My buddy hit the reef at Knights Channel at 7 mile bridge at12:30today and is still there waiting for the tide to come in.They are in a 40 ft cruiser and are in only 6 inches of water.Boat U.S is trying to pull them off at9:00 tonight.The boat is laying on the starboard side,with the port prop out of the water.The good thing is no one is hurt, they hit at about 22 knots.What a way to start your vacation,they are still hoping to get to Key West for the races.

Hope he inspected for holes before the tide comes in.

D.N.R is charging him $75.00 per sq.ft of damage to the reef.They are going to have to drag him all the way across the reef to get him off of it.He is already on the reef by 40 ft. Might be an expensive trip by the time he fixes his boat and pays for the reef.

Day 2 update

Boat U.S couldnt get them off of the reef last night,tried again this morning with air bags,no way.Boat U.S went back to Key West to get a 1000 hp tow boat and are going to try it again at about 8:00 tonight.Boat U.S is now considering it a salvage job.They ran aground yesterday at 12:30 pm.Estimated damage to the enviroment is around $30,000 which is not covered by insurance. Man that sucks

Wow! $30K buys a lot of charts and one helluva chartplotter!

Was the reef marked? If not he may have some remedy. Damage to the environment of $30,000...What bull****! What about all the damage these politicans cause?

They were running off of his G.P.S.. and had made the trip last year,thinks his GPS is f#$$ed up.

I heard they are VERY SERIOUS about running aground in the Keys and the enviromental damaged is causes!
I have wanted to go boating in the keys for a long time, BUT I've heard that the H2O is REALLY shallow in alot/most areas, and it's best to know the area or follow someone who does!
Sorry to hear about your friend's grounding!
MD

Reef was marked with a 2 inch(diameter) piece of PVC pipe that was barely sticking out of the water.

That sucks monkey bottom!