City issues SOS to boat owners

Visitors at Bird Key Park enjoy the park's view of Sarasota Bay and Lido Key, but now that view is blocked by derelict, 30-foot sailboat in the bay just a few feet from the parking lot.

That boat, Gypsy Woman, is one of three vessels that came loose from their moorings and stranded on shoals and shores in the area following heavy winds in mid-January and have not been removed at press time. The other two are located at Hart’s Landing on the east side of the Ringling Bridge and the flats between Bird Key Park and Ken Thompson Park, according to Sgt. Bruce King, of the Sarasota Police Department.

Sarasota police posted notices on the boats Jan. 21, giving owners five days to remove boats.

“That sticker means imminent doom,” King said. “It means either you fix it or we’re going to fix it.”

Efforts to clear those vessels currently stranded have been slowed by personnel changes in the department, King said. At press time, a new marine officer was scheduled to begin Feb. 17, who will resume work on removing the three wayward boats.

The boats don't just block the view. They pose safety hazards, according to King. If they sink or get buried by sandy shoals, other vessels can collide with them. They can also leak fuel, oil and other hazardous materials into the water.

“We try to remove them as quickly and cheaply as possible,” King said. “We make a concerted effort to try to get the owners to come into compliance.”

Boats that aren’t removed are destroyed, King said. Police don’t own the vessels and don’t have a right to grant ownership to anyone else. The process of removal can be expensive and difficult. Submerged boats may require dive teams with inflatable lift bags. According to King, a 40-foot boat recently took an eight-member dive team two days to remove. Boats are towed to the 10th Street Boat Ramp and, if no hazardous chemicals are present, destroyed and placed in a landfill.

The department's marine patrol funds its removal operations using an annual $20,000 grant from the Westcoast Inland Navigation District.

“It kills me to see (a) boat go into a landfill,” King said, “but the intention is to keep waterways clean.”