Boaters beware: Boca Grande Channel more shallow than usual

BOCA GRANDE, Fla.- Years of storms have caused some portions of the Boca Grande Channel to become more shallow than others, now boats are running aground because of it.

“This time of year with seasonal people, you do see a lot of people hung up on sandbars,” said boat captain JR Pittman.

Pittman spends every day out on the water and says boats are getting stuck in shallow water that is generally deep enough for boats to go through.

“It is shallow in a lot of parts, mostly in the channels that have been marked for a long time,” said Pittman.

“When it’s low tide, that’s the problem around here with tides, you get a low tide and you move a little one way, or another, you could be hitting the bottom,” said Frank LicCarvi, a local boater.

Pittman says the recent storms have drastically shifted the sand and that’s why the navigational markers out in the channel are not accurate at the moment.

The Coast Guard says there are currently no plans to dredge the channel anytime soon. In the meantime, they are working to redesign the markers and are warning boaters to be extra careful when cruising through the harbor.