The El Dorado,  a 157 foot-long, 300-ton, casino boat broke free from her moorings when Hurricane Ivan ripped through Panama City, FL in 2004. She ran aground in Southport, FL. where she sat for several years. A new owner was in the process of restoring the boat when it was carried away by Hurricane Michael last October. The boat ended up across West Bay, sitting on its side just offshore behind the campus of Florida State University Panama City.

Now, the boat’s owner, Lee Irwin, has donated the hard-luck casino boat to become an artificial reef. The plan is to move the boat within the next two months and to sink it in around 100 feet of water, approximately 12 nautical miles south of St. Andrew Bay Pass. The gambler’s loss will be the fish’s gain. The EL Dorado will be an important addition to the region’s artificial reefs, many of which were destroyed by the recent hurricane.