On Mother’s Day 2021, Tollie Sterling and a group friends rented a pontoon boat for a day at Crab Island.

The group had intended to pick up a pizza at a local restaurant on the way out. It wasn’t until they had found the perfect spot, dropped anchor, and let the kids jump in the water, that they realized they had forgot to stop and get the pizza.

“We didn’t want the hassle of getting everyone back on the boat and motoring all the way back to the restaurant, so I thought I’d just have it delivered,” said Sterling. “But after searching Google for 30 minutes, I realized that there was, in fact, no hot food delivery to the water.”

That’s when Sterling says she decided to make a go of it and start her shore-to-boat food delivery service.

“After 15 years of bartending, all I wanted was a job where I work daylight hours so that I could spend more time with my 6-year-old son every night,” she said. “If I could make this business idea happen, he could even come work with me!”

Sterling says she spent last Summer running into every roadblock that you could imagine and making every mistake there was to make. Not only was she was shut down for not having proper permits or equipment, she was told by others that what she was trying to do just wasn’t possible.

By mid-summer, she had depleted her savings, was borrowing money to pay rent, and was thinking it was soon going to be time to walk away and find herself another bar job.

Then…she found her groove!

By the end of August, she was making 50-100 deliveries a day.

“Many of the local boat captains knew me as ‘pizza girl’,” she said. “My son was with me every day, learning about money, how to drive our little boat, and finishing up in time to buy himself a snow cone and eat dinner together.”

Sterling wrapped up her season on Labor Day weekend.

“I was able to take a bit of time off after that, and really think about what we had done, and what we could do,” she added. “And so, Shore-Dash was born.”

Now, Sterling works with 4 local restaurants to deliver everything from pizza and wings, to fried shrimp baskets and tacos, to boiled crawfish and peel and eat shrimp, and even ice.

Participating restaurants include:

• Destin Seafood
• Gilligan’s Seafood
• Fatboys JuicyBeefTastyBird
• Landsharks Pizza and Wings

Shore-Dash delivers to Crab Island.

Here’s how it works

Each restaurant offers select items from their menus to ensure a timely delivery. Sterling says they may also have other items from different locations available on a day-by-day basis.

Once you’re ready to complete your order, you will be asked to describe your boat at checkout. This will include the boat color, FL numbers on the side, and where you are in relation to any visible landmarks.

• Once your order is complete, Shore-Dash will call you upon receiving your order to confirm your location. Sterling says that within 45-55 minutes, lunch will be delivered.

This year, Sterling and her partner, Bryan Garcia, are currently operating with two boats with the goal of having an additional two jet-skis by July 4th.

“My hope is not just to make money, but to be a part of this community,” said Sterling. “To be a positive addition to the businesses around me, to serve my local members and visiting guests alike, and provide them with a service that can make their wonderful time in Destin, even better!”

Shore-Dash delivery times are 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM, with the last order being taken at 4:30 PM, 7 days a week. There is a $25 delivery fee. Click here to learn more.