Deadly collision splits Sea Ray in two

b_arrington

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Feb 21, 2007
3,469
Setauket, NY
Boat Info
Back Cove 37
AB Ventus 9VL
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Cummins QSC 8.3 600
This happened yesterday afternoon in the south shore of Long Island.

https://abc7ny.com/amp/long-island-boating-accident-freeport-nassau-county/6347793/

https://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/freeport-boat-crash-1.47625133

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I don’t have a lot of details and no first hand knowledge. Reports include amputations as well. People in scene said a other boat went through this one at a high rate of speed - while in 5 mph zone. Jet skiers came to render aid.

There has been a bunch of people on a Facebook group I read saying that the south shore boating volume has been way up this year as it’s a madhouse every weekend. Reports are that there are a lot more incidents and that law enforcement is simply overwhelmed. Speculation is there are a lot of new boaters this year that don’t know what they are doing, or don’t care.

This is a terrible loss. Be careful out there.
 
Brad,
I’ve saw this on the news this morning and I was anchored in Hemlock Cove when the other accident happened a few weeks ago close enough to see emergency response boats on scene. I’ve been boating on the South Shore for close to 20 years and weekends are always crowded on the waters but this year it seems that there is a definite increase including many new boaters. I never assume any boaters around me are going to follow navigation rules and drive more defensively than ever.
Stay safe!
 
Yup you beat me to the punch I was going to post about this today as well ,
This is practically in my boating backyard just a few coves over . My kids run the zodiac in that area as well. it’s been downright dangerous this summer on the South Shore all JetSki dealers are sold out many new boaters driving around without a clue. My wife just commented this morning about how often I’ve been using the horn this summer . This is a terrible tragedy, and an avoidable one . There have been posses of Jetske‘s as large is 20 deep wreaking havoc on the south shore my son was in a tight channel a week ago going head to head with a 35 foot cruiser that was putting out a monster bow wake when that posse came up behind him and practically boxed him in forcing him to take that bow wake head on and almost lost control of the dinghy.
 
Yup you beat me to the punch I was going to post about this today as well ,
This is practically in my boating backyard just a few coves over . My kids run the zodiac in that area as well. it’s been downright dangerous this summer on the South Shore all JetSki dealers are sold out many new boaters driving around without a clue. My wife just commented this morning about how often I’ve been using the horn this summer . This is a terrible tragedy, and an avoidable one . There have been posses of Jetske‘s as large is 20 deep wreaking havoc on the south shore my son was in a tight channel a week ago going head to head with a 35 foot cruiser that was putting out a monster bow wake when that posse came up behind him and practically boxed him in forcing him to take that bow wake head on and almost lost control of the dinghy.
Forgot to mention the volume of Jetskis getting too close to boats and jumping wakes. They take the boating course but you can’t reach common sense
 
I think you should be mandated to have a safety course before you can register ANY vessel in ANY state this way it covers used boats as well. It’s mandatory in NY now for operating a vessel but if they add the reg clause it may increase safety numbers.
 
In broad daylight too , the operator that caused it ,if he/she survived should be executed immediatly
 
In broad daylight too , the operator that caused it ,if he/she survived should be executed immediatly
The other deadly accident here a few weeks ago was in the daylight (mid afternoon) as well. Total recklessness IMO.
 
I boat on a large lake where almost no one has even heard of the rules of the road. The most basic concepts like passing port to port are unknown. This summer has been a free for all. There have been numerous drownings where inexperienced boaters/swimmers without PFDs are jumping into the water and not coming back up. Seems like this happens almost every weekend.

A couple of years ago I was cruising in the center channel middle of the lake at 15 knots. Suddenly this huge noise overtook us as a 35' cruiser blasted passed 25' off my port side going at least 30 knots. He gets 100' feet in front then turns to starboard and crosses in front of me. Scared the sh*t out of me as I didn't hear him coming. As soon as I collected my wits I dropped the throttles hoping to catch up and get his registration numbers or something more. The wife started freaking and after a few minutes I calmed down and decided I didn't want to ruin my weekend.

Last weekend we were anchored in a cove when a 20' something bow rider comes in and drops the anchor. Immediately a guy jumps off the bow into the water. He swims around for 15 minutes or so then starts to make his way to the stern. The captain is sitting in the bow. I am watching this as the captain never turn off his engines. When it became clear the swimmer was going to board with the engines running I hit a couple of signals on the air horn and yelled over your engines are running. He looks at me for 30 seconds like I insulted his fat ass, says nothing then turns off the engines.

I see this nonsense every weekend and it surprises there are not more serious injuries or perhaps there are many that go unreported.
 
Wow. I have seen a few instances of stupidity or proof of rookies. Saw one a few weeks ago with younger kids sitting on the back of an outboard boat with their feet hanging in the water beside the engine. Also have had a few instances where boats were coming towards me. I move to my starboard and they go they same direction forcing me to pass on their starboard. No close calls as speeds were reasonable and had plenty of room but just haven't seen it happen as much as it has this year.
 
Very sad but common enough. The very similar accident I saw here last summer also took place in a no wake zone only at night. The small aluminum boat looked like a shark ate it.

It has always surprised me that a license isn’t required to operate a boat. Things like this make it clear that rule needs another look.
 
I don’t understand how the boat came apart in two pieces, everything from the Rubrail up is gone
Joey, it appears the boat that t-boned the SR was running on plane and likely the SR, if it was moving at all, was at hull speed. That would have put the bow pulpit of the dark boat just about the height of the SR's bow rail. Because the dark boat was on plane it would have simply ridden up and over and through the SR, taking everything with it as the drive gear cut its way through the SR. The dark boat then continued on completely across the SR, dragging all the parts with it.

Here are a few pics of my 330 Sundancer that got hit one night by a Bayliner 29' cabin cruiser boat. We were drifting (as probably this SR was) and he was on plane. His boat rode all the way up out of the water onto my boat then his momentum pushed my boat out from underneath him and he splashed down into the water. His bow pulpit was beneath my bow rail and caught the railing as he went over the top of my boat. When it did, it ripped the top deck from port to starboard.

Here's what it did to the interior....
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It's hard to see in the photo but that is his bottom paint scraped onto one of my stanchions as he went up and over the top of my boat.
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Here's where the top deck ripped from port to stbd.
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We were very lucky. Had it hit us where the cockpit was all three of us on board likely would have been killed. That was NOT a fun end to what had been an enjoyable cruise.
 
Joey, it appears the boat that t-boned the SR was running on plane and likely the SR, if it was moving at all, was at hull speed. That would have put the bow pulpit of the dark boat just about the height of the SR's bow rail. Because the dark boat was on plane it would have simply ridden up and over and through the SR, taking everything with it as the drive gear cut its way through the SR. The dark boat then continued on completely across the SR, dragging all the parts with it.

Here are a few pics of my 330 Sundancer that got hit one night by a Bayliner 29' cabin cruiser boat. We were drifting (as probably this SR was) and he was on plane. His boat rode all the way up out of the water onto my boat then his momentum pushed my boat out from underneath him and he splashed down into the water. His bow pulpit was beneath my bow rail and caught the railing as he went over the top of my boat. When it did, it ripped the top deck from port to starboard.

Here's what it did to the interior....
View attachment 89557 View attachment 89558
It's hard to see in the photo but that is his bottom paint scraped onto one of my stanchions as he went up and over the top of my boat. View attachment 89559
Here's where the top deck ripped from port to stbd.
View attachment 89560 View attachment 89561 View attachment 89562

We were very lucky. Had it hit us where the cockpit was all three of us on board likely would have been killed. That was NOT a fun end to what had been an enjoyable cruise.
Wow!!! That’s crazy!! Your very lucky
 
It’s been wild down here on the south shore this summer. Lots more boats out there and many more apparently inexperienced boaters.
You can usually see people doing stupid stuff on weekends during a regular summer, but this year it’s all over the place.
I’ve see lots of scary anchoring attempts and some pretty crazy maneuvers out there this summer.
My dock neighbor called me one evening last week to let me know a guy hit my boat which was tied up at my dock. New guy on the canal with a little 16’ boat turning in the canal and he hits my boat when trying to avoid another boat that was heading towards him. Luckily there doesn’t seem to be any damage other than a 6” scrape in my vinyl boot stripe.
The dock neighbor that called me described it as a real shit show with one inexperienced boater making a turn in front of another inexperienced boater.
I spoke to the guy the next day. He was very apologetic and seems like a really nice guy. Luckily nobody got hurt.
We were in a local anchorage yesterday. An overloaded boat, maybe a 30 or 32 footer, comes in and makes some comical but cringeworthy attempts at anchoring. He finally gets it to catch, then when he leaves a while later he has the bow loaded with people sitting with their feet dangling under the bow rails and three more people sitting on the platform with their legs dangling in the water as he is pulling out.
Another guy comes in on a larger boat making some good headway, throws the motors in reverse, drops the anchor while he is backing down hard. His anchor caught, but it seemed kind of an overly aggressive way to go about it. Can’t imagine those transmissions making it to Labor Day.
Saw two boats with portable generators on the swim platforms while I was heading out for the day too.
My daughter was on her boyfriends boat in a small raft up when an inexperienced boater got his prop tangled in their anchor line. Luckily the boater was able to unwrap it and there was no damage to the line.
We pulled in to that same local anchorage last Sunday and left before dropping the hook. That was the first time I can remember in approximately 35 years (I’ve known the place) that it was crowded and crazy enough in there that I didn’t feel comfortable dropping the hook.
 
The other deadly accident here a few weeks ago was in the daylight (mid afternoon) as well. Total recklessness IMO.

That accident is a head scratcher for me.
I know the guy who was running the whaler in that one. He’s from my town and we have some mutual friends.
Our sons are the same age and were in some classes and some extra curricular activities together when they were growing up.
Now that the boys are older, I haven’t really seen him in a few years.
I do know enough about him to know that he is actually a skilled Captain with decades of experience operating boats of all sizes. I think his other boat is a 42’ Post. At least that’s what it was a few years ago.
He meticulously maintains his stuff and I haven’t ever heard anything about him being a big drinker so I can’t imagine mechanical failure or alcohol being contributing factors.
 

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