It’s sailfish season and sailfish tournament season, and the mouth of the St. Lucie Inlet is almost completely shoaled in. During day one of the Quickie Tournament, out of Finest Kind Marina, the 78-foot Big Easy ran aground and bent both propellers. Another boat bumped bottom.

Boaters should exercise extreme caution if they use the St. Lucie inlet. Seas will be at least four to six feet on Thursday, but are expected to drop into the two- to four-foot range Friday and over the weekend. Southeast winds will prevail through Sunday. On Monday, another front moves through and the wind clocks around and starts honking out of the northwest.

According to Martin County’s engineering department, inlet maintenance dredging will commence in January. The sand that’s clogging the inlet, which is natural beach sand, will be placed on beaches in the Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge. Beaches to the south are expected to benefit physically and biologically from the re-nourishment project.