Matanzas Pass Bridge reopens after boat crashes into it, closing it for hours

Reporter: Elizabeth Biro Writer: Robin Wolf
Published: Updated:

The Matanzas Pass Bridge has reopened to traffic after it was shut down for hours when a boat crashed into it.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office said there was no major damage to the bridge and there were no injuries after the boat crashed into it Monday morning around 10 a.m.

The boat, named Captain Jack Two, was removed around 1 p.m., and the bridge reopened about 3 p.m. after inspectors and the U.S. Coast Guard conducted a safety inspection.

While the Coast Guard and Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District responded to the scene under the bridge, LCSO assisted with rerouting traffic during its closure.

The owner of the boat said he had just bought it, and it was coming from Texas with a Texan captain on board.

According to that captain, he was supposed to wait for the tide to go down before maneuvering safely underneath the bridge.

Captain Jack Two was bringing shrimp to Erickson and Jensen Seafood, where Jessie Clapham is the fleet commander.

“It’s full moon, so we have a super high tide, so the wind’s blowing the wrong way; the tide’s rushing in. Mother Nature wasn’t playing our game this morning,” Clapham said.

Clapham told us that the boat has made it under the bridge before. While high tide was the problem Monday, this isn’t the first boat to do so.

“Usually, they bump the bridge, and you can back up and try it again, but today, the wind got him. We go underneath that bridge every day, but it’s close, and we’ve had trouble before with the catwalks in the middle of the bridge instead of on the outside of the pilings, so it’s kind of touchy getting through there sometimes,” Clapham said.

“We were watching this boat come in to pass underneath the bridge, and it looked pretty tall,” said Sean Smith, a witness. “We started hearing some crew members yelling, and that’s when the boat was put in reverse; it backed up and stopped about 4 feet short of actually hitting the bridge originally. It backed up, but not far enough, and then it started to turn, but the current caught it. Then the boat went forward and crashed into the part of the bridge, breaking one of its arms.”

The bridge is the main entrance point to get onto Estero Island.

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