By Paul MacInnis
Slammed with wind gusts topping 100 miles an hour, Hurricane Matthew wreaked havoc Oct. 7, 2016 on Florida’s Space Coast.
Named the tenth costliest hurricane in history, it certainly made its mark here in our beautiful Port Canaveral.
It also propelled business owner, Joe Penovich, of Grills Seafood Deck and Tiki Bar, into action to launch a team to rebuild quickly in the aftermath of the hurricane.
While Florida has seen its share of storms, Hurricane Matthew caught everyone’s stern attention. Changing quickly from a Category 3 to a Category 4 on Oct. 6, we braced for a life changing catastrophe. Memories of what happened with Hurricane Andrew, which devastated South Florida, became a very real possibility for our Space Coast community with Matthew.
We began to prepare for the worst.
As a small community, we all prepared the best we could, helping each other board each other’s houses and businesses, packing our sentimental and treasured valuables, quickly loading up our families and moving inland to wait as Matthews fury passed us by.
While some went west and some north, many stayed back and braced for what looked like it would be a catastrophe that would change our community as we knew it forever. In particular, our marinas and marine industry had to make great preparation to protect their vessels, most of which had to be dry docked. Others moved their vessels into the Intracoastal Waterways between the barrier islands to avoid direct winds and surging seas.
Small “mom and pop” business owners are the heart of this community. One in particular in this month’s edition, is Grills Seafood Deck and Tiki Bar in the heart of Port Canaveral. Grill’s was opened in 1997 in the beautiful, serene and picturesque setting of the Sunrise Marina. Not only is this a long-time favorite with locals but it is also home to a few of our local charter boat captains, whose fishing is their source of income and their livelihood. Their vessels are docked at the deck’s edge of Grills Seafood Deck and Tiki Bar.
During the night, as Matthew dished out his fury of a then strong Category 3 hurricane, a tugboat and shrimp boat docked further west up the waterway, became disconnected from its dock and wiped out several docks in its path like an eraser to a chalkboard.
Grills lost all of its Marina. Costing the owners thousands of dollars for repair. Additionally, it put our charter boat captains out of business as well, with no income, no means of providing for their families.
Despite the heartache, there was no time to think, only to act. That is exactly what Grills’ owner, Joe Penovich, did. He launched into action to pull together a dynamic team to rebuild right away.
First on the scene was a local company called CCSI Marine to clear out debris and reset poles. This was done in record time while Florida Home & Dock Life worked alongside to level and set their posts and start rebuilding decking for the docks.
Like passing the baton at the Olympics, these local community “mom and pop” businesses rallied together with equal heart and passion to get everyone back in business as soon as possible. Davin T. Erickson, owner of Florida Home & Dock Life, worked diligently with his team of professionals to efficiently complete all of the docks destroyed by the storm.
Our Charter Boat Captains, Tim Sheridan and J.C. Durrett, are up and running and back on the seas thanks to all of the community effort to rebuild.
Paul MacInnis is an award winning outdoor writer who has lived in Brevard County and fished its waters for over 30 years. Paul can be reached at paul.d.macinnis@gmail.com.