Boat hits breakwall outside the marina last night...

[WTP07]

Formula offshore boat hits the break-wall outside our marina last night.

For the record, here is what they hit:

200m long, 5m wide, at least 3m high.

7 people on board, including 1 child, only minor injuries. Apparently alcohol wasn't a factor for the captain.

Here is the write up in the Windsor Star:

http://www.windsorstar.com/news/Boats+hits+Leamington+breakwall+escape/2975900/story.html

So when a thunderstorm wakes me up at 6:30 this morning, I see this coming into the marina:

My first reaction is "WTF is he towing?, and why is he towing it at such an ungodly hour?"

Then it dawns on me that it is the first 10 feet of a boat, upside down, being dragged behind the Rinker.

It gets caught up on the bottom. (About 6' deep where he is there)

Help arrives in the form of another go-fast:

The get it to the ramp, where it is later craned onto the trailer:

They pull it part way up the ramp, and let it drain out. For almost an hour.

I am sure we will get some more details in the days to come.

For the record, my distress alarm went off on my VHF at 1AM when it happened, and shared the living sh!& outta me and the kids. Jebus is that thing loud! By the time it went off though, help was already on-scene.

It will be interesting to hear the captain's story about what happened here.

 

[Hampton]

Thanks for posting the pics and story. Well done.

 

[tdschafer]

You should be a reporter!! That was a very well done expose'. Thanks for sharing!!! Todd

 

[Jackie J V]

Thanks for taking the time to put together this interesting post. What in the heck were 7 people doing out in a Formula at 1 am in April in Canada? I'd assume they must have been on plane if they hit it hard enough to sink the boat. It's incredible that someone wasn't killed.

Paul

 

[hemibird]

2 weeks ago this boat just finished fueling up. When the skipper started the boat it instantly exploded. The fuel dock employees pushed the boat into the open channel to burn. It took the local Sheriff Harbor Patrol over 10 minutes to get to the vessel. Distance from boat fire to Sheriffs Harbor Patrol office? 500 feet.

 

[hemibird]

fueling

 

[sprink56]

Thanks for taking the time to put together this interesting post. What in the heck were 7 people doing out in a Formula at 1 am in April in Canada? I'd assume they must have been on plane if they hit it hard enough to sink the boat. It's incredible that someone wasn't killed.

Paul

I'm guessing he overshot the harbor...turned hard to port in an attempt to correct and hit the breakwater ...flipping the boat. Thank goodness he rubbed off enough speed to minimize the impact or this would have been a tragedy with serious injury or death.

This guy needs to go to Mass and pray the Rosary thanking God for saving him from his mistake.:smt009

 

[AKBASSKING]

2 weeks ago this boat just finished fueling up. When the skipper started the boat it instantly exploded. The fuel dock employees pushed the boat into the open channel to burn. It took the local Sheriff Harbor Patrol over 10 minutes to get to the vessel. Distance from boat fire to Sheriffs Harbor Patrol office? 500 feet.

Sounds like he didn't run his blowers for at least 4 minutes.....:smt021

 

[daffydi]

A Leamington man is facing charges after a boat he was driving struck a breakwall and partially sunk early last month.
Douglas Mullen, 37, of Leamington was charged June 17 with careless operation of a vessel under the Canada Shipping Act.
The charges stem from a May 1 incident when a 32-foot Formula 31 pleasure boat hit a breakwall at Leamington Marina around 1 a.m.
Leamington firefighters pulled four men, two women and a child off the boat. They were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
OPP Const. Shawna Coulter said the delay between accident and arrest came while officers investigated, interviewing witnesses and taking statements from everyone aboard the boat.
Coulter said alcohol was suspected to have been consumed on board, but no alcohol-related charges have been laid.
Mullen will appear in court in Windsor July 26.

Read more: http://www.windsorstar.com/news/Boater+charged+crash/3204769/story.html#ixzz0s0sIFoOg
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