Accidents of the Week - April 13, 2024
BoatTEST publishes “Accidents of the Week” as a public service for our VIP Subscribers to acquaint them with potential boating dangers and by inference their prevention.
Coast Guard Rescues Boaters Stranded on Island
4/1/24 - Burlington, VT
Two stranded boaters were rescued by the Coast Guard after their boat began to sink and was washed up on the shore of one of the Four Brothers Islands in Lake Champlain, between Vermont and New York State, on the evening of 1 April.
The Coast Guard Station in Burlington, Vermont, got a call around 6 p.m. saying a boat with two people on board had taken on water and was on the shore of one of the small islands.
The station sent a 45-foot-long response boat with an inflatable life raft through rough conditions.
According to a press release from the Coast Guard, the rescue crew experienced 28-knot winds, equal to about 32 mph, and 3 to 4-foot waves. Coast Guard officials explained that the response boat couldn’t get close enough to the rocky shoreline to reach the stranded boaters, but an inflatable lifeboat was able to perform the rescue.
Neither of the rescued boaters was injured.
Multiple People Rescued After Airboat Flips in Everglades
3/29/24 – Miami, FL
Multiple people were rescued from the waters of the Florida Everglades in far western Miami-Dade County on the afternoon of 29 March, after an airboat flipped over.
It happened south of the Tamiami Trail, about five miles west of Miami’s Krome Avenue. Video from local news reports showed multiple people being taken away from the boat on other airboats, while Miami-Dade police and fire rescue crews, along with U.S. park rangers and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) converged at Coopertown Airboats, which owns the airboat.
Several passengers told local reporters that the captain was trying to maneuver the airboat to get a better look at an alligator in the water and possibly turned too fast, flipping on its side. “(The) boat just flipped on its side and we’re all in the water,” a passenger said. “I was screaming, because the alligator’s right there. Luckily, no one was hurt badly. A couple of scratches here and there — an accident. Things happen.”
Ten people were believed to be aboard the vessel. According to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, one person was assessed for injuries but was not taken to the hospital. There were no reports of additional injuries.
“My first thought was panic, I was afraid for my wife and family members, and then I thought about the alligator,” said passenger Jose Maldonado. Passengers said they were left stranded for between 10 and 15 minutes. “We tried to flip the boat over but it was just too heavy,” said Maldonado.
Boat Operator Arrested Without License, Safety Course
After the crash, FWC officers and U.S. park rangers were seen leading a man, wearing a shirt similar to those worn by Coopertown employees, into a pickup truck in handcuffs, then taken away. Officials later confirmed that the man in question was the operator of the airboat, and that he was subsequently arrested “for having neither proof of completion of a boating safety course nor a captain’s license issued by the United States Coast Guard.” The man’s identity was not released.
It was believed that between 20 and 40 gallons of fuel had spilled into the water after the airboat tipped over.
Captains with Biscayne Bay Pilots Rescue Man Stranded at Sea
4/3/24 – Miami, FL
Good Samaritans raced to the rescue of a man who spent hours stranded at sea off Miami Beach after his boat flipped over.
Cellphone video captured the moment when Captains Bronson Stubbs and Michael Rivero from Biscayne Bay Pilots spotted the victim on the morning of 3 April. “How you doin’, buddy? Woooo! That’s a lucky day there,” one of the captains was heard saying.
It was a lucky morning for this boater, after a very rough previous night. “There’s your raft,” one of the captains was heard saying as he threw a flotation device to the man, who had spent hours stranded in the Atlantic, miles away from shore. “He had gone out last night. I think his boat sank about 2 o’clock in the morning, he said,” said Stubbs. “We found him at 8:30, so I guess he’d been in the water six and a half hours.”
Thankfully, Stubbs and Rivero were out on the water. “Come swim over here, man. We’ll get you up the stern,” one of the captains was heard telling the victim. Stubbs said they were out doing their job. “To navigate to ships in and out safely, dock the ships and make sure the commerce keeps flowing safely — cruise ships, container ships,” said Stubbs.
Large Ship Informed Pilot Captains of Man Spotted Adrift
The captains were guiding a foreign ship into PortMiami when they received a distress call from someone aboard that big vessel, because of a man spotted miles out in the Atlantic, separated from his sinking boat. “They saw a man overboard. They saw someone in the water,” said Stubbs. “His boat was about half a mile from where he was. The boat was just still barely floating,” said Rivero. “He was hanging onto something. We don’t know exactly what it was,” said Stubbs. But thanks to these good Samaritans and their life preserver, this stranded boater was pulled to safety and onto their Pilot boat.
The boater had been alone fishing on the night of 2 April when his boat overturned. Fortunately, he was not injured.
Fire Crews Assist in Rescue After Jet Ski Distress Call
3/30/24 – Haddam, CT
A distress call reported a jet ski in trouble in the area of Haddam Meadows in Haddam, Connecticut, on 30 March, shortly after 12:15 p.m.
The East Haddam Fire Department received a dispatch from Valley Shore Communications for mutual aid to Haddam for a marine rescue operation on the Connecticut River. The Haddam Fire Department’s marine unit responded to the scene and additional marine units from Chester Hose and East Haddam Fire were sent to remain with the submerged jet ski.
The driver of the watercraft was rescued soon after.
1 Dead, 1 Hospitalized after Kayaking Incident in Colorado Reservoir
3/30/24 – Jefferson Co., CO
The body of a man in his thirties was recovered from Colorado’s Chatfield Reservoir on the night of 30 March, agencies confirmed the following morning. The man originally went missing in a kayaking incident in the Jefferson County-area of the reservoir with a fellow kayaker that evening.
South Metro Fire Rescue had earlier confirmed on social media that it responded to two kayakers on the west side of the reservoir after receiving a call for a water rescue. One person made it to the shore early in the response and was taken to the hospital in serious condition, according to fire rescue sources.
Jefferson County Sheriff's Office (JCSO) also confirmed that Douglas County Sheriff's Office and Colorado Parks & Wildlife (CPW) were involved in the rescue operation during the initial response. Just after 10:30 p.m. on 30 March, JCSO shared on social media that the search for the victim had turned into a recovery operation rather than a rescue.
The following morning, CPW confirmed that its Marine Evidence Recovery Team had found the body of the missing kayaker overnight, while JCSO confirmed that it would investigate the circumstances of the kayaker's death. The identity of the victim was not immediately released.
Couple Walking Dog Help Save Teenagers After Canoe Capsizes
3/31/24 – Colchester, VT
Two teenagers were rescued from Colchester Pond in Colchester, Vermont, after their canoe capsized on the evening of 31 March.
Colchester police said a couple walking their dog along a trail heard the teenagers screaming for help. After seeing the two teens in the water, the couple called 911 at around 6:30 p.m. The couple then guided them to shore and provided their dry clothes to treat symptoms of hypothermia.
Officials said that moments later, two police officers and a retired firefighter found the teenagers about a mile from the parking lot on the north side of the pond. The officers and retired firefighter continued providing care to treat the teens' hypothermia symptoms. Shortly after, more supplies were provided by rescue and fire personnel.
Rescue teams and emergency responders from Colchester Fire, Colchester Technical Rescue, Colchester Rescue, Essex Rescue, and Milton Rescue were all on the scene to assist. According to officials, Colchester Technical Rescue brought the teenagers back to a staging location on two boats. They were then brought to UVM Medical Center, where they were reported to be in stable condition.
Boaters Rescued by U.S. Coast Guard in North Carolina
3/31/24 – Beaufort, NC
A crew of boaters were happy to be on dry land after having to be rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard.
They were rescued on the night of 31 March when their vessel ran aground near Beaufort, North Carolina, with Coast Guard sources saying that the rescuers had faced three-foot seas and 38-knot winds.
The men were not hurt and were soon reunited with their families.
Maryland Boat Fire Damages Pier, 3 Boats
4/2/24 – Glen Burnie, MD
Firefighters battled flames at a marina in Glen Burnie, Maryland, on 2 April in the rain. Three boats suffered damage in the blaze, including a motor yacht that was totally engulfed.
The events occurred at around 11:15 a.m. on Tuesday 2 April at Hand Brothers Marina, on Maryland’s Nabbs Creek. The Anne Arundel County Fire Department reported that someone had seen a large powerboat boat docked at the marina on fire and called 911.
Anne Arundel County fire crews and a Baltimore City Fire boat responded to fight the fire from the land and the water. Anne Arundel County Fire Department spokesperson Lt. Jennifer Mcallair reported that at least two other boats and the pier had been damaged as a result of the fire, but that no one was on the boat when fire crews arrived.
Pet Dies in Blaze
Nevertheless, the boat owner did lose her home, according to the marina. And her pet did not make it. Hand Brothers Marina posted on Facebook, “Today hasn’t been the best day for sure,” explaining that a marina resident had “lost her boat and her pet Skipper due to a fire.”
The marina added in the post that an investigation would be carried out into the cause of this tragedy.