On 10/15/2013 at approximately 1030 hours I received a call from the United States Coast Guard in reference to a Grey Motor Yacht that struck the Boca Inlet Bridge. At that time I responded to the area and made contact with the bridge tender. Bridge tender advised that the bridge is stuck in the down position due to a power surge and an approx. 80 ft motor yacht by the name of XERXSEAS was attempting to pass under the bridge while it was down. Bridge tender said the yacht struck the bridge on the east side cat walk with a fender that was deployed from the vessel causing a piece of the wood to be lifted. Bridge tender also advised that he made contact with the vessel captain via VHF radio and did get a phone number. The Captain told Bridge tender he needed to get to Ft. Lauderdale for inspection, and would be in contact with the bridge in case of damage due to the incident. At that time I located the area of the bridge cat walk that was struck by the fender and it appeared the only damage was a lifted piece of 2x10x10 planking. I attempted to contact the vessel Captain numerous times by phone with negative results. Because I was unable to contact the vessel Captain I was unable to ascertain any of the vessel info for this report. I also attempted using numerous Government websites for documented vessels with negative results. No further at this time.
Boca Raton