Accidents of the Week

Accidents of the Week - August 3, 2024

Accidents, Boat Wrecks, MOB, Crew Save, USCG, Sailors Stranded, Left at Sea

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.

Boats Heavily Damaged in Florida Keys Marina Fire

7/22/24 – Key West, FL

Accidents of the week, Boat Fire, Grounding, USCG, Drowinings, Rescue Efforts

Two boats were heavily damaged in a marina fire on Stock Island, in the Florida Keys.

A couple of boats were swept by fire in the Florida Keys on 22 July.

Monroe County Fire Rescue responded to a boat fire at the Stock Island Yacht Club and Marina on the night of 22 July. Officials worked for several hours to keep the flames from spreading.

The boats involved suffered heavy damage as a result of the fire, but no injuries were reported. The cause of the blaze remained under investigation.

Coast Guard, Police Rescue Two from Overturned Vessel

7/20/24 – Sarasota, FL

Accidents of the week, Boat Fire, Grounding, USCG, Drowinings, Rescue Efforts

A Coast Guard crew from Florida’s Station Cortez rescued two sailors whose Hobie Cat had overturned.

Two individuals were rescued from an overturned Hobie Cat on 20 July by the crew of United States Coast Guard Station Cortez off Sarasota, Florida. One person was loose in the water without a life jacket, while another was clinging to the capsized vessel.

The Coast Guard crew and members of the Sarasota Police Department worked together to rescue the two individuals, who were both safely brought to shore, along with the Hobie Cat.

Coast Guard Reminds Boaters to Use PFDs

No injuries were reported, and Station Cortez reminded boaters to wear life jackets when they went out on the water.

Woman Trapped After Boat Flips Over on Crabbing Trip

7/20/24 – Augustine Beach, DE

Accidents of the week, Boat Fire, Grounding, USCG, Drowinings, Rescue Efforts

First responders rescued a woman who was trapped under a boat after it took on water and flipped over.

A family from Delaware was thanking first responders for their quick action in saving a woman's life on 20 July.

The family had reportedly been crabbing just south of Augustine Beach when their crab lines tangled with the propellers. The winds shifted, the tide began to come in, and the boat started taking on water, the family said. It was too quick for Donna Wallace, who found herself trapped after the family's boat flipped over.

She said she was stuck for about 40 minutes. "I was underwater, there was a pocket of air inside the cabin, so I remained calm," Wallace told local news. "You know it's survival, you know, you have to do what you gotta do." Wallace said, thankfully, she could hear her husband talking, so she knew help was coming.

Rescue teams used a chainsaw to cut the boat and free Wallace, authorities said. Everyone was OK after the incident.

Boating Accident Victim Suffers Serious Head Trauma

7/22/24 – Chatham, MA

Accidents of the week, Boat Fire, Grounding, USCG, Drowinings, Rescue Efforts

A man reportedly suffering serious head trauma after a boating accident was airlifted to hospital.

The Coast Guard was looking for a boat taking on water south of Monomoy Island, off Chatham, Massachusetts, on the evening of 22 July.

After the souls onboard made it back to the Harbormaster docks, one patient –- described as a male, approximately age 30 -– was suffering from serious head trauma and was airlifted from Chatham Airport to Mass. General in Boston, sometime around midnight.

Another patient suffered lacerations and had possibly lost consciousness at one point. That patient was transported to Cape Cod Hospital by an ambulance providing mutual aid.

Woman Rescues 2 After Boat Explodes on Lake Michigan

7/23/24 – Waukegan, IL

Accidents of the week, Boat Fire, Grounding, USCG, Drowinings, Rescue Efforts

Two men suffered serious injuries when their 25-foot powerboat exploded on Lake Michigan.

Two men were saved from a burning boat on Lake Michigan when a woman from Sugar Grove, Illinois, jumped into action on 23 July.

Tonia Logan said she was out on the lake with family and friends on a pontoon boat when they heard an explosion. With no other boats on the water, she never second-guessed her decision to spring into action. "We knew we had to do something as soon as we saw the smoke because we knew there were people in there," Logan said.

Injured Men Pulled from Water Wearing PFDs

The Lake County Sheriff's Office said the power boat exploded around 3 p.m., seriously injuring two men and sending flames and smoke billowing into the sky. Logan said she knew they had to take action when they saw the heavily damaged boat, with no other vessels out on the water. The two boaters could be seen wearing life jackets in the water, away from their burning boat.

Logan said they loaded the injured boaters on the pontoon boat, and rushed them to Waukegan Harbor, where they met first responders. "It was very scary, but we know God put us there for a reason to help support them," Logan said. The story could have ended much differently had they not been on the water.

"Always help someone if you can, whatever we can do to help support others, and just love each other and help each other," Logan said. The Lake County Sheriff's office said the 46-year-old man from Washington and 55-year-old man from Franklin Park were taken to hospital in serious condition, with burns and smoke inhalation. The 25-foot fiberglass hull powerboat burned for about 90 minutes before sinking, the sheriff's office said.

Coast Guard Rescues 5 People, Dog from Grounded Boat

7/21/24 – Beaufort Co., SC

Accidents of the week, Boat Fire, Grounding, USCG, Drowinings, Rescue Efforts

A Coast Guard video showed the rescue of five people and a dog, all unharmed, from a grounded boat.

The United States Coast Guard rescued five people and a dog after their boat ran aground in Beaufort County, South Carolina, on 21 July.

A helicopter crew out of Air Station Savannah rescued the group after their 23-foot boat ran aground near Fripp Island, according to a statement released by the Coast Guard. The crew hoisted the people and dog into the helicopter and took them to Beaufort Executive Airport with no medical concerns.

Coast Guard, Fire Rescue Save Two from Florida Boat Blaze

7/25/24 – Miami, FL

Accidents of the week, Boat Fire, Grounding, USCG, Drowinings, Rescue Efforts

Footage shot by a Coast Guard aircrew showed the rescue of two people from a burning.

A small boat rescue crew from Coast Guard Cutter Bernard C. Webber and a crew from the Broward County Sheriff's Office rescued two people on 25 July, after their vessel caught fire 11 miles east of Dania Beach, Florida.

The small boat crew located two people on a life raft before bringing them aboard with no reported medical concerns. Coast Guard Sector Miami watchstanders received a report via channel 16 of a 41-foot cabin cruiser taking on water at approximately 1:25 p.m. Sector Miami watchstanders also launched Station Fort Lauderdale.

Coast Guard Stresses Importance of VHF Radio to Rescue

A Coast Guard Auxiliary aircrew also responded and provided overflight support to Sector Miami and boat crews on scene. Broward Sheriff’s Office Fire Rescue boat crews extinguished the vessel fire. The Coast Guard boat crew transferred the two survivors to Broward Sheriff's officers, who brought them ashore.

"This rescue emphasizes the importance of using a VHF radio on channel 16 if you are distress," said Petty Officer First Class Dustin Breeden, a Coast Guard Sector Miami watchstander. "Thanks to our prompt notification, we were able to get assets on scene and save lives." The owner was scheduled to make arrangements to salvage the vessel.

Breaching Whale Crashes onto Boat, Sends Fishermen into Water

7/23/24 – Eliot, ME

Accidents of the week, Boat Fire, Grounding, USCG, Drowinings, Rescue Efforts

A video showed the moment a breaching whale crashed onto a fishing boat and sent its occupants flying.

A breaching whale crashed into a boat on 23 July off Portsmouth Harbor, New Hampshire, capsizing it and sending two people into the water.

Video captured from another boat showed the whale smashing into the vessel. The Portsmouth-based Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation identified the whale in the video as a humpback whale.

Brothers Colin and Wyatt Yager, of Maine, said they were out fishing about a mile off the New Hampshire coast for the first time when the whale appeared. They said they saw it breach a couple of times, so Colin Yager pulled out his phone to try to catch it on camera. "I had my fishing rod right here, phone in my hand and just saw it go up, and was just lucky enough to be facing the right direction," he said.

They then watched as the whale smashed into the other fishing boat. "I saw it come up, and I was just like, 'Oh no, it's going to hit the boat!' and then it started to flip," Wyatt Yager said. The brothers came about and helped the other boaters out of the water.

The fishermen said they had seen the whale earlier and were staying on the far edge of the large group of fish to try to keep their distance. But by the time the whale was breaching out of the water, it was too late. "When I turned, the whale's head was already landing on the engine," said fisherman Greg Paquette. "So when I saw that, then all of a sudden, I look down, the boat is pitching up, the transom is going down into the water."

Fellow fisherman Ryland Kenney said the experience was surreal. "Everything seemed like in slow motion. It was really weird," he said. "Everyone was like, 'Oh, it was eight seconds. How'd you move so fast?' But it was almost slow motion, like a movie."

One of the fishermen was wearing a life jacket, the brothers noted, and that's something they plan to do from now on. The Coast Guard said the vessel was salvaged.