Mar. "I'm up to my armpits in alligators," says Ronald Bethel, a sleep-deprived 62-year-old salvager scampering across a bargeful of wrecks, "but the jewels are piling up." The Guy-Mar doesn't look like a gem. It's a 50-foot Carver 506 built in 2001 with Cummins twin diesel engines. The top half and the control panels are clean, but the engine room and cabin were submerged after a hurricane punched a hole through the fiberglass hull. Some of the Guy-Mar's electronics have been stolen. Secondhand but undamaged Carvers similar to the Guy-Mar sell for $500,000 to $600,000, according to Yachtworld.com. The Guy-Mar might go for $150,000 at auction. A buyer who knows what he is doing, the experts say, could have it shipshape with $200,000 of repairs. The new owner could wind up owning a classy yacht for 60 cents on the dollar.
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