Posted on May 4, 2026
Photo shows Ellicott Dragon Cutter Dredge
By Jeff Yastine
POMPANO BEACH — In some areas of the Hillsboro Inlet, intensive sand dredging by the Hillsboro Inlet District is taking navigational depths back to normal, deeper levels after nor’easter storms in March and April. But in emails and phone calls to TAPinto over the weekend, commercial mariners have indicated that shoaling – the buildup of sand – still remains an ongoing concern on the ocean side of the inlet’s navigational channel.
The sand accumulation has followed a period of persistent bad weather that’s kept the dredge from operating on a normal schedule because wave and tide conditions often made it unsafe for its crew to operate the vessel.
Inlet Closer to “Normal”
“The biggest issue was that with all of the bad weather we had, we couldn’t keep it deep enough,” said Denise Bryan, Chair of the Hillsboro Inlet District in an interview Friday, May 1st.
Bryan said the District has been paying overtime wages to the District’s sand dredge crew in order to clear the inlet’s navigation channel as quickly as was safely possible, given fluctuating weather and tide conditions, as well as boat traffic. She indicated that numerous boaters often appear to disregard the strict “no wake” zone around the dredge – large wakes, created by speeding boats, can rock the barge-like dredging vessel and create unsafe conditions for the crew.
Bryan also said dredging operations would continue, and that the district remains dedicated to its primary role of keeping the inlet at safe depth levels for vessel navigation, while also using the dredge to facilitate the natural north-to-south drift of sand by wave and tidal action to Pompano Beach’s side of the inlet, and also making sure the base of the historic Hillsboro Lighthouse is adequately protected from erosion.
Charter Captains: Ocean Channel Still Remains a Concern For Now
Commercial marine operators say a full dredging of the navigation channel – where it extends into the open ocean – could not come soon enough. They indicated they are still having to move their larger vessels through the ocean-side of the inlet’s navigational channel with less frequency, and careful timing.
“We all still have to work around the tides,” said Captain Tom Oberrender of Killin’ Time Charters, in a text message on Sunday. “The inlet is definitely still shoaled up.”
“We’ve had to operate on an adjusted schedule for weeks. We still are, and will continue to be, until they finish dredging,” said Emily Shea, Operations Manager for Starlight Fleet Florida. “Instead of our three trips a day, we are able to run one trip if we’re lucky, around high tide.”
“The problem is out here at the channel markers, not inside the inlet,” noted Captain Ron Comer of Don’t Panic Charters on the phone as he steered his vessel through the navigation channel after a morning charter. “Right now, I’m looking at my gauge – I’ve only got three and a half feet of water under my vessel,” he said, noting the shoaling, and that it had only been a few hours since high tide.
Dredging to Continue
The Hillsboro Inlet District’s Bryan indicated that the agency’s sand dredge would continue its work moving sand out of the inlet’s navigational channel as weather, tide and boating traffic conditions allow.
“The inclement weather has never been this bad, this many weeks, at this time of year. And it’s happening obviously at the height of season. Charter captains make their living taking scuba divers and fishermen out. It’s just been very difficult.”
