Hurricane Cleanup and Marine Salvage in Florida

If you have a VHF marine radio, tune it to channel 16 — the distress, safety and calling frequency — and unless you know you are outside VHF range of shore and ships, call on channel 16 first. A distress call is MAYDAY three times, then the vessel name, your position and the number of people aboard. [navcen.uscg.gov]

We are a marine construction company, not an emergency service. Life safety never waits on a contractor.

Fuel is the next call. Any person in charge of a vessel must notify the National Response Center immediately after learning of a discharge of oil, and under the federal sheen rule a harmful quantity is any quantity that violates state water quality standards, causes a film or sheen on the water's surface, or leaves sludge or emulsion beneath the surface. The number is 1-800-424-8802. [epa.gov]

• Sunken and wrecked boat recovery: safe lifting and removal of boats and watercraft.
• Debris removal on the water: canals, docks, seawalls and shorelines, worked from crane barges and work barges.
• Debris removal on land: excavators and skid steers to clear it, dump trailers to haul it away.
• Dock tear-outs, repairs and rebuilds.
• Seawall and bulkhead repair and replacement.
• Structural assessments: inspection of docks, seawalls and foundations after severe weather.
• Emergency response: work to limit further damage to the property.
• Grounding and vessel refloating, emergency erosion control and structural stabilization.

Our equipment includes crane barges and work barges, which reach sites that are not accessible by land, plus 100,000 lb excavators, land cranes, mini excavators, skid steers and dump trailers.

If you are aground in grass, stop. UF/IFAS Extension's guidance is direct: do not try to power off the seagrass. Turn the motor off, trim it up, and push or pole the boat out the way you came in, or drift free. Powering off digs a deep hole in the meadow and risks the motor. Waiting for the tide is the other option. [ask.ifas.ufl.edu]

Under Section 253.04, Florida Statutes, operating a vessel outside a lawfully marked channel in a careless manner that causes seagrass scarring inside a designated aquatic preserve is a noncriminal infraction, charged on a uniform boating citation. Refusing to post bond or to accept and sign the citation is itself a second-degree misdemeanor. [leg.state.fl.us]

Section 823.11, Florida Statutes, makes it unlawful to leave a derelict vessel on the waters of this state, and defines leave as allowing it to remain, occupied or unoccupied, for more than 24 hours. A vessel is derelict when it is wrecked, junked or substantially dismantled, and wrecked includes sunken or sinking, or aground without the ability to extricate itself absent mechanical assistance. [leg.state.fl.us]

After a hurricane the clock is longer. An owner or operator whose vessel became derelict solely because of the hurricane may not be charged if they document the event for law enforcement and remove or repair the vessel within 45 days after the hurricane has passed over the state. That extra time does not apply to a vessel that was already derelict before the storm, and FWC or law enforcement may start the removal process right away. [leg.state.fl.us]

The penalties step up: a first offense is a first-degree misdemeanor, a second a third-degree felony, a third or later a second-degree felony, and a conviction does not bar a separate civil penalty. FWC or law enforcement may also relocate, remove and store the vessel where it obstructs navigation or endangers the environment, property or persons. [leg.state.fl.us]

There is a stage before derelict. Section 327.4107 lets an officer find a vessel at risk of becoming derelict where it is taking on water with no effective means to dewater, is listing from water intrusion, has broken loose or is in danger of breaking loose from its anchor, lacks effective propulsion with no documentation of ordered repair parts, or is tied to an unlawful or unpermitted mooring. That is a noncriminal infraction under s. 327.73. [leg.state.fl.us]

FWC adds what happens if it rides: an owner cited three times within 24 months for at-risk conditions can have the vessel declared a public nuisance and removed. FWC's Tallahassee headquarters line is (850) 488-4676; for an incident on the water, call 911 or the Coast Guard. [myfwc.com]

FEMA's guidance after severe weather is to take photos and videos of the damage, including structural and personal property inside and outside the home, before discarding items, and to keep receipts of any purchases made to replace damaged property or repair property. [fema.gov]

On a waterfront that means the water side too. The dock from the seawall and again from the water. Every piling at the waterline. The lift, cradle and cables. The seawall cap and joints. The vessel where it lies, before anything is lifted. Wide shots first, then close shots of each failure.

Keep your own record as the work goes on. What a policy pays for is between you and your insurer.

Start with ownership. FEMA's fact sheet on Category A debris removal states that debris removal from private property is the responsibility of the property owner. Public Assistance is grant money to governments, and debris work is eligible only where it is in the public interest, eliminates an immediate threat to lives, public health and safety, and results from the declared incident. [fema.gov]

The exception is not granted house by house. Where debris on private property is so widespread that it threatens public health and safety or the economic recovery of the community, FEMA may make private property debris removal eligible, and even then the work must fall within the designated area. [fema.gov]

It reaches the water only narrowly. Where debris deposited by the incident obstructs a natural waterway or a constructed channel, removing it from the channel is eligible if it poses an immediate threat. That is a program's test of obstruction and threat, not a promise to lift a dock section or a hull off the bottom at your address. [fema.gov]

The boat stays yours either way. After a hurricane you have the 45 days above, if you document the event for law enforcement; outside a storm the clock is 24 hours. Clearing the water side on your own schedule is the kind of removal we do.

Two standing exemptions matter. Rule 62-330.051(5)(d), F.A.C., exempts replacement or repair of existing docks and piers, including mooring piles, under Section 403.813(1)(d), F.S.: no fill, the new dock within 5 feet of the old location and no larger than it was, and no new permanent harm to aquatic resources. The existing structure must be one that is still functional or was rendered non-functional within the last year by a discrete event such as a storm, flood, accident or fire. Rule 62-330.051(12)(b) does the same for restoration of a seawall or riprap damaged or destroyed within the last year by a discrete event. [flrules.org]

Neither is a clear field. The seawall provision also requires that restoration go no more than 18 inches waterward of the previous location and that applicable permits under Chapter 161, F.S., are obtained. The rule's opening line adds that exempt activities located in, on or over state-owned submerged lands are still subject to separate authorization under Chapters 253 and 258, F.S. [flrules.org]

Local government is another layer. Miami-Dade County requires a Class I Permit before any work in, on, over or upon the tidal waters or coastal wetlands of the county. Check your own county and city as well. [miamidade.gov]

For Hurricane Isaias, DEP's emergency final order OGC No. 26-2105, signed October 8, 2026, covers Okaloosa, Walton, Santa Rosa, Escambia and Bay counties among others. Without notifying DEP, it lets owners repair a structure that was not completely destroyed back to its legal pre-storm size, shape and place, with nothing enlarged, added or moved. It does not replace federal or local permits. Each emergency order is written for one storm and expires with the Governor's orders, so check what is in force for yours. [floridadep.gov]

Our Destin and Emerald Coast page has the Isaias details, and dock repair after a hurricane walks the storm case through.

A storm that took the decking may also have pulled sand out from under the pilings, opened a seawall joint, or shifted a cap — damage that reads as cosmetic from the yard and is not. The assessment decides whether the next job is piling replacement, dock construction, seawall repair or seawall construction. If the lift took the hit, start at boat lift maintenance.

Where a storm moved the bottom of a canal, dredging follows. For an emergency, use the phone: +1 (954) 406-0696. For anything that is not urgent, the contact form is the better route and we reply within 24 business hours. That is our ordinary quote reply time, not an emergency response time. Emergencies go to the phone. We work across Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Manatee.