A 28-foot sailboat that wrecked off Marco Island overnight Monday sent pieces of the craft floating toward the island’s shores, causing authorities to go into high alert on Tuesday, with divers and rescuers searching for survivors, or at worst, bodies.

Hours later, officials from multiple agencies that responded learned that the boat’s owner had crashed the night before and abandoned the boat near Sand Dollar Island in front of Tigertail Beach.

Officials later learned that boat owner and operator was Michael Ginsberg, 39, of 1300 79th Ave. N., St. Petersburg.

Ginsberg had said the boat began taking on water and he ran it aground at sunset Monday, said Robert Simpson, a spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard.

Ginsberg reportedly swam about 100 feet to shore and called the Fort Myers man who he said he had recently purchased the boat from through Ebay's Web site.

Ginsberg had not yet registered the white Pearson sailboat in his name. Authorities were not aware of the wreck until boat pieces were coming ashore the next morning.

Officials did not release the name of the previous owner who Ginsberg reportedly contacted when the sailboat wrecked.

Ginsberg returned to the Tampa Bay area the night of accident, Simpson reported.

Police contacted a woman at Ginsberg’s St. Petersburg residence, who said Ginsberg had been taken to the hospital in St. Petersburg, but she did not know the nature of his injuries or illness.

A call by the reporter to Ginsberg’s home also yielded a conversation with a woman, who did not identify herself, saying that she no longer knew where Ginsberg was, when or if he would return.

Ginsberg reported to police that he had just purchased the boat in Fort Myers, traveled to Marco Island and was en route to St. Petersburg when he ran the boat aground.

“It seemed to be an inexperienced boater who had an operator error,” said Simpson, who added that no investigation is pending.

Officials said they were confident at this time that there were no other occupants on the boat.

The search and rescue efforts were called off at about 3 p.m. Tuesday when the U.S. Coast Guard of Fort Myers Beach had made contact with Ginsberg and learned he made it to safety.

The rescue operation started early Tuesday when Marco sea turtle monitor Mary Nelson reported seeing the wrecked boat. There were numerous other reports of boat parts washing up on the island’s shores, officials said.

According to Marco Island Fire Chief Mike Murphy, wreckage was reported coming ashore in areas off the island’s beaches including near the Apollo condominium complex, located on the southern tip of the island and all the way up to the area of Big Marco Pass, the northwestern area of the Island.

Murphy said Isles of Capri Fire Rescue, the U.S. Coast Guard, Collier County Sheriff’s Office, Marco Island Fire Rescue and Marco Island Police responded to the wreckage.

Divers and search crews were offshore where they found a large piece of a hull.

Collier County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Kristi Lester said the boat was initially discovered off Tigertail Beach early Tuesday morning.

“It was fully submerged and we sent divers to search the area,” she added.

Sea Tow had attempted to assist search and rescue officials by excavating the boat in hopes of obtaining the serial number. Tides, rough seas and finding the owner alive and well, halted their efforts to remove the boat from the water.

“It’s been swallowed up by sand,” said Nick Mariano of Sea Tow.

He said it was not a navigational hazard at this time.

“It’s still out there. We haven’t been contacted to do anything about it,” Mariano said Wednesday.

The owner is responsible for cleaning up the wreckage, officials said.

Naples Daily News
Naples Sun Times
The Banner

Collier Citizen
Vista Semanal
PrepZone

Coastalbeat
Set Anchor
SWFLMoms