Gone with the Summer Wind: Derelict removed from Destin harbor

The Summer Wind is blowing out of town.

For the last year, the mostly-sunk former charter boat has been a notorious eyesore in the harbor — it’s only marker a SpongeBob toilet seat that would flap in the breeze.

On Wednesday, Capt. Donnie Brown stood pumping his fist victoriously on the deck of the 51-foot vessel after raising it from the bottom of the harbor. The floating hulk was covered in sponges, algae and barnacles.

“This was a beautiful boat in its day,” Brown, a Destin resident told The Log. “It used to go to Mexico sailfishing, now it’s going to the Dumpster.”

Brown is founder of PumpOut USA, a company specializing in mobile marine sewage pump-out. More importantly though, Brown is an old-hand at floating derelict boats. With about 30 vessels under his belt, “this is not my first rodeo,” Brown said. But even he had reason to celebrate Wednesday.

“This was the fastest so far, and I’ve done 40 footers up to 70 footers.” Brown said after floating the boat in a hour and half. “Each one is an adventure.”

The sight of the boat on top of the water again drew crowds of boaters throughout the day.

“Boy that looks good; I like that” one boater yelled as he passed by.

It also drew a eulogy from one longtime captain, who owned the boat in better days when it was the Anastasia.

“It was probably one of the better marlin fishing boats I’ve ever been on,” said Capt. Tony Davis, remembering when the boat won a few tournaments in Mexico. “We caught the living dickens out of fish on it.”

Davis, who now pilots a new Anastasia, had the boat built in Panama City in late 1989 or 1990. It was later owned by city councilor and Capt. Kelly Windes. Then Capt. Harold Loeffler bought it about a year and half ago for parts. A piece of the Summer Wind lives on as he took the cabin and wheelhouse for his boat the Unreel.

He then sold the stripped boat to Robert James.

When state agents determined the current owner, they slapped James with a fine and gave him a deadline to remove it. When the deadline lapsed, they gave the city the OK to junk it.

Brown agreed to remove the vessel pro bono, and the city of Destin jumped at the offer.

“The city needed it done. Dave called me up and said Donnie can you raise it, and I said ‘heck yeah! Job done!’ ”

The unlit mass was a threat to boaters — especially at night, he said.

“Somebody would have run over this thing with all the boat traffic this weekend,” Brown said.

On Wednesday, the city provided the pump, and Brown provided the rest.

The plan went off without a hitch. He secured the hull, floated the vessel to the surface and then filled up all the holes with plywood and carpet — “anything you can stuff in there.” Once he got the boat to the surface, “you just pump out the bowl,” he said.

The Summer Wind was sinking for months. The back-to-back rain storms in October, which doused Destin with almost a foot of rain in a few days, finished it off as it settled on the harbor floor.

The only treasure recovered in the underbelly of the giant hulk was a rusted fan, old lights and a crusty nickel. Small pinfish and mullet swam and jumped inside the remaining water in the bottom of the boat.

Brown still had to crawl back inside to finish the job.

“It’s just nasty,” he said. “Mainly it’s just slime on the inside,” as opposed to the sponges and algae that overtook the hull and sides of the ship.

“All those live critters are gonna die, and it’s gonna stink so bad.”

Brown towed the massive hulk with his custom-designed, 500-horse-power catamaran to the docks at the old Kokomo Motel at 500 Harbor Boulevard.

The next stop will be Boat Marina in Fort Walton Beach, where city officials will dismember the barnacle-clad beast with saws and hammers.

Former city councilor and marina owner Jim Tucker agreed to assist the city. It will likely take a “good day and a half to dismantle the boat.”

“We are hoping two 30-yard Dumpsters will take care of it, but we’ll have more as needed,” Dave Bazylak, the city’s Code Enforcement manager said.