MATLACHA — A boat was still stuck on the side of the Matlacha Pass Bridge Thursday night.
It got swept away by Hurricane Eta, and its owner thinks the crash may have damaged it beyond repair. They tried to move it earlier in the day, but despite growling motors on two separate boats, Christian Monzon’s boat wouldn’t budge.
“The boat is sitting on the rocks, so we can’t move it out until the tide picks it up some more. So we’re not going to be able to do it right now," said Monzon.
The boat has several large holes created by the impact with the bridge. Monzon cut several pieces of wood to sure up the vessel, but he doesn’t think it’s a long term fix.
“It looks like it’s totaled already. I don’t think it will be worth it to fix it," said Monzon.
But as people watched Monzon and his crew try to dislodge his boat, Bridgewater Inn General Manager John Tobin was worried about his dock, which was partially destroyed from the storm.
“Our company is open for business, but we have our dock down here, our fishing dock, that’s been pretty well destroyed on one end of it, so now we have companies coming here to assess it so we can get the repairs done," said Tobin.
But while Tobin is hoping for a quick recovery, Monzon said he doesn’t know what his next step is. He lived on the boat, and he said he doesn't know where he will live next.
The crews that were out there said they would need to figure out the weight of the boat so they could figure out how powerful the motor needs to be to get it off the rocks. The plan is to come back and remove it on Friday around noon during high tide.
