Jeanne
Makes Landfall
Sailfish Point,
Stuart FL

 

"...and what about Naomi?"
              The Electric Company

Sailfish Point: Homeowners and construction workers file out onto the private development's dock from the Safari 1. Admission is free for the rides that run every two hours leaving from Sandsprit Park in Port Salerno starting at 7 a.m.


Sailfish Point
Ferry

OriginallyBy WPTV staff
September 29, 2004

A passenger ferry is now available for residents of Sailfish Point and MacArthur Boulevard who cannot access their homes due to the damage sustained to MacArthur Boulevard. The ferry will begin operating today, and will depart from Sandsprit Park. The ferry will arrive at the Sailfish Point Marina. Residents will need to walk to their residences from the marina. The following is the ferry shedule.
Depart
Sandsprit Park
Depart
Sailfish Point
7:00 AM 8:00 AM
11:00 AM 12:00 PM
1:00 PM 2:00 PM
3:00 PM 4:00 PM
5:00 PM 6:00 PM

 

At this time, the ferry is limited to residences of the affected areas only. The last ferry will return at 6:00 PM.

Sandsprit Park is located on Se St. Lucie Blvd. in Port Salerno at the mouth of the Manatee Pocket.

Martin County: Fishing poles line the inside of Safari 1, a fishing boat which has been chartered by the county to serve as a ferry for Sailfish Point homeowners and workers.


Sailfish Point: Prime Coast Construction workers load up roofing material, generators and extension cords as they head off the Safari 1 to begin repairs on Sailfish Point.

 

 


Stuart News
Road to Sailfish Point washed out
By Jim Turner staff writer
September 28, 2004

HUTCHINSON ISLAND A portion of the road south of the Gilbert's Bar House of Refuge (amazing pre-storm panoramic view) was mostly washed away by Hurricane Jeanne and residents of Sailfish Point might have to use their own boats or a ferry for some time to reach storm-beaten homes. Sailfish Point resident Allen Herskowitz, who rode out the storm at a friend's house across the Intracoastal Waterway in Sewall's Point, ground zero for the hurricane's eye, said the southern-most homes were saved by the dune. However, he said if the storm had moved as slow as Hurricane Frances during the Labor Day weekend, homeowners wouldn't have been so lucky.

"There's almost three foot of dune left at the south end," said Herskowitz, who boated to the island Monday morning. "Another couple of hours like the last storm and we would have been history, this would have been just a reef."

Close to ground zero from the eye of a hurricane for the second time this month, ocean waters uprooted the vegetation and then broke apart a quarter-mile section of roadway between the museum for shipwreck survivors and 713 MacArthur Blvd.

County Engineer William Larson, while surveying the damage, said Jeanne destroyed $200,000 in repairs the county made to the road after Frances.

Power lines, trees, sand and an open console motor boat cluttered the road south of 713 MacArthur Blvd., which lost its oceanfront patio.

County officials could not say how long it would take to rebuild the road, which had dropped and been washed away in places by more than three feet.

Sailfish Point security chief Mike Korpar said there appeared to be a number of homes with roof damage, but the 15 to 20 boats tied up at the Sailfish Point Marina survived without damage.

Mark Tyson, the Sailfish Point general manager, said a ferry service from the mainland could be established to help residents reach their homes.

The mostly wooden House of Refuge Martin County's oldest building, which dates from 1875 — appeared to survive another storm.

However, a large section of a barrier wall fronting the ocean was cracked and will need to be repaired before the next storm.




- jim.turner@scripps.com


 
 
Hutchinson Island: Rick Sheets and Colleen Rose make their way through the debris left by Hurricane Jeanne on MacArthur Boulevard to check on Sheets' father's house at Sailfish Point.


JASON NUTTLE staff photographer
Hutchinson Island: A large section of MacArthur Blvd. was washed out by Hurricane Jeanne, leaving Sailfish Point disconnected

 
Hutchinson Island: Mark Tyson, left, general manager of Sailfish Point, walks around the destroyed MacArthur Blvd., the only road that connects the community to the mainland. The nearby Atlantic ocean can be seen in the background with dunes and sea-grape stabilizing brush no longer providing any barrier.

Hutchinson Island: Martin County Commissioner Doug Smith tours the devastation along MacArthur Blvd., the road that leads to Sailfish Point

Hutchinson Island: A washed out road leading to houses on Hutchinson Island is seen a day after Hurricane Jeanne struck the area


 
Hutchinson Island: A portion of MacArthur Blvd. was covered with water, leaving Sailfish Point disconnected from the mainland.
 
 
Hutchinson Island: A large section of MacArthur Blvd. was washed out by Hurricane Jeanne, leaving Sailfish Point disconnected from the mainland.
 
Hutchinson Island: A section of MacArthur Blvd. is covered in sand.
 
Hutchinson Island: William Larson, a Martin County engineer, assesses the damage along MacArthur Blvd. Officials say that the road to Sailfish Point is impassable, with washed-out streets and downed power lines.
 
 
Hutchinson Island: Jensen Beach: Paul Foster, an employee with the Florida Drawbridge Company, makes his way down a 20-foot section of the Jensen Beach Causeway that collapsed, rendering the causeway impassable. Foster and his co-worker, Brad Bucchioni, not shown, locked the drawbridge into the upright position to let marine traffic flow freely. With the old causeway bridge unusable, project managers are working to open the new bridge as soon as possible.


Hutchinson Island: Mara Gigante, of Stuart, takes a picture of the inside of a house. The full-time residents of the house left the island for Wisconsin before the storm, a friend said.
 
 
Hutchinson Island: Dan Batkiewicz and his dog Dallas, right, and Brett Waldron, left, kayak in the parking lot of the Islander 12 condominium building. They and one other resident weathered the storm in the building and are now making the best of the situation.

Hutchinson Island: A pickup truck creates a boat-like wake as it moves along a street flooded by Hurricane Jeanne in an oceanfront community on Hutchinson Island.

 

Hutchinson Island: The top floor at the Courtyard by Marriott resort was destroyed by Hurricane Jeanne.
 
Hutchinson Island: A statue remains standing despite the fallen branches around it.
 

  Stuart Florida - Hutchinson Island


 

Below, Sailfish Point looking north seen in upper right quadrant of image. The dark line of a offshore, subsurface barrrier reef can be seen to join with the coastline at the indentation just north of Sailfish Point.where it becomes a rock outcrop on the beach.