A popular floating restaurant capsized and sank in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Sunday, on Mother’s Day. The boat’s stabilizer pontoon “snapped.” One of the restaurant’s pontoons, a hollow cylinder on the bottom of the boat that stabilized the boat, blew out. About 15 minutes later, the second float also detached from the boat. The boat submerged in water at an angle of about 45 degrees. A worker said the wake from a passing boat is what caused the disaster. The vessel started to roll and capsized in under five minutes. Only two people, a hostess and chef, were on board at the time the boat sank. Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue crews responded. It was announced there were no injuries and no immediate hazards to the environment. Jay’s Sandbar Food Boat was a popular floating restaurant that would deliver food to boaters and jet skiers in Fort Lauderdale. The team cooked fresh catches brought by customers and also offered a vegan selection for vegans and vegetarians – hummus pie, fresh tomatoes and basil and drizzled with vinaigrette and tzatziki sauce. It filled about 150 orders a day.
Dining boats like Jay’s Sandbar are common in Florida. “We will rebuild, somehow, now first, we got to remove her shallow grave,” the owner, Jeremy Lycke, declared on Facebook. Lycke has contacted a private salvage company to refloat and remove the boat from the Intracoastal Waterway “in the upcoming days.” In posts on the boat’s Facebook page, several people expressed their grief over the loss and gratitude for the safety of the crew.
