Rising from the Depths: Salvaging a Sunken Boat After Hurricane Irma

When Hurricane Irma tore through the Caribbean and made mainland landfall in the Florida Keys and Marco Island in September 2017, she left a catastrophic wake. Across the state, an estimated 2,700 boats went down, turning placid marinas, peaceful mangrove creeks, and residential canals into twisted, aquatic graveyards. In the Florida Keys alone, over 1,100 sunken or derelict vessels had to be salvaged by the U.S. Coast Guard, state agencies, and private dive teams. For months, the aftermath looked less like a sunny vacation spot and more like a disaster zone. In iconic harbors like Marathon’s Boot Key Harbor and Coconut Grove's Dinner Key, boats had broken loose from moorings and piled up on top of one another. The storm surge pushed a 110-foot yacht 200 yards into a nonprofit learning center in Miami, and deposited another sleek, 40-foot speedboat into ten feet of water on North Lake. In the Caribbean, places like the British Virgin Islands and Saint Martin saw absolute devastation as hundreds of boats were upended and forced into the mangroves. The salvage operation that followed was massive and painstakingly slow. State and federal agencies—operating under a FEMA-funded effort—tackled the wrecks based on environmental hazards, prioritizing boats actively leaking toxic fuel, motor oil, and battery acid. Professional divers navigated canals in the dark—a technique they called “braille diving”—to feel their way through black muck and loop heavy chains beneath sunken hulls. From there, giant crane barges lifted the battered remains. Some owners, heartbroken and uninsured, watched their once-loved boats sink. Many signed FWC waivers to release their vessels to the state. Others, alongside commercial salvage operators, worked for months to drag their crafts out of the water. While many of these wrecks were stripped and recycled, others stuck around the water for years, serving as stubborn reminders of Irma’s historic wrath.