A tugboat managed to free former NBA star Latrell Sprewell's yacht Thursday afternoon from shallow water near Atwater Beach, where the boat had been grounded since the previous night.
Milwaukee's Best, a 68-foot vessel owned and operated by Sprewell, of River Hills, was spotted in trouble Wednesday about 8 p.m., when police were notified the boat had drifted from its anchor and lodged in about 3 feet of water close to shore, said Sgt. Don Jensen from the city's Harbor Patrol.
"Our guys worked on it for about three or four hours," Jensen said. Although the police had joined forces with Coast Guard crews, they never got the yacht to budge.
"We're the pros out there," Jensen added. "If we can't get them out, they're definitely stuck."
Jensen said Sprewell had dropped anchor in a part of Lake Michigan notorious for shifting sands and variable depths, and the yacht had drifted aground Wednesday night, helped along by seven to 14 mph winds. Jensen told Sprewell that he would have to stay on his boat and call a private tow service in the morning.
Jerry Guyer, owner of Pirate's Cove Diving, said he worked until 5 a.m. aboard The Lender to move the yacht but couldn't free it, either.
"We got Dan Anderson out with his fish tug, Jolene, and he pulled Latrell's anchor out, probably sometime between 1 and 2 p.m.," Guyer said.
By 5 p.m., the Milwaukee's Best was back at its usual mooring at the marina.
Sprewell, who attended high school in Milwaukee, could not be reached for comment Thursday.
