Proceeds support Eckerd College Search and Rescue team
ST. PETERSBURG, FL (Mar. 5, 2019) — Sailboats, kayaks, engines and more will be on sale during the 33rd Annual Marine Yard Sale from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, March 16, at the Eckerd College Waterfront Complex, 4200 54th Ave. S., St. Petersburg, Fla. Every dollar raised will go toward equipment, fuel and a new rescue boat for the Eckerd College Search and Rescue (EC-SAR) team, the only volunteer undergraduate maritime rescue group in the nation.
Organizers expect crowds in the thousands and early birds lined up before gates open to snag great deals. Items available for purchase are new and used. The Waterfront Program at Eckerd College recently replaced its fleet of sailboats and will be selling eight 1999 420 sailboats to yard-sale shoppers.
“Our boats, engines and kayaks are always really popular, but we’ve got some real treasures as well,” said Waterfront Program Director Renee Register ’83. “There are vintage nautical items that are considered antiques, such as a wind meter from the early 1900s, for sale too.”
Register said that last year’s sale raised $48,794 to support EC-SAR’s mission of training students and helping the Tampa Bay community. Students join the volunteer group and work in shifts around the clock answering distress calls from the area in coordination with local law enforcement agencies and the U.S. Coast Guard. More than 500 distress calls were answered by EC-SAR in 2018.
To arrange sneak previews of the sale items on the evening of Friday, March 15, or in the early morning on Saturday, March 16, please contact Robbyn Mitchell Hopewell at hopewerm@eckerd.edu.