Dangerous sandbars are growing along the Intracoastal Waterway in Volusia County, and boaters want officials to do something before watercraft lovers hit the area for Memorial Day weekend.

  • Sandbars around the Intracoastal Waterway and Ponce Inlet are growing past shoaling markers
  • Volusia County and Army Corp of Engineers aware of problem
  • Ponce Inlet Port Authority hopes to move shoaling markers before Memorial Day weekend

Captain Mike Mulholland has chartered boats in and out of the inlet between New Smyrna Beach and Ponce Inlet for years.

But it's not until this year that Mulholland and other boaters are being forced to navigate through threatening sandbars that only a trained eye can spot, unless there are markers pointing them out.

"You cannot see these sandbars and that's the problem. And if you hit that sandbar at an excessive amount of speed, we may have a fatality on our hands," said Mulholland.

Captain Mulholland took us out into the inlet on his boat to point out those sandbars.

He says markers indicating those sandbars are called shoaling markers.

But, he says, those sandbars are growing, with no marker to point out where they are now.

Mulholland says one boat ran aground on one of those sandbars last week, sustaining an estimated $10,000 in damages.

Mulholland says he wants markers moved to where the sandbars are before the Memorial Day weekend.

That's when hundreds of boaters descend on the Intracoastal Waterways and Ponce Inlet, boaters who have no idea where shoaling is taking place.

"We need the markers moved and the dredging done," said Mulholland.

The County and the Army Corp. of Engineers are aware of the problem.

Ponce DeLeon Port Authority director Joe Nolin says last year, the Corp. of Engineers dug up and removed around 130,000 cubic yards of sand, using it to replenish beaches.

But he explains ideal weather conditions are keeping sand on beaches and sandbars growing on rivers.

"With this incredible amount of sand that's moving into the inlet channel, it's difficult the stay on top of it and keep up with the volume," said Nolin.

Nolin says they will try to move markers to keep boaters safe before the Memorial Day weekend.