Andy Kersting Passed March 5th
Andy Kersting came to our boat shows in St. Pete for years, and after hour events for a long time. Andy would say “Bob and Jody are family to me and I love and have to go to see them”.
For many years he sold the raffle tickets for our raffles and his arm length grew each time.
The last few years, he worked in the booth showing people how the “Hook & Moor” worked .
Andrew Kersting slipped his lines and sailed on March 5, 2026, at his home in Punta Gorda, Florida. He was 78, and after a long scrap with illness, he finally dropped anchor for good.
Andy was about as Florida as it gets—arrived at just two weeks old and never looked back. Grew up under that Gulf Coast sun, went through Bishop Barry High back in the early ‘60s, then did what a lot of tough, restless young men did in those days—joined the Navy in ’65. Vietnam came calling, and Andy answered aboard the USS Stormes. Different world back then. Different kind of grit.
When he came home, he didn’t slow down. Picked up a guitar and rode the wave with a band called “The Wild Thing,” drifting through the music scene for a while, chasing that rhythm. Later, he traded in stage lights for a badge and became a Deputy Sheriff in Hillsborough County. That chapter meant a lot to him—real boots-on-the-ground stuff, helping folks when it counted. The kind of work you don’t brag about, but carry with you.
After that, Andy kept moving with the tide—running nights at waterfront restaurants, including what folks now know as Cass Cay, and later down in Marathon. But the job that really lit him up? Taking people out on the water.
Running dolphin tours out of Cape Coral with Banana Bay Tour Company, Andy was in his element—sun overhead, salt air in his lungs, and a boat full of strangers who didn’t stay strangers for long. He knew the dolphins, the birds, the rhythms of the water—and he loved sharing it. That’s where he met Denise, too. One of those right-place, right-time kind of stories. They got ten good years together, and by all accounts, they made them count.
Andy was the kind of guy who’d give you the shirt off his back, crack a joke just when you needed it, and maybe teach you something along the way without making a big deal of it. He loved nature, loved people, and had a knack for making a day just a little better.
He leaves behind his wife Denise, and his brothers Richard, James, and Robert. He was preceded in death by his parents and his stepbrother Michael.
Andy Kersting lived a full, sun-soaked, salt-tinged life. The kind that leaves a wake behind it. And yeah—he’s gonna be missed.
God Speed Andy!