Officers rescue boater from beached sailboat

The waves were choppy and the sun was down as multiple law enforcement agencies worked to get close to a beached sailboat and rescue the captain.

At about 8:15 p.m. July 28, police were notified a sailboat was beached near Big Pass between Lido Key and Siesta Key. At the time of the call, one passenger had already been taken back to shore by a good Samaritan, said Sarasota Police Department Officer Ron Dixon. The boat was about 500 yards from shore, and it was unclear if anyone remained on the vessel.

“I was able to get within 20 yards of it originally. I was mashing on the airhorn, was on my PA trying to call the subject up topside. I did that for about five or 10 minutes and there was no movement whatsoever,” Dixon said, adding he heard reports the captain of the boat may be at Marina Jacks or at South Lido Beach. “I was pretty well convinced after the amount of time I stayed out there that there was nobody on board. They weren’t responding or coming up.”

Coast Guard and fire units left the scene.

Then, Dixon learned from an employee of a marine towing service the captain was still on board, and police got in contact with him. He told them he did not want to be taken off the boat.

But as the night grew darker, the waves grew in intensity.

“About half an hour later, the captain called us back and said ‘hey, I want off of this boat,’ because the weather conditions were pretty bad,” Dixon said. “There was probably 3 foot waves, easily, crashing onto the sandbar. It looked like to me if the weather continued like that, it was going to break the boat apart.”

A few miles south, Longboat Police officer Dallas Troyer was on patrol listening to the police scanner when he heard Sarasota Police describe the scene, according to a Longboat police report. Troyer asked his supervisor if he could assist, which was approved after SPD requested the help.

Troyer embarked on LKPD’s Zodiac inflatable marine unit and went to the scene.

Longboat and Sarasota police convened on land to come up with a rescue plan. The Zodiac was well-suited to the shallow waters, but the waves made it impossible for the light inflatable vessel to get close enough to the sandbar-stranded sailboat. Dixon’s 36-foot Yellowfin could handle the waves, but the sandbar at low tide posed problems for that vessel as well.

“I was able to find just a little bit deeper water and come around to the bow of his boat,” Dixon said.

With a Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office helicopter shining a spotlight from above and Troyer on a Zodiac nearby providing support, the captain of the vessel was rescued and taken to shore without incident.