Fatal boating accident in Jupiter Fl.

Odyssey

Active Member
Jan 8, 2007
1,346
Delray Beach Florida
Boat Info
44EB
Engines
CAT 3116
I saw this story for the first time yesterday and read today that the captain has died from injuries received when he fell off the bridge of his 51 foot Garlington sportfisherman in rough seas outside the Jupiter Inlet.

When looking at the still photos, take notice of photo #5. I have never seen a vessel like that in that position.

http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region...iter-charter-boat-captain-critical-after-fall

Randy
 
Wow, That is amazing - It does not look that bad till you see the boat rolling over.

LK
 
Holy crap! Did the wave he was riding in turn the boat sideways and throw him overboard? A following seas condition that went wrong? And thats a boat that is built for the ocean.
 
That is very strange. That boat can handle pretty rough seas but it looks like they got into the breakers without planning it out. Vary sad for the captain and his family.
 
That is deadly. It must have been a strong breaker. Hope the captain makes a full recovery. That was a tough fall.
 
Jupiter Inlet is one of the worst inlets around. Scared the crap out of me everytime we went through it.
 
Been through Jupiter Inlet many times. Have never been through it when rough and would probably think twice about it, especially now. I have gone through in calm seas and I guess any inlet is easy when the weather is calm. Sorry to hear about the captain.
 
Two men surrived the sinking in Lake Huron this past weekend. One swam 10 miles to shore the othe was save hanging on his cooler. 21 ft. boat 11-12 ft waves. Idiots.
 
Two men surrived the sinking in Lake Huron this past weekend. One swam 10 miles to shore the othe was save hanging on his cooler. 21 ft. boat 11-12 ft waves. Idiots.


Heard a blurb on the radio today, You have a news link by chance?

LK
 
for those interested, our local newspaper has put up what appears to be the entire sequence of pictures of the Waterdog event in their web site. I looks like the pics are in order too.

it is interesting that the boat looks to be overtaken by a wave from the starboard/aft quarter causing it to turn (maybe even bury the bow) and almost roll. Image #12 is unbelievable.

My understanding is that the Captain was very knowledgeable and had allot of experience in the Jupiter Inlet.

there are only 3 inlets I care to attempt in poor weather Miami, Port Everglades and Palm Beach. All others can be treacherous.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/pa...-henry-dies-20100907-pg,0,436840.photogallery

RB
 
It looks like he was surfing a wave and went over the top. Then the boat turned completely around after he went overboard and it looks like it passed over the area where he fell in. Those are some amazing photos. The ocean looks fairly calm while the waves in the inlet nearly swallowed his boat. I never would have imagined that a 50 footer could get that screwed up so fast.

56020284.jpg


56020303.jpg


56020614.jpg


My prayers go out to his family.
 
Here is an email from a boater friend who knows this inlet well.....

On an outgoing tide, the problem is that the inlet develops standing waves right at the mouth. In Waterdog’s case they look to be upwards of 8’.

Since these waves don’t move, you can’t run in on their backside like a normal inlet. Too much speed and not enough hull length will result in the bow going under on the frontside of the next roller.

Too little speed and the 10+ kt current that flows out on an outgoing tide will just have its way with your steering and you will get caught broadside in what is essentially a class 5 rapid on a whitewater river.

Friday was "calm" but the seas had a huge swell. I suspect the photographer was out there for the surfers at the inlet. On the way in, Waterdog had a swell break overtop one of these standing waves creating a massive trough (roughly the depth of the sport fish hull as seen in the pictures) and the boat went broadside. I am amazed that the boat righted itself.

Speed may have been able to help that boat but anything under 40’ probably would have capsized.

From day one, the only advice I was given about Jupiter inlet from captains that had been there forever was “No matter how calm the day is, make sure that if you run out of Jupiter inlet you have enough fuel to make it back in Palm Beach inlet” I have done this on more than a few occasions.


I wonder how many times this captain went in and out of this inlet. Must have been many.

Randy
 
Wow. A standing wave in the ocean. Being a Great Lakes boater I never would have dreamed such a thing could exist.

The key here is the outgoing tide allowing the standing wave to form. It's amazing there aren't constant boating accidents at inlets shaped like this one.
 
That is the reason they sell 'I survived Jupiter Inlet' t-shirts at many of the marinas, or at least they used to anyway. Beautiful inlet when calm, obviously not so when conditions such as this are in place.
 
How do you get to see the whole series?
 
I would have never imagined in my wildest dreams a boat that size could pitch that far and not capsize. I wonder if any of the passengers got hurt.

Jack
 

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