‘A total loss’: Popular South Florida floating restaurant sinks

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The owner of a popular floating restaurant in South Florida had that sinking feeling on Mother’s Day.

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And no, it had nothing to do with a lack of customers. He had plenty.

Jay’s Sand Bar Food Boat, which cruises the Intracoastal Waterway in Fort Lauderdale and also sells food to other boaters, sank on Sunday, the Sun-Sentinel reported.

None of the patrons were injured since the boat sank in shallow waters, according to the newspaper. One of the restaurant’s pontoons -- a hollow cylinder on the bottom of the boat that stabilized the boat -- blew out, causing it to lean over and partially sink, the Sun-Sentinel reported.

Jay Lycke, the owner of the boat that has served customers for three years, told the newspaper in an October 2020 interview that he sank his life savings -- about $75,000 -- into creating the 32-foot boat. He said he built the vessel over a three-month period and that it is registered with the state as a mobile food service vehicle.

“She flipped, total loss, everyone’s OK,” Lycke wrote in a Facebook post Sunday afternoon. “I’m devastated of course, but my crew got out safely and nobody got hurt.”

Lycke had posted a video earlier in the day, noting that it was only 12 p.m. and the restaurant was full.

“Gonna be a very, very cool Mother’s Day,” he wrote, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

A few hours later, he was lamenting his loss and vowed to rebuild.

“(Expletive) happens,” Lycke told the newspaper. “Everybody’s safe. That’s the important thing. That was a very intricate piece of machinery.”

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