“It was a big chain reaction. It was nobody’s fault,” said Charlie Woods, a live-aboard boater in the Bradenton Beach anchorage in Sarasota Bay.
Tropical Storm Colin brewed into bursts of downpours and winds June 6, after a noontime high tide. The Weather Channel reported a wind gust of 57 mph in Bradenton Beach and wind speeds as high as 61 mph on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.
Five or more boats sunk south and east of the Historic Bridge Street Pier.
Woods said sometime after 4 p.m. June 6, the storm kicked up waves while he worked on one of two sailboats he’d tied together. Then a houseboat owned by Mauricio Gonzalez broke anchor, lost control and entangled five boats, including Woods’ 25-foot Helms and 27-foot Hunter.
In a minute or less, the domino effect sent Woods’ boats sailing into the floating day dock next to the pier, he said.
Woods tied his boats to the dock to ride out the storm, he said, but they sank.
During the storm, three boats crashed into the end of the pier and one ran into the rocks near the clock tower. Woods’ boats lodged under the day dock and Gonzalez’s houseboat roof flew off and was pushed against the day dock.
At press time, the houseboat and roof were partially submerged at the east end of the anchorage.
No injuries were reported on Anna Maria Island from the storm — and none from the houseboat crash, though Gonzalez said his 75-year-old mother was taken to the hospital.
The city hired N.E. Taylor Boatworks of Cortez to extract Woods’s boats to prevent damage to the day dock and unblock the waterway, Bradenton Beach Mayor Bill Shearon said.
Woods watched June 8 as the first boat surfaced from under the day dock, which is expected to remain closed for several weeks.
The pier was closed June 7 and reopened June 8. Duncan Seawall Dock-Boat Lift of Sarasota, the company that built pier, sent an inspector who determined the pier sustained no structural damage, Shearon said.
A perfect storm
BBPD Police Chief Sam Speciale called Tropical Storm Colin “the perfect storm.”
“We had high winds and high tide and a lot of rain,” he said, causing boats to break loose, damage to pier and flooding to low-lying areas.
The pier opened in early 2015 after construction “accelerated” when boats crashed into the old pier during Tropical Storm Debby in 2012, Speciale said.
With Colin, he said decking and stringers were broken by boats that torpedoed into the pier, but, for the most part, the extended pilings protected it.
The renovation cost more than $1.4 million, in part paid by Manatee County tourism development funds, according to a Feb. 25 Islander report.
More preparation is needed by the people with anchored boats before storms hit, the chief said.
He recommends “double anchoring” for boaters and a managed mooring field for the city.
The city is working with Scheda Ecological Associates of Sarasota to update a mooring plan the city rejected about six years ago.
For more than 20 years, people have been living in boats anchored south of the pier without any harbor master or city regulations.
In 2010, there were 18-20 anchored boats, according to Speciale. Today, there are about 40.
The U.S. Coast Guard stationed in Cortez June 6 rescued Gonzalez, his mother, girlfriend and three Chihuahuas.
Coast Guard Boatswain Mate Charles Richter recounted six search-and-rescue missions during TS Colin, which involved bringing 13 people to safety, including those from Gonzalez’s boat, and securing 10 vessels.
In addition to assisting the Gonzalez family, the Coast Guard rescued a woman and her 5-year-old on a boat in Cortez, a man from a boat near Jewfish Key and John Maguire, whose sailboat and attached utility boat ran into the Cortez Bridge.
Manatee County Sheriff’s public information director Dave Bristow said the marine unit rescued four people off boats near Cortez and Jewfish Key June 6, and the next day, the MCSO took two more people off boats near Bradenton Beach.
An additional four people were brought off boats by the Coast Guard patrols, Richter said.
On land
On land, Holmes Beach police dispatch reported widespread flooding and efforts with other agencies to resolve downed and arcing utility wires.
Anna Maria public works director George McKay said flooding occurred near the Rod & Reel Pier in the 800 block of North Shore Drive and on South Bay Boulevard.
South side streets, including Tern, Gladiolus and Jacaranda, were also hit hard by flooding, said Dean Jones, assistant director of public works.
“We’ve been pumping water for four days,” Jones said, adding the work was “finally done” June 10.
Bristow also reported trees down in Anna Maria.
American Red Cross volunteers visited Bradenton Beach June 7-8 to assist people displaced from the live-aboard boats.
Steve Guetschow, southwest Florida disaster program manager, said the Red Cross spoke with nine people and only two qualified for short-term financial aid. The others were rejected because they could not verify boat ownership and residence, he said.
Gonzalez said he received a $600 stipend.
Charlie Woods waits and watches from the Historic Bridge Street Pier June 8 as John Banyas, owner of N.E. Taylor Boatworks of Cortez, and first mate Chris Mattes, pull his 25-foot Helms sailboat from under the pier’s day dock. Woods owns two sailboats that sank under the dock June 6 during the storm.
American Red Cross workers and Bradenton Beach Police Officer Eric Hill talk June 8 with live-aboard boaters on the Historic Bridge Street Pier. The boaters include Jody Harris, who told the emergency responders her boat anchored near the Cortez shoreline during Tropical Storm Colin took on about inch of water and was left without power.
Cordoned off during Tropical Storm Colin, the damaged day dock at the Historic Bridge Street Pier in Bradenton Beach remains closed June 9.
At 3:52 p.m. June 6 as Tropical Storm Colin passed through Anna Maria Island, boats were rocking on their anchors on the bay waters in Bradenton Beach, while other boats broke loose and hit the Historic Bridge Street Pier and adjacent day dock. Islander Photos: Kathy Prucnell
Bradenton Beach Police Officer Jason Higgins waits to assist a boater to safety from the Historic Bridge Street Pier.
The torn-off roof of a houseboat belonging to Mauricio Gonzalez rests June 6 alongside the day dock at the Historic Bridge Street Pier in Bradenton Beach. The remainder of his boat lies partially submerged.
The U.S. Coast Guard and Manatee County sheriff’s marine unit rescue a man from a sailboat near the Cortez Bridge along the Cortez shoreline at 4:45 p.m. June 6 during Tropical Storm Colin. Islander Photos: Kathy Prucnell
Baitmonger John Maguire gestures in conversation June 7 with BBPD Officer Eric Hill, right, and Officer Jason Higgins on the Historic Bridge Street Pier. Grace Agnew looks to the water.
A day after the storm, U.S. Coast Guard Seaman Brinsley Screws, Boatswain Mate Charles Richter and Seaman Colin Gordon talk about their Tropical Storm Colin mission aboard a Cortez-based 45-foot rescue vessel.
Manatee County sheriff’s Deputy Steven Stewart of the Anna Maria substation walks the Anna Maria City Pier June 6, checking for any storm-related problems. The city pier and the Rod & Reel Pier were closed to the public during the June 6 storm. Islander Photos: Tal Reeve
Four men secure small boats June 6 to the public dock near the Historic Bridge Street Pier in Bradenton Beach. During high tide, this dock and others in Sarasota Bay were submerged, leaving only some pilings exposed. Rain and wind caused several boats in the bayfront anchorage to sink.