NAVARRE BEACH — After an unsuccessful attempt to float a sunken boat in Santa Rosa Sound, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has ordered the vessel’s owner to remove it.
The fishing boat registered to Jeremiah Shastid of Navarre has been anchored in the sound near the Sailor’s Grill restaurant for two years. After being notified by the FWC last week that he had five days to remove it, Shastid used lift bags to get the boat floating again Sunday evening.
However, the lift bags could not keep the boat afloat and it had sunk again by Monday morning.
“We are insisting that that boat be removed from the water because it obviously is not in the best condition right now,” said Stan Kirkland, spokesman for the FWC. “Hopefully, he’s going to remove it. Getting it up was a move in the right direction, but he’s got to get it out of the water and that’s the bottom line.”
Phil Horning, administrator of FWC’s derelict vessel program, said Shastid has been cooperating with the agency, which has begun a derelict vessel investigation. If Shastid does not remove the boat on his own, Horning said the FWC will work with Santa Rosa County to move it.
The state does not have funds set aside to remove derelict vessels, but the county can use boater registration fees to do the job and seek reimbursement from the owner. Kirkland said the boat could be moved this week.
“(Shastid) is responsible for his vessel and he is required to maintain it,” Horning said. “He is responsible to get that thing out of the water, and if he can’t or won’t then we’ll get involved.
“We want to give him every opportunity that we can,” he added.
Ken Rudzki, owner of Sailor’s Grill, hopes the boat will be removed soon. He said it has sunk nearly 10 times since it’s been anchored near his restaurant.
“You can drop an anchor anywhere in state waters and leave it there, but normal boat owners pay a little more attention to their property than this guy,” Rudzki said. “You never see him anywhere near it until it’s on the bottom and he floats it.
“Being a boat owner, we would not ignore our boats as this person has,” he added.
