The unveiling was timed to promote National Safe Boating Week and for the start of the Memorial Day Weekend.
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office unveiled the new full-time Marine/Beach Unit to patrol the beaches and waterways of Flagler County beginning Wednesday, May 23, according to a media release.
The unveiling was timed to promote National Safe Boating Week and for the start of the Memorial Day Weekend. The Marine/Beach Unit will use a fully equipped Jeep Wrangler that is capable of driving on the beach and on most terrain that is impassible for regular patrol cars, as well as an airboat and traditional patrol boats.
The relaunching of the full-time Marine/Beach Unit is in honor of Capt. Grady Prather, a 33-year veteran of the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office who headed up the Marine Unit, which he also created. Prather retired on Jan. 31, 2008 after 33 years of service to the county. He died on Nov. 17, 2009.
In 2011, an artificial reef deployed off Flagler Beach through grants from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation and the St. Augustine Port, Waterway and Beach District was named in Prather's honor.
“I’m pleased that we have the opportunity to re-launch a full-time Marine and Beach Unit in Captain Prather’s honor," Sheriff Rick Staly said in the release. "I’m also glad to have Captain Prather’s lineage here at the Sheriff’s Office with his son, Deputy Jason Prather.
“Flagler County is a diverse place to live, work and play, ranging from farm and ranch lands, to urban cities and beach areas. We want to be able to respond to any emergency and promote beach and boating safety. We now have the capability to respond to any of the unique areas of Flagler County.”
Flagler County has 85 square miles of water, which includes canals, Intracoastal waterway, salt marshes, Lake Diston, parts of Crescent Lake and 18.1 miles of ocean shoreline. Deputy Jeff Turner, a U.S. Navy reservist with more than 20 years of boating experience from both the Navy and the Sheriff’s Office, has been assigned to lead the unit. He has completed numerous boater safety courses through the state of Florida, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Navy. Turner is also PADI certified.