Hurricane prep for boat owners — Sebastian, Florida

Sebastian boat owners prepare for a hurricane by hauling trailerable boats away from tidal water, and by doubling lines, adding anchors and stripping loose gear on boats that must stay in the water, following FWC storm guidance.

The FWC storm prep page puts moving the boat first. If a boat can be trailered, FWC says to haul it out and move it to a safe location as far from tidal waters as possible, kayaks and other small craft included. For Sebastian owners, the ramps at Sebastian Inlet State Park, where the main launch has four ramps on the south side open 24 hours a day, are one public haul-out point on the Indian River Lagoon.

Boats that stay in the Indian River Lagoon need different work depending on where they sit. In a marina berth, FWC advises doubling all lines, rigging cross-spring lines fore and aft, and attaching lines high on pilings to allow for tidal rise or surge. At anchor, the boat should move to the most protected area possible with multiple anchors set at a scope of at least 10 to 1, with canvas and sails removed or secured. On a mooring, the mooring itself has to be built for the load, with chains and swivels inspected and the pendant doubled.

Inside the boat, FWC lists removing EPIRBs, life rings, life jackets and loose items and storing them indoors; wrapping lines where they pass through chocks to prevent chafe; adding fenders or fender boards against pilings and other boats; and charging batteries so automatic bilge pumps can run through the storm, with other electrical loads shut off. The agency's one absolute rule is that no one should ride out a hurricane or tropical storm aboard an anchored, moored or docked vessel in Sebastian or anywhere else.

No, under Florida law a marina in Sebastian may not require boats to leave after a hurricane watch or warning, but it may secure a boat, charge a reasonable fee, and by contract move a boat from its slip if the owner does not.

Section 327.59, Florida Statutes, states that marinas may not adopt or enforce policies requiring vessels to be removed following a hurricane watch or warning, so that the lives and safety of vessel owners come before property, a rule that covers every marina on the Indian River in Sebastian. Owners keep the right to take a boat out voluntarily at any time, and marinas keep the right to dictate the cleats, ropes, fenders and other measures required as a condition of using a slip.

Once a tropical storm or hurricane watch is issued for Indian River County, the law lets a marina owner or staff take reasonable actions to further secure any vessel in the marina and charge a reasonable fee. A marina may also write into its contract that if an owner fails to promptly remove a boat after a watch, the marina may move it from its slip or take other reasonable steps, provided the contract carries a notice to the vessel owner in type of at least 10 points. The marina is not liable for storm damage to the vessel except for intentional acts or negligence while moving or securing it. A separate rule applies only in deepwater seaports, where vessels under 500 gross tons may not remain in marinas deemed unsuitable for refuge once a hurricane watch is issued.

For a Sebastian owner with a slip on the Indian River, the storm clause in the slip contract therefore decides who handles the boat once a watch covers Indian River County.

Last verified: October 10, 2026, on the Florida Legislature website, for the marina storm rules that apply to slips along the Indian River at Sebastian.

Hurricane Nicole in November 2022 damaged several docks in the Sebastian area, including along Indian River Drive, and Hurricane Milton in October 2024 brought a 6 to 8 inch rain forecast and a flood watch.

Nicole is the closest recent case. Sebastian Daily reported on December 1, 2022 that Nicole hit the Sebastian area, damaging several docks and shutting a restaurant on Indian River Drive, while erosion damaged the deck of another riverfront business. At Fisherman's Landing on Indian River Drive, the paper reported, Vice-Mayor Chris Nunn helped tie down a sailboat to keep it from destroying the docks. The eye passed from Sebastian into Barefoot Bay, and Nicole was the first November hurricane to make landfall in Florida since Kate in 1985.

Milton came from the other coast. On October 6, 2024, Sebastian Daily reported local rainfall estimates of 6 to 8 inches for Sebastian and a flood watch for the city as the storm approached across the Gulf. FWC notes that hurricane and tropical storm impacts can include heavy rainfall, waves, high water and winds that exceed 100 mph, with tornadoes often associated, the conditions that FWC's advice on bilge pumps and charged batteries is written for.

Short-fuse marine warnings matter outside hurricane season as well. On October 7, 2026, NWS Melbourne issued a Special Marine Warning for the waters from the Volusia-Brevard County Line to Sebastian Inlet, out to 60 nautical miles, for severe thunderstorms capable of producing waterspouts.

A Sebastian boat that breaks loose, lists or takes on water can be declared at risk of becoming derelict under Florida law, and one wrecked by extreme weather can be declared derelict.

Section 327.4107, Florida Statutes, lists the conditions that make a vessel at risk of becoming derelict, including taking on water without an effective means to dewater, open spaces that should be sealed, having broken loose or being in danger of breaking loose from its anchor, and listing from water intrusion. Anchoring or mooring such a vessel is a noncriminal infraction, and officers may relocate it to more than 20 feet from mangroves or upland vegetation, a rule that applies along the mangrove shorelines of the Indian River Lagoon near Sebastian.

For boats lost around Sebastian, the FWC derelict vessel page defines a derelict vessel to include one that is wrecked, meaning sunken, sinking, aground without the ability to free itself, or remaining after a marine casualty such as extreme weather. FWC states that a vessel becomes a public nuisance after three at-risk citations within 24 months, and that its Vessel Turn-In Program can dispose of an unwanted at-risk vessel at no cost to an owner who has received at least one written warning or citation.

After a storm, FWC asks that storm-damaged boats that may be lost or abandoned be reported to local law enforcement first, or to the FWC Division of Law Enforcement at 888-404-3922. In Sebastian, the county Storm Center board also lists marina status and whether the bridges to the barrier island are open; on October 10, 2026, it showed marinas in normal operations and the bridges open.

After a storm, boaters around Sebastian should expect submerged debris, new shoals and missing markers, and FWC asks them to report emergencies by 911 or VHF Channel 16 rather than social media.

FWC warns that after a major storm, water conditions on the lagoon and around Sebastian Inlet can be hazardous because of debris such as pilings or trees, new shoals or sandbars, and missing or damaged navigation markers, some of them submerged and invisible, and that some areas may be closed by high water or by first responders at work. Its guidance is to be observant, use caution and keep safe speeds.

At Sebastian Inlet, shoals and markers have a named keeper. The Sebastian Inlet District installed the markers on the channel between the inlet and the Intracoastal Waterway in 2007 and maintains them, posts semi-annual bathymetric surveys, and leaves the Intracoastal Waterway markers to the U.S. Coast Guard. Its notices page asks boaters to report any missing or downed channel markers to (321) 724-5175, the first call for a marker knocked out by a storm between Sebastian Inlet and the Indian River.