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Derelict boats are beached, crushed and dumped
By LATISHA R. GRAY
SARASOTA -- The sound of crunching wood and snapping masts drew attention to the 10th Street boat ramp on Wednesday as city workers turned rundown boats into rubble.
Using the long metal arms of an excavator and the scoop of a bulldozer, workers folded five boats in half and loaded them onto the back of a waiting dump truck.
This is the last stop for "derelict" craft that are spotted by police in Sarasota Bay.
Police tagged 14 boats in August as derelict, or having no means of getting under way. Owners spoke up for nine of the craft, and the remaining five were destroyed.
Police conduct sweeps of the bay a few times a year, and they tag derelict craft with bright orange stickers. The owners have five days to contact the police and fix the boats.
If the owner does not contact the police, the boats are taken and destroyed, a practice that has drawn criticism from some boat owners who complained they did not have enough time to move or repair their craft.
The owners of the boats destroyed on Wednesday had about two months.
Marine Patrol Capt. Eddie Howell said the boats were all in terrible condition, and one owner did not seem to mind when police hauled it off.
"He said the roaches were so bad he couldn't take it," Howell said. "He showed me the bite marks."
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