ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla — A sailboat stranded at a Florida state park is creating a sight to see for beachgoers.
The 40-foot sailboat is beached in St. Johns County at Anastasia State Park after getting stuck early Sunday morning. First Coast News spoke to the boat's owner, who said he was not hurt and that he sailed from Spain and was trying to stop in St. Augustine on his way to Maryland.
The owner said at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday, while he was going into the inlet, a wave hit the back of his boat and spun it sideways. The situation continued to go downhill from there. He said he's been working with his insurance and Sea Tow and is expecting to learn Tuesday what the plan is to remove it. He said he removed spare fuel on board and said he will not abandon his boat.
Corp. Aaron Braddock with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office marine unit said the beached sailboat is being investigated as a boating accident. He said the owner has seven days to remove the boat before facing penalties.
The sailboat may be 40-feet long, according to the owner (officials previously told First Coast News it was about five feet shorter), but if you don’t know where to look, you might miss it. That’s because it’s a trek down the beach from the beach access points. Beachgoers and state park rangers guess it may be a mile or more down the shoreline.
If you want to see it, you can go to the beach access and head north.
“It happens,” said Florida State Park Ranger Sam Miller. “Not often, but it’s definitely not rare.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a boat, a sailboat, or a motorboat on the beach, going this way, anyway,” said St. Augustine resident Tom Desaulnier, on a walk with his wife down the beach toward the sailboat.
A vessel typically gets stranded on a St. Johns County beach two to three times a year, Braddock said. He explained the sailboat would not yet be called a derelict vessel, which is considered a wrecked vessel, but right now there are 25 derelict vessels in St. Johns County, according to the county’s online tracker.
“We’ve seen a pretty decent uptick in residential-type living, live-aboards, in our area,” Braddock said.
It’s not the first time they’ve seen this and it probably won’t be the last, but officials urge you to always do everything necessary to stay safe at sea.
“It doesn’t matter your skill level,” Miller said. “The sea’s the sea at the end of the day.”
Florida Fish and Wildlife is working with the owner to get the boat off the beach, according to the sheriff’s office.
The owner said people walking on the beach and the community as a whole has been "phenomenal" helping him find a place to stay, get rides and get essentials off his boat.