Fatal accident on Buzzards Bay

[Timo42]

Lake county should have a theme song

For the way they have handled the case, maybe "The night the lights went out in Georgia" From what I have read, admittedly all from either supporters of Dinius or local media, they are railroading the guy to protect their own, the funny thing is there isn't anyone on the net defending the deputy, maybe because his actions were indefensible. Tim

 

[Ken]

So this "injustice" happens ...

.. countries in SE Asia ? Not in US I suppose.

 

[Benny]

This is a most unfortunate tragedy. Let it serve

to all of us as a reminder of the perils of faster moving traffic. You are ultimately responsible to yourself for your safety. How often do you scan the horizon? A fast travelling powerboat can come into visibility range and be upon you in less than 10 minutes. You have to consider that if you choose a route for some specific reason, like shortest way to a destination, that someone else may consider to travel the same route perhaps for the very same reason. Collision courses are not so random as we may like to think. I have thought of a few things that can be done for our own protection;
1) Whenever possible institute two person watches, one looking forward and the other to the back.
2) If possible add radar to your boat.
3) Make your boat more visible. At night have bright navigation lights and periodically shine a spotlight on your sails. Enhance your radar reflectivity.
4) Keep an air horn on the cockpit at hand.
5) A signaling mirror is a way of making your presence known during the day.
6) Take deliberate evasive action early.
7) Be aware of your position at all times regarding major shipping routes and channels.
8) Be aware of holidays and specific destinations which may enhance boat traffic.

I'm sure there are more suggestions out there.

Collisions at sea are not a rare ocurrence and are usually deadly.

 

[Sunbird]

Boat name was not Padanaram

Padanaram was the sailboat's home port, name was "PRIORITY" (I think?) Also, the powerboat's homeport WAS known, but the inept reporters that wrote the story for the New Bedford Standard Times (Cape Cod Times reprinted same article) didn't bother to look at the powerboat's transom where (as legally required on all Federally Documented boats) the homeport was clearly marked. The Sailboat's name was displayed on each side of the boat, near the stern, that is permitted, however the homeport (Padanaram, MA in this case) should have been displayed with the name on both sides of the boat. The reporters saw the homeport on the transom and assumed (incorrectly) that that was the boat's name.
The Navigation Rules, Inland were created to prevent this type of tragedy, but when rule #5 is obviously violated......(no look-out as required by the rules) I mean, how hard is it to see a 30' sailboat on a clear day at 1:30 PM? Yep, BROAD DAYLIGHT! Let us all remember to scan 360 degrees of thwe horizon as we sail, maybe 5 short blasts of the sailboat's horn might have woken up the operater of the powerboat! Actually, I heard a tape of the MAYDAY from the powerboat, he was too stupid to know what 5 blasts means!

 

[Tim R.]

Close calls

They only time I have ever had a close call was while sailing in Buzzards Bay. I have only sailed there 3 times. I have been sailing the Maine coast for nearly 10 years. Does the aggressive driving style of that area extend into the water?

 

[jviss]

TIm,

You wrote:

"Close calls
They only time I have ever had a close call was while sailing in Buzzards Bay. I have only sailed there 3 times. I have been sailing the Maine coast for nearly 10 years. Does the aggressive driving style of that area extend into the water?"

I think that's in poor taste, given the gravity of this incident. It's close to home for me, my deceased was a good friend's sponsor for the New Bedford Yacht Club. Padanaram is just up the Bay from my home port (and only 10 minutes by car).

Let's not forget a man was killed in this incident Friday.

 

[jviss]

Suggestion

Just a suggestion, I guess it's up to the community to decide: why don't we keep on topic (thread) just specifically for this incident, and start new threads to discuss other crash experiences, advice, law suits, and so it. This thread seems to me to have become a kind of thought-association thing, and it's tough to pick out the information folks have that are specific to this incident. I would prefer if it were "narrow." Just a suggestion.

 

[Tim R.]

Not meant as a joke Jviss

I am truly sorry for this tragedy and appologise for anyone who took offense.

Jviss Wrote

"It's close to home for me, my deceased was a good friend's sponsor for the New Bedford Yacht Club. Padanaram is just up the Bay from my home port (and only 10 minutes by car)."

I have family who sail the area but this is close to home for any boater no matter where they live or sail.

 

[CalebD]

This incident is tragic and sad.

It is also a wake up call to all of us that sailors with many years of experience can be overcome by an over sized motor boat that is not being actively skippered. Yes, the details will come out as this makes its way through the courts but it seems evident that the motor boat was just not watching where he was going.
J.D. of Padanaram's life was sacrificed this time and Mr. Hathaway was just lucky he was down below and not knocked unconscious by the collision. J.D. will be sorely missed by those left behind.
Benny makes some very good points (as usual) to keep in mind when sailing in crowded waters. I just wonder how many more sailors will have to be lost like this before watch keeping (STCW) and licensing become the norm for all boaters (mind you I am not an advocate either pro or con).
Sad and tragic.

 

[Sunbird]

Further info

The collision occured near Wilkes Ledge, about 2 miles off Round Hill Point (the Hetty Greene Estate), the sailboat was a 35' FREEDOM named "PRIORITY". powerboat was from Gloucester, MA and was a 63' SEA RAY. I heard a recording of the MAYDAY call made by the operator of the powerboat, it did not inspire confidence in his seamanship skills, even given the expected panic he should feel for his incompetance.

 

[Chris Burti]

Hate to digress, but...

People read these posts and many take as them as gospel, so I feel compelled to correct a minor but significant error.

After commenting that the sailboats' home port was marked on the transom, Sunbird said: "The Sailboat's name was displayed on each side of the boat, near the stern, that is permitted,".

This is actually a technical violation of the documentation law that is simply not enforced.

From the Homeland Security documentation site:
"The name and hailing port of a recreational vessel must be marked together on some clearly visible exterior part of the hull."

I have determined that "together", according to the CG means, both on the transom, or both on a quarter, or both on the side. To avoid questions of interpretation when I marked our boat, I emailed the CG and they confirmed their position.

Mark your boat as you will, but know the right of it.

FWIW, I actually did contact the CG personally and this a true first person account and not some apocryphal " my friend told me" situation-CB

 

[Sunbird]

Clarification

When I said that having the vessel's name marked on the topsides near the stern was OK, I was implying that it was OK in that location provided that BOTH name and hailing port (including state abreviation) were in that location. This, as you found out, is a permissible alternative to displaying both name and hailing port on the transom. However, having the Name displayed on the sides of the hull and the home port on the transom is NOT OK, and I did not realize that I had implied that it was. I have 18 years of experience as a USCGAUX Vessel Examiner and Instructor, so I am well aware of the USCG requirements for Name and Hailing port display on Documented vessels. Again, I did not mean to imply in my previous post that it was aceptable to not display both Name and Hailing Port together on the same part of the hull.
If anything, I see your reply (or rebuttal? <grin!>) to my posting as backing up exactly what I said.
Actually, the way many boats are built today, the ONLY place to legally display the Name and Hailing Port may be on the hull sides, since on many of the new boats the hull/deck joint is close to the waterline at the stern, making the "transom" part of the deck, not the hull. I'm not sure how "picky" a USCG Boarding Officer would be on this matter, but I surely would not want to take a chance! I have even heard of State Officers stopping boats for a boarding when the dinghy on the transom obscured the name and port, to those officers the boat was "unregistered" and in fact they were correct.....technically! A friend of mine actually had the name of his boat displayed on both sides of the bow (in addition to the transom) for that very reason (he kept his dink on the transom platform).

 

[william]

Massive

For a privately owned powerboat, this boat was massive. Capable of holding over 1000 gallons of fuel. Displacing 54,000. Very scary and a top speed 32 knots could come upon any of us quickly with little time to react. Seems we're all aware of this, I just hope this story stays in the news long enough for other boaters to take notice.

 

[Chris Burti]

Apologies, Sunbird, .,you are precisely correct...

We are in total agreement and I apologise for my hasty first reading, the error was mine.

Fair winds,

 

[Mike]

Who to Blame?

?

 

[Mike]

Who to Blame?

First of all I want to pass my most sincere condolences along to Mr. Walsh’s family and friends. I am deeply saddened by this tragic event and in no way want my post to be misconstrued in such a way to show any disrespect to Mr. Walsh or anyone for that matter.

I am a power boater, I own one of the big mean powerful dangerous boats you blow boaters all seem to hold in contempt, and it is aptly named “Stinkpot”. You guys are always in the way, you force your right of way down our throats at every opportunity, and you give us “The Look” every time we come flying by you. C’mon, you know the look; you look at us like we have no right to be there, how dare we be with-in a 10 mile radius of you. But you know what, I have learned to deal with it, I know you’re going to be in the way because you’re counting on the wind to move your boat painfully slow instead of paying $5.00 a gallon for diesel fuel. I also know this means you’re a hazard to navigation. We have blow boats in our 100’ – 1000’ winding river sailing all the time, they go back and forth like the monkey in the donkey kong game. I have learned over my many years of reckless power boating to keep a sharp eye out for you guys. I have never hit a blow boat, I have been at anchor at the beach and have had many of you sail with-in inches of my boat, smile and then come back and do it again and again to the point where I want to break out a gaff and chuck it through your sail, but I don’t. I just sit there drinking my Acetone and eating chunks of coal enjoying the day.

Please, cut the crap – I have not heard 1 of you even for a second contemplate that the sailor was at fault here. Why? Because your all of the “Us against Them’ mentality. I have several friends that are blow boaters, I have sailed for over 40 years and I love it. I have also been power boating for years and love that as well. I am not going to condemn either skipper right now, I understand how this accident looks, but who knows for sure what happened. Mr. Hathaway states he was a sleep! Mrs. Bevin’s says she wasn’t even on the boat! Your comments are dangerous and fairly ignorant in my book. Both boats had GPS; I firmly believe that when both GPS’s are charted out, we will all get a clear picture as to what really took place. But until then I am going to go on praying that somehow the Walsh family and the Bevin’s family can find some peace. I can’t imagine the pain and suffering both families are feeling right now. Next time you see me coming please just be happy that you SEE me coming, if I am looking at you, I will be able to get clear of you even as you intentionally try to T-Bone me. I love and respect the ocean and for those who work or play on it and yes that goes for blow boaters as well. Respectfully Capt. Stinkpot

 

[william]

Ok, I'll contemplate

So, let's say both sailboat operators were sleeping, and "the reason" got "the look" from the sailboat crew, and the sailboat was a hazard to navigation and Mrs. Bevins wasn't even on the boat and the sailboat was going back and forth like the monkey in the donkey kong game. The sailboat (sailing) still is the stand-on vessel and the power boat is still responsible to give-way.(especially when overtaking) I'll await the results of the investigation, but I will respectively disagree with your believing the sailboat might be at fault.

 

[tommays]

Racing for example

We race in Northport Bay with starts of over 40 boats , I can see how this would be a bit of a powerboat Nightmare in a tight area


BUT i gotta say everybody keeps respect for each other and i cant see this happing unless there was no watch on the powerboat


Tommays

 

[jviss]

Who's at fault?

Mike of Cape Ann, if you for a moment doubt that the powerboat that ran into the transom of a sailboat in broad daylight at full speed could possibly be NOT at fault, then you are mentally ill.

 

[Mike]

To Will

Will - I asked that my post not be taken out of context and that's exactly what you did. I was sarcastically trying to state just what you said in your last sentence. Let's wait and see what the investigation reveals. Why has everyone here already tried and convicted the power boat operator with-out knowing all the facts?
Do you read anything into the USCG/Investigators letting Mr Bevens take his boat out of New Bedford yesterday afternoon?