Longboat Key man’s boat remains washed ashore

A Longboat Key man’s sailboat remains washed ashore on the beach, though he along with a host of local and state agencies are considering what to do next.

“I haven’t given up trying to sell it,” owner Mark Sternal said after discussions with the Longboat Key Police, the West Coast Inland Navigation District and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “It’s just that I do realize it’s an eyesore, especially for people that are just coming in for the season or just for vacation even.

Sternal said he’s doing everything in his power to get the boat off the beach near 4239 Gulf of Mexico Drive.

Longboat Key Deputy Police Chief Frank Rubino said there is not a deadline for Sternal to remove the boat. For now, there doesn’t appear to be immediate potential dangers with it washed ashore.

According to Sternal, the diesel inboard motor has been under repair since before he bought the boat. He said there is no oil or fuel on board. Sternal said he also removed the boat’s outboard motor.

“That’s why there’s no urgency on the part of the Fish and Wildlife or Marine Patrol or the Longboat Key Police Department because of the fact that they’ve ruled out any potential of environmental damage or danger to individuals,” Sternal said.

Longboat Key Turtle Watch Vice President Cyndi Seamon said Sternal’s sailboat is not a concern for the group because there are no sea turtle nests nearby.

Plus, Seamon said it’s so late in the season that they don’t expect the vessel to be an obstacle to nesting females coming ashore or heading back into the surf. Town regulations prohibit beach furniture and other objects from remaining on the sand overnight during turtle nesting season, which runs through October.

 Rubino said Longboat Key police, WCIND and the FWC are working toward finding the quickest resolution. 

 Rubino said a tow or salvage company would need to make a determination on the best approach. 

“What it looks like we’re going to do is I’m just going to sign the boat over to the state,” Sternal said. “It will become their property. They could patch it up and resell it for a hell of a lot more money than I paid for it.”

Rubino said that last week a private water tow company wouldn’t respond to Sternal’s request to pull his boat off the beach because of weather conditions.

“When the weather permitted, they gave him a price in excess of $5,000 to pull his vessel from shore and tow it,” Rubino wrote. “I am told he refused to pay the amount and was going to have friends assist with the removal.”

Once the weather cleared, Rubino said Sternal noticed his boat had a hole in its hull. Rubino said Sternal attempted to repair the hole, only to find the boat had a second hole.

Sternal said his boat had no problems on Sept. 16 while he was waiting for a private tow company.

“There was nothing wrong with the boat,” Sternal said. “The rudder was fine. There were no holes in it.”

Sternal said the tow company canceled on him during the afternoon of Sept. 16.

“Right around 12:30 p.m., he called and just canceled altogether,” Sternal said. “He said, ‘I’m sorry, I just can’t make it today.’

“That’s when I was out about 50 yards. That’s when one anchor line snapped and I really lost control. The boat was just bouncing around like mad. And finally, the second anchor line snapped, and that literally sent me back to shore and this time out of control. And, when it slammed against the shore, that’s when all the damage happened.”

Sternal said he and friends attempted to get the boat over on its other side to patch the second hole.

“It started out about a softball-sized hole, and is now…it’s much bigger and it’s got a lightning-bolt crack that goes down to the keel,” Sternal said.

Sternal said he bought the boat for $3,000 in Punta Gorda. Sternal then sailed it north, docking it on Sept. 12 near Chart House.

“I was sending people pictures and videos of me sailing it back from Punta Gorda,” Sternal said. “It was incredible, one of the most incredible moments in my life, and then to have this, all this just implode. It has been such a drag.”

Longboat Key has a history of dealing with abandoned or derelict boats over the years, though Sternal's vessel has yet to reach that level. The town in January received a $20,000 grant from WCIND to augment state funds from removal of such boats, though the state's funding typically is used first. 

In 2016, the town spent $5,200 to raise and remove an abandoned 40-foot vessel that sank in Sarasota Bay following Hurricane Hermine, then sought to find the boat's owners for compensation. Earlier in 2016, another abandoned boat was towed from the anchorage near Longbeach Village at a cost of $4,600.

Both met the state's strict requirements of a derelict or abandoned boat.

“I’ve sailed for many years. I’ve just never owned a sailboat before, so I’m glad I bought a $3,000 boat not a $300,000 boat,” Sternal said.

When Sternal bought the 1969 Morgan, he said the Blue Book valued it at about $12,000.

“I’m ever-optimistic,” Sternal said. “I don’t want to keep this boat, but I do want another boat as soon as possible. This boat just has way too much baggage at this point for me to want to keep it.”