Sunday Favorites: Haunting the Shores of Anna Maria

A ghostly male figure, cloaked in black, has been seen sauntering up and down the Anna Maria shoreline and gazing out at the Gulf of Mexico. Did he die in a shipwreck? Was it a fire? No one knows for sure, but the apparition has been spotted near Coquina Beach for decades.

The figure in black has been seen by beachgoers at various locations from Long Boat Key Bridge to Three Piers Beach lurking in the tree line near the multi-use pathway, then sometimes walking down to the waterline and disappearing into the waves. Occasionally he is seen in broad daylight.

Whether this apparition is waiting for the return of someone or something we may never know, but here is my theory on where he came from and what it will take for him to leave this world behind.

The Regina was a cargo steamer built at the turn of the century to transport molasses between Florida, Cuba and other Caribbean nations. On March 8, 1940 the ship, then converted into a barge, was being towed by a tugboat from Cuba to Tampa with a large shipment of syrup on board when an afternoon storm hit, causing 12-foot seas, gale-force winds and freezing temperatures. The tow lines gave way in the windy conditions and Regina broke loose around Egmont Key, drifting toward Anna Maria Island, according to the Florida Division of Historical Resources.

The tanker ran aground off the coast of Three Piers Beach and began to crack and break apart as waves violently struck the hull. A crew of eight was petrified, but opted to stay with the ship because of the deplorable conditions and freezing temperatures. Only 200 yards from shore, they took shelter in crew quarters, waiting nervously as water spilled into the hull, filling the bilge to shoulder depth. From the portholes, they could see fires set on the beach by residents hoping to help guide them to shore.

At 1:00 a.m., a land-based rescue team attempted to shoot a line-throwing gun at the vessel to rescue the men, but both times the rope fell short.

The crew was trapped overnight, but daylight brought new hope of rescue. A U.S. Coast Guard seaplane flew over the boat despite turbulent conditions, dropping lifejackets and other supplies. Everything they dropped, save one lifejacket, washed back to shore.

Finally, feeling as if it was his only hope, one of the crewmen jumped ship. His German Shepard dog followed him into the water and the crowd on the beach watched in horror as he disappeared in the choppy conditions only 100 meters from shore.

A rescue dinghy with lifejackets braved the waves and made it to the tanker just in time, attaching a line that was also secured to the shore just as the tanker capsized. The remaining crewman held onto the line to get to land. Brave residents linked hands on the beach and into the water so swimmers could latch on when they could not go any further. Volunteers provided black blankets to prevent the crewman from catching hypothermia.

The body of the drowned crewman, who turned out to be the cook, was discovered the next day.

I believe the ghostly figure who haunts the beach, cuddled up in a black cloak that he never received in this life, is in fact the cook constantly looking for his German Shepard who never made it to shore.