The term “mayday” (as in “mayday! mayday!) comes from the French for m’aider–help me. That’s what Capt. Corey Thomas is pleading since his shrimp boat, the Miss Montie, ran aground just north of Flagler Beach Sunday.
The 50-foot steel-hull boat broke down, lost its anchor and drifted 20 miles south before beaching in the sands near the Si Como No Inn, just south of Osprey Drive. (An earlier version of this article incorrectly reported that the boat had drifted north.)
Flagler Beach Fire Department crews inspected the ship shortly after 6 p.m. Sunday, finding no one aboard, and ensured that it did not carry hazardous materials.
U.S. Coast Guard and Florida Fish and Wildlife officers followed. The Flagler Beach Police Department was not much involved since the boat was north of the city limits.
“U.S. Coast Guard Station Mayport boat crew members assisted two people and one dog off the Fishing Vessel Miss Montie and safely transferred them to St. Augustine Municipal Marina with no reported injuries,” a Coast Guaerd spokesman said on Monday. The boat owner “is the responsible party and is currently working on recovery efforts,” the spokesman said. “Coast Guard continues to monitor developments and assess the situation for the threat of pollution.”
The boat seemed to be immovable despite the tides, but was towed away today, the same day a GuFundMe page posted on the web with new details about the incident.
“The 4th generation local shrimp boat captain left St. Augustine on a trip that went anything but routine,” the page’s author, Justin Gatchell, wrote. “The motor on the 50-foot Miss Montie went down on Sunday afternoon and Thomas attempted to anchor the vessel to make necessary repairs. Unfortunately, the anchor broke and the Miss Montie was swept more than 20 miles north, washing ashore on Flagler Beach last Sunday afternoon.”
Built in 1984, the Miss Montie had a valid certificate of documentation from the Coast Guard, expiring in fall.
“Thomas and other local shrimpers are struggling to keep their occupation afloat because so many restaurants opt for cheaper shrimp from shrimp farms,” Gatchell wrote. The cost of towing the boat and repairing it will be in the thousands, he said.
The last boat to run aground in Flagler Beach was the 40-foot Lady Maritza, which hit the sands near South 23rd Street in July 2022 after its captain had fallen asleep. The tide and a tow line pulled it back out to sea after a day bobbing in the surf at the shore. In October 2010, the crew of the Satisfaction was shark-fishing a quarter mile north of Flagler Beach when waves disabled it and pushed it to shore near Varn Park, where its rear section was sheared off in violent surf. A freezer filled with 600 pounds of fish floated to shore and was recovered.
Other unexpected creatures and objects that have washed ashore in recent years include whales and bricks of pot and cocaine.
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