South FL Food Boat ‘A Total Loss’ After Sinking On Mother’s Day

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — A popular food boat that served snacks and meals at the Fort Lauderdale Sandbar, where the New River and the Inter Coastal Waterway intersect, sank while operating Sunday afternoon.

Jay’s Sand Bar Food Boat flipped over and collapsed after the stabilizer pontoon snapped at the sandbar, according to the restaurant’s Facebook page.

“We regret this is a total loss,” Jay Lycke, the food boat’s owner, shared. “(The) boat flipped and sunk while we were serving food.”

The boat sank around 12:30 p.m. while the food boat was “in full lunch swing” and delivering orders, hostess Coulette Murray wrote in a GoFundMe fundraiser for Jay’s.

“A wake from a passing boat hit us on our starboard side and sheared off our starboard outrigger. Those outriggers keep the boat level,” Murray shared. “She (the boat) immediately started to roll and capsized in four minutes.”

There were no injuries when the boat sank in about 4 feet of water, Lycke added in his Facebook post.

“I’m devastated of course, but my crew got out safely and nobody got hurt,” he wrote. “So, I’m happy for that. We are a water family. It could have been much, much worse. My crew is more important than anything. They stuck by me for (three) years.”

He also promised that the food boat would return.

“We will rebuild,” he wrote. “Somehow. Now first, we got to remove her (from her) shallow grave.”

Reviving the food boat won’t be easy. Before they consider getting a new boat, first they need remove their original boat that sunk at the sandbar, which will cost between $8,000 and $10,000, Murray wrote on her GoFundMe. Then, there are the costs of buying and building a new boat.

“Four years ago, that food boat costs $75,000 to build. We've tried to get insurance in the past, but no company would insure a food boat, and here we are,” she wrote.

She’s hoping to raise $85,000 for rebuilding the floating restaurant.

“The first $8,000 or so will be used to remove the boat. Anything additional will be used for the building of the food boat,” Murray wrote. “If we don't reach our goal, any money after the salvage will be refunded and we will still have the memories and the good times out there with all of our Sandbar family.”