Florida boating is deadlier and holiday waters were packed. Cops were ready for the worst
Police were out on the water in full force across South Florida over the long Memorial Day weekend. They were looking for safety violations, hazards, impaired boaters, anything that could get people hurt or killed.
But with a few exceptions, the seafaring public was well-behaved and there were no serious boating accidents.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the state police agency with the biggest presence on the water, reported a few boating accidents with no serious injuries and also a vessel fire in the Lower Florida Keys.
The relatively peaceful weekend is in contrast to the growing surge of deadly boating crashes across the state over the past year. In 2020, the number of incidents increased to 113 over the previous year, a 16% jump. And 79 people died, 14 more on-the-water fatalities than in 2019, according to a report from Fish and Wildlife. The majority of the accidents — 58% — happened in 10 counties, with Monroe County in the top spot.
But even the Keys were peaceful during the Memorial Day stretch.
“All in all, it was a very safe and enjoyable holiday weekend in the Florida Keys,” said Officer Bobby Dube, an FWC spokesman.
There was calm in the ocean and Florida Bay despite the island chain getting packed with visitors, many of whom drove down with boats in tow.
Judy Hull, director of the Islamorada Chamber of Commerce, said the Upper Keys were busy, with lodging members of the business group reporting all of their rooms full.
“Most of the comments I heard over the weekend were related to the water. It seemed like we had more boats in the water than ever,” Hull said.
Over the weekend, hundreds of boat filled both the ocean and bay sides of the archipelago. The sandbar off Windley Key was packed with boats full of partyers enjoying the hot weather and clear water.
“The sandbar looked like a small city,” Hull said, adding that she thinks the large holiday crowds are a harbinger of a busy summer season.
Nick and Viviana Decerce from Coral Gables spent Sunday morning riding personal watercraft in the bay in Islamorada. Nick Decerce said the weekend was fun and relatively quiet, except for some rowdy people on the sandbar.
“Was a little crazy on the sandbar. There were some people doing some things they shouldn’t,” he said.
Miami-Dade County saw a few boating accidents. Details were not immediately available.
FWC officers also made some arrests and issued citations for fisheries violations, including one Hialeah man who police say caught 14 spiny lobsters, which are out of season until August. Juan Alberto Reyes Ferrales, 43, was also arrested on 12 counts of harvesting undersized lobster. He could not be reached for comment after posting a $10,100 bond Tuesday.
Reyes Ferrales faces another misdemeanor charge of using a hook to catch the lobsters. It is illegal to catch spiny lobsters with any device that can crack or puncture their shells.
FWC officers also arrested a Georgia woman on charges of taking five queen conch from the water Sunday in Key West. It has been illegal to harvest queen conch in Florida since the 1970s. The woman, Daniela Arroyo Mondragon, was released from jail later the same day without having to post bond.
Federal law enforcement also kept busy over the weekend dealing with a continued increase in migrant attempts and landings in South Florida.
Early Sunday morning, around 2:30 a.m., a group of people from Cuba landed on the shore of the small incorporated Middle Keys city of Key Colony Beach, according to the U.S. Border Patrol. Agents processed the migrants, and they will be sent back to Cuba.
Later that morning, the U.S. Coast Guard stopped a 15-foot boat about nine miles off Islamorada. Three men were on board attempting to migrate illegally to the United States, a Coast Guard spokesman said.
