Fatal accident on Buzzards Bay

[Mike]

To JVISS

I wasn't blaming anyone! Do you even know what direction these boats were going in? I can’t figure this out with-out knowing all the info. I thought I read somewhere that both boats were headed north, I also know for a fact Reasons home port is Gloucester which is north of the scene. So my point is, why crucify anyone with-out knowing the facts unless you’re just a Stinkboat hater? In your mind the sailor is always right and the power boater is always wrong. We as power boat skippers have to be so much more capable than any blowboater would ever have to be, you chuckleheads make all your decisions at 4 knots. I make most of my decisions at 30 knots. I run my boat up and down the coast and out to the continental shelf, last time I saw a blowboat out there, it was empty, no body aboard. It broke free from its mooring and drifted out to see for days. I towed that blowboat all the way from Hudson canyon to Montauk, NY. It took us 18 Hours; I never even got a thank you! Now I’m upset, I mean/meant absolutely no disrespect to Mr. Walsh or Mr. Hathaway, they both seem like great guys. Stop the ignorant posts and wait for the answers before you stick your foot in your mouth.

 

[jviss]

Mike

You are obviously just here to bash folks. Some things in life are obvious. Open and shut case. Cut and dried.

Running up on the transom of another boat is one such case, obviously the fault and responsibility of the vessel overtaking. The sail/power thing is a red herring! It doesn't matter if the boat run over was sail or power; it could just as well have been a 30' powerboat run down.

The rest of your note is nonsense.

 

[Timo42]

I am going to call troll on this one

And while I like a game of whackatroll as much as the next guy, in this instance it's just disrespectful. Take it somewhere else. Tim

 

[Mike]

To JVISS

Ok - answer my question then - What direction was each boat heading?
Simple question - do you for a fact have an answer? I doubt it
If the boats were going in opposite directions (which would make more sense to me judging by the damage and the fact that if Reasons was over taking Priority a stern then why didn't they end up on top of her?) it would appear that the Priority and the Reasons may have been on a close to intersecting course, maybe at the last minute someone change course and actually turned into the other boat. You just don't know so shut the F up you little tool!

 

[Mike]

No Bashing Here

PS - Who did i bash anyway?

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

ignorance isn't a virtue guys

this isn't an acceptable behavior here

 

[Brian D]

I find it interesting that some are in fact...

pointing the finger at power boaters in general. I read Mike's posts and was offended and then I started to realize, it wasn't to be taken seriously. At least not all of it. It was rather sardonically presented, almost to the point of how sailors talk about power boaters.

In some points, Mike is correct. The water ways are to be shared. Yes, there are rules to be obeyed. Educated boaters (both power and sail) understand these rules and obey them. Some boaters (power and sail) think they are above the rules. When one looks at open water, one thinks there is plenty of room. However, in my neck of the woods, I have to remain in the channels because the water outside these channels is too shallow for my boat.

This is a sad and tragic event and more than likely could have been avoided. But we do not have all the facts and with that, should not be judgmental. Hopefully the CG will investigate and post their findings. Then we can look at those findings and only then can we talk intelligently.

My 2¢.

 

[jviss]

Facts

We do have many of the facts. My friend saw the sailboat after the crash, on the same day. Wrecked from astern. This is not a case of "Gee, either party could be at fault," when you have on vessel running up on another vessel form behind doing 15 Kt.

Gee, you're standing on your heads trying to make this a case that could go either way.

And, at the end of the day, the sailboat was the stand-on vessel regardless of whether you like sailboats or not!

 

[CharlieCobra]

I love the powerboat mentality, supposedly from someone who's also a sailor?

Mike, any fool can point and shoot at 30 knots. Go out in light air from where ya wanna go, get there in a reasonable fashion on a sailboat and come back to tell me about skill. I won't resort to calling ya names but this is a sailing forum or has that particular fact escaped ya? As far as fault is concerned, I agree with letting the USCG do it's job. I fully suspect they'll do a better one that the Lake County folks did in CA.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

This has gone way too far

I ask that when you post on this tragedy that you please show respect to both families. These are two very respected people/families that have suffered a tragic loss, my heart and prayers go out to all affected by this sad event.

This also applies equally to the Bevin's Family, the owner of the power boat. Mr. Bevins is a licensed Captain and a life long boater. He is very well qualified as a skipper and has a reputation as very respectful of the other boats around him.

What some would describe as "fact" is purely supposition. For all we know, it could have been either a mechanical problem with his boat or he may have had a medical problem or a mechanical issue.

My intent isn't to debate a topic about which NONE of us know anything.
Rather show some simple respect.

 

[Mike]

to JVISS

I guess I found the answer myself - Reasons WAS headed south, priority was heading home to the north. I find this article a very interesting read. Usually when I pass someone in an opposite direction I keep them on my port side. This article at minimum states that the boats were headed in opposite directions, it would appear that the Priority was cutting in front of the Reasons when struck. Why would the Priority choose this course? I know your all going to bash me for my "Theories" but to me it seems as though the Priority was enforcing his "Right of Way" and that either there was no look out on the Reasons or the person at the helm was to inexperienced to alter course when the Priority came across their bow, of course these are all assumptions and even if I am correct, as the rules state, even the right of way boat has to do all it can to avoid a collision. This is such a tragedy, this never should have happened, it almost seems as though no one on either boat was paying attention as far as I’m concerned. Hopefully both vessels GPS Units recorded the course and we would then at least know who did what when. Sorry for all the conjecture, I am trying to sort this out myself. I know Mr. Bevin’s and know him to be a very capable skipper. Everything I have read would tell me that Mr. Walsh was even more qualified. How is it that 2 very qualified captains ended up in the very same place that fateful day? What a nightmare for all involved. Once again please do not take any of my comments as an accusation of guilt toward anyone. I honestly mean no disrespect. I need to know what happened, I need to discuss it with my peers and I need to do whatever I can to make sure something like this never happens to me or for that matter to anybody,


By Christina Styan
Staff Writer
July 23, 2008 8:25 AM
DARTMOUTH — Friday, July 18 was an incredibly beautiful day for two close friends, D.J. Walsh and Warren Hathaway, to be sailing "Priority" on Buzzards Bay. The two men were enjoying their first sail of the season aboard Mr. Walsh's 35-foot Freedom sloop, with a gentle 13-knot breeze and good visibility, making it a comfortable sail back to Padanaram Harbor.

"When we were opposite Penikese Island, I had said to D.J. we needed to head for home to see a PawSox game," explained Mr. Hathaway. "He took the helm and I went down below to look at the cabin."

Around 1:45 p.m., Mr. Hathaway said he fiddled with the GPS, handed some sunscreen up to D.J. and listened to the gentle sound of the waves lapping against the hull. "It was wonderful, it is the best sound," he recalled.

Suddenly the unthinkable happened — a half-mile west of the Wilkes Ledge buoy and two miles due south of Round Hill, Reasons, a 60-foot powerboat on its way to Block Island, slammed into and slid over the stern of Priority, throwing Mr. Hathaway about the salon. "I was down below when the water came up to my knees," said Mr. Hathaway.

The collision also threw the 64-year-old Walsh overboard. Coast Guard dispatched to the scene of the collision later retrieved his body and transported him to New Bedford State Pier. The retired president of Teledyne Rodney Metals was pronounced dead at St. Luke's Hospital.

Mr. Hathaway, publisher emeritus of Hathaway Newspapers, now a part of the SouthCoast Media Group, escaped the flooded boat by breaking a window, and was treated at St. Luke's Hospital for cuts and bruises.

The Reasons and Priority were towed to Fairhaven Shipyard. On Saturday morning, the Priority was resting on boat stands while the Reasons hung in the travel lift. Mr. Hathaway had been at the shipyard Saturday morning to view the two boats and give a statement to accident investigators.

Detectives from the State Police, the District Attorney's Office and State Environmental Police were taking pictures and recording the damage.

Investigators believe the larger and heavier Sea Ray powerboat struck the smaller and far lighter sailboat on the right side approximately 10 feet forward of the stern, near the forward end of the cockpit. The 65,000-pound Sea Ray then likely forced the lighter 15,000 pound sailboat's stern underwater as it drove completely over the sailboat, crushing the cockpit and aft coach roof areas.

Both sides of the Sea Ray's bottom, out to about six feet from the keel, showed significant scraping and fiberglass residue from the sailboat's topside, as did the prop shafts and chipped and slightly bent props. The length of the fiberglass marks swirling around the prop shafts suggest the Sea Ray was operating at considerable speed as it passed over the sailboat.

Navigation rules dictate that a sailboat has the right-of-way over a powerboat.

As of deadline Tuesday, investigators had still not issued an official ruling as to the cause of the crash.

 

[Ross]

The last time that I checked, rear ending another

vehicle of whatever type is always the fault of the runner and never the fault of the runnee. Unless it can be demonstrated that the power boat signaled an intent to overtake and pass and the sail boat responded an approval. The runner was hands down at fault.

 

[Mike]

To Charlie

I must need to take a writing course because every time I write something someone takes it, twists it around and bashes me in the head with it. Charlie thanks for the Power Boat Mentality Insult, all I was saying is that a Power Boat going 30 Knots has to make decisions a lot quicker than someone that travels 3 - 5 knots. How can you twist this around? I make spilt second decisions constantly, a buoy, log, sea turtle or any other object low to the water comes at you quick at 30 knots and we make the decision on how and which way to alter course and speed on a regular basis giving us stinkboaters way more experience at it then you blowboaters. When was the last time you made a split second decision about altering your course? If you answer that with a positive response then you’re a moron because if something jumps up at you at 3 knots then you weren't paying attention. I never said it didn’t take skill to sail you stuck up sob, I told you in a previous post I have been sailing for 40 years! I thought as a fan of both sailing and power boating you might have actually thought I had something credible to add to this discussion, I guess I was wrong. I’ll go lift some weights and kick my dog and try to forget about this whole mess.
As far as this being a sailors forum, is that just white sailors or can black sailors chime in too?

 

[Mike]

To Ross

Ross, have you actually read anything about this? Read the article i posted earlier. No body ran up on anybody. Reasons ran over Priority from the side, these boat were going in different directions! Geez, do some research before you spout off! Please

 

[CharlieCobra]

Mike, I reckon it's the attitude ya write with.

Do ya even read what ya type? Yes I understand the need for quick thinking at high speed. Not only am I a "blowboater", I race an 8 second hot rod, used to race bikes, etc. I refrained from calling ya a moron earlier, obviously that didn't cull your need to insult my Mother by calling me something ya damned sure wouldn't say to my face, even in conversation, unless we were very good friends. As far as your question of "As far as this being a sailors forum, is that just white sailors or can black sailors chime in too?" Let me ask my wife.


Good thing you're on the right coast Bud. Don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya, I'm out.

 

[jackhartjr]

Mike...

...please tell me why you now make it racist???????
You would be better off stopping now...we already know you are quite daft!
Each post you make trying to defend the powerboat community makes you look pretty stupid!
A boat running 30 knots hitting anything is quite stupid...no matter what the credintials of the skipper!
I am not a fan of 'flaming' or pissing contests on the forums...however when someone says stupid things, I feel I should tell them!
Jack

 

[Brian D]

I recommend...

This thread be locked! It is getting nasty.

 

[CharlieCobra]

Yep, break out the old Master lock

It's past time and this time, I'm REALLY out of this thread.

 

[Ross]

Mike, Reasons crossed priority's quarter.

that is not a T-bone collision. There are no traffic signals out there and a twitch on the wheel would have been sufficient to make this a miss instead of a collision. We shall watch how it plays out but I haven't seen anything that would show that the sailboat could have gotten out of the path of the powerboat.

 

[Mike]

Blowboaters Unite

Your all right, i am a moron to think a blowboater would ever find fault with anyone or anything other than a stinkpot! Enjoy my wake, out!