The Bradenton Beach Police Department located and marked two sunken vessels Sept. 15 in the city’s anchorage area.
Officer Eric Hill located a sunken fiberglass-hulled vessel about 20 feet in length.
At low tide, the vessel comes up almost a foot from the surface, posing a threat to navigation, according to a BBPD police report.
The vessel was marked by the BBPD with a floating white marker about 15 feet east of the intersection of Bay Drive South and Fifth Street South.
A second sunken vessel was located about 200 feet east of Sixth Street South and tagged with a white plastic float.
The 20-foot open-bow aluminum vessel is in about 2-3 feet of water and it also is a safety hazard to navigation.
Chief John Cosby said the BBPD contracts with Taylor Boat Works of Cortez for the removal of sunken vessels in the anchorage but removals were put on short-term hold due to a tropical disturbance approaching the Gulf of Mexico from the Caribbean.
In related news, a dinghy on the shoreline in a “no beaching or overnight docking” area was impounded and moved to public works.
— Robert Anderson