While the waterways are mostly devoid of pleasure boats on northern waters, boating season never ends in the Sunshine State.
Several incidents in recent days indicate how active boaters — and rescuers — have been through the holiday weekend.
Coast Guard and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue crews responded to a boat fire Saturday a mile off Miami Beach.
A crew from the Coast Guard cutter Sitkinak were in the process of boarding an 80-foot motoryacht when it caught fire before the boarding commended. The fire quickly got out of hand.
Click here for a report with video of the inferno from Local 10 News and click here for the official Coast Guard press release.
Further north, a Florida dive boat carrying 23 people on Thanksgiving Day capsized off Pompano Beach when a rogue wave hit, resulting in the death of a woman.
The Broward County Medical Examiner ruled the woman drowned when a large wave flipped the 45-foot catamaran Coral Princess.
Three of the 23 people on the boat were treated and released. Most of them were from out of town on vacation, authorities told local media outlets.
Click here for the official Coast Guard press release.
Finally, on Monday morning, a pair of brothers ran into trouble in Biscayne Bay when their 12-foot boat sank near Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park.
One of the men managed to make it to shore and call for help, while the other spent the next seven hours treading water.
