Liveaboard Yacht Aground in Key West Florida

A sixteen meter trawler type aft cabin explorer yacht ended aground and partly sank in Bahia Honda, Key West, Florida on the morning of Saturday twelfth April.  The explorer yacht which is a live aboard for three; one man and his two sisters and a dog, is reported to have hit an object and started to take on water.  Seeing this the captain anchored at the bay, with the boat then ending partly sunk and listing to its starboard side, damaging its central keel, and running gear.  With the tide becoming a bit lower by Tuesday fifteen April, the explorer cruiser was righted by the crew and the people who are helping, with the next aim now to  make a temporary repair so they can take the yacht to a haul out yard for full repairs.  Interestingly and according to Trawler Tom who is sharing the story on social media said the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conversation Commission, US Coast Guard, local police, park rangers were watching the story happen but did not intervene. 

Trawler Tom who has been assisting the trawler since the accident, also opened a fund raiser on GoFundMe of which I will post a link on the comments section.

The explorer yacht in this part sinking is a Gulfstar 53 Trawler as produced from 1975 to 76 in ten units.  The 53 Trawler shared hull with the 53 Motorsailor, with both models being Gulfstar flagships in that time of production, with the model replaced by the full planning hull 48 Motor Yacht in 1981.  Gulfstar Yachts was founded by Vince Lazzara and existed from 1970 to 1990, and produced both sail and power boats, with the company selling some of its assets to Viking.