Florida dinner cruise leaves nearly 100 stranded for hours Tuesday night
TREASURE ISLAND, Fla. - Nearly 100 left John’s Pass onboard a dinner cruise Tuesday night and ended up stranded on the water until after midnight.
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The "Calypso Breeze," a 65-foot ship, part of StarLite Cruises’ fleet, was left stranded on the north side of the Treasure Island Causeway at low tide, according to Treasure Island officials.
Of the 91 people on board, only 10 were crew members, according to StarLite Cruises COO Charlie Ward.
Timeline:
Ward says the boat sailed off at 7 p.m. and was slated to be on the water for about two hours. About an hour and a half into the voyage, however, it bottomed out because its captain missed a turn, according to Ward.
Water levels didn't become high enough to sail back to the dock until around 12:25 a.m.
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The boat returned to the dock safely once the tides rose, without needing law enforcement's help. All the passengers on board were given a full refund.
The Coast Guard and the boat’s diver found no damage to the boat when it finally redocked.
Passenger Reaction:
Ward says some passengers were upset by the decision to close the bar around 9 p.m., but they were following a Coast Guard recommendation to make sure passengers remained sober enough for a potential boat-to-boat transfer.
Despite debating a boat transfer, the call was made to wait for water levels to rise.
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The Source: This story was written with information obtained from StarLite COO Charlie Ward and the Treasure Island Police Department.
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