Migrants’ makeshift rafts
often wash up on Volusia beaches. But one recently was unlike others typically found.
It’s a little rusty and deflated and no one is quite sure of its history.
The mysterious makeshift raft made from an old tractor engine stuck on an inflatable foam hull washed up on a Daytona Beach Shores beach early Tuesday morning, according to Volusia County Beach Safety officials.
It already had a U.S. Coast Guard tag on it, meaning the agency was aware of the motorized floatable before it became beached.
The agency’s tag — though partially scratched out — says the Coast Guard came in contact with it on Nov. 1, most likely in South Florida, said Petty Officer Stephen Lehmann.
Details of that encounter aren’t clear, as rescue and patrol teams out of Miami and Key West come in contact with numerous homemade boats that day, he said.
Many look a lot like the one that floated up to Volusia, and carry migrants hoping to make it to Florida. Lehmann said typically when a Coast Guard team spots a makeshift float with migrants on board, they rescue the people and sink the raft.
The one that reached Volusia is made mostly of foam, though, and isn’t easily sinkable. He said in cases like that, the teams would’ve most likely just tagged the vessel and sent it adrift. Anyone who came in contact with it would see the bright orange Coast Guard sticker and know the agency is aware of it.
Lehmann said officials can’t be sure if this raft was used to carry migrants. Its history with the Coast Guard is still being sorted out.
No one was on board when it washed ashore, Volusia County Beach Safety said.
“On Nov. 1 alone in Key West, they had so many migrant cases, and while we can’t confirm this was a migrant boat at all, we can confirm we did come in contact with this thing,” Lehmann said.
It then made its way north and washed up near the 3700 block of South Atlantic Avenue in Daytona Beach Shores.
Beach Safety officials said they removed about 20 gallons of fuel when it was towed away.