Accidents of the Week - March 9, 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 4 Boaters in Galveston Bay

2/24/24 – Houston, TX

The Coast Guard rescued four people from their overturned vessel near the Texas City Dike in Galveston Bay, Texas, on 24 February.

Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston watchstanders received a report from a Texas City Police Department dispatcher at 3:30 p.m. stating a vessel was taking on water with four people aboard. Watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast and diverted

Coast Guard Station Galveston 45-foot Response Boat–Medium and 29-foot Response Boat–Small crews to respond.

Texas City Fire Department personnel located the vessel and directed the Coast Guard crews to its position. At 3:45 p.m., the RB–S crew arrived on scene and discovered that the skiff had capsized. The boat crew approached, embarked the boaters, and safely transferred them to emergency medical services personnel waiting on shore.

Body of Missing Boater Pulled from Miami River

2/27/24 – Miami, FL

A body pulled from the Miami River on 27 February was that of a missing boater, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

The PWC reported that 35-year-old Abraham Mgowano from Berkeley, California, was on a 44-foot cabin cruiser with 12 other passengers and the captain on the afternoon of 24 February when he fell overboard. Officers with the FWC, Miami-Dade Police, and Miami Fire Rescue searched the area but were unable to find him.

On 27 February, Mgowano's body was found floating near NW 2nd Street.

Missing Kayaker Found Dead in Narragansett Bay

2/25/24 – Barrington, RI

A kayaker was found dead on 25 February in the waters of Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay, near Barrington Town Beach.

Barrington Police found the body of the kayaker at 9:29 p.m. about five feet from the shore, according to Michael Healey of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM).

Police said they had been looking for Timothy Chant, a 60-year-old resident of Warwick, Rhode Island, who was last seen launching his boat from Conimicut Point in Warwick around noon on 25 February. Healey said the DEM took a 911 call at 5:13 p.m. Sunday from the Warwick Marine Task Force concerning a missing kayaker.

Multiple other agencies responded, as rescue crews conducted shoreline and water searches in Hyde Hole throughout the evening, using boats and a helicopter in the search effort. Healey said a kayak, determined to belong to the missing person, was found partly submerged about 30 feet offshore at the Barrington Beach at 6:43 p.m.

Local news crews observed officials retrieving a kayak from the water near Rhode Island Country Club on Barrington Beach around 7 p.m. A family member of the victim called the victim’s phone using a find-your-phone app, and first responders were able to coordinate the ping from that call to the exact location where the victim was found, Healey explained. Officials confirmed the kayaker dead on-scene.

Victim Reportedly Wearing Heavy Clothes

Healey said weather conditions that night were very breezy and waters were choppy between Conimicut and Rumstick Point in Barrington. Water temperatures were in the high-30s, low-40s, Healey added, saying the victim was wearing a life jacket but also heavy clothes.

Warwick police had notified the family of the death but were yet to officially identify the victim.

Paddleboarder Found Dead Identified as Missing Florida Doctor

2/23/24 – Pinellas Co., FL

The body of a missing 49-year-old Florida doctor who disappeared while paddleboarding on 23 February was recovered.

The Sheriff’s Office in Pinellas County, Florida, said in a press statement on 25 February that deputies assigned to the Dive Unit and Marine Unit found the body of Ziad Abdeen north of the Dunedin Marina in the Intracoastal Waterway.

Abdeen was reported missing to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office on 23 February when relatives became concerned that he hadn't returned, authorities said. His family searched for him in parts of Pinellas County, where he was known to have started paddleboarding. They located his vehicle in the Dunedin Boat Club’s parking lot, the sheriff’s office added.

Authorities said that upon arriving at the boat club on 24 February, deputies learned that Abdeen’s vehicle had entered the parking lot the previous afternoon. They said that Abdeen’s paddleboard was discovered under a dock at 2685 St. Joseph’s Drive in Dunedin.

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit, Dive Team, and Flight Unit were involved in the search, along with the Coast Guard and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “He was last seen on 23 February between 11 a.m. and noon on an inflatable blue and white paddleboard, wearing dark shorts and a light blue t-shirt, near Dunedin Marina,” the Coast Guard said in its initial news release.

The agency said a coworker shared that Abdeen "was stranded on an island and was going to try to make it back at 1:30 p.m." It was the last message anyone received. Around 3 p.m., authorities received a 911 call reporting that his paddleboard had washed ashore.

Missing Boater Found Dead on Tennessee Lake Identified

2/26/24 – Hamilton Co., TN

A man found dead on 26 February in Chickamauga Lake, Tennessee, was identified as Phil Acord, 78, who according to a news release from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, became the first boater to die in Tennessee this year.

Acord reportedly fell overboard around 12:30 p.m. on 26 February into 53-degree waters without a life jacket, the wildlife agency said. He had been fishing with a friend, according to the release. The water depth in that area, near the Ware Branch boat ramp on Thatch Road in northern Hamilton County, varies between 10 and 15 feet, according to the release.

Responders from the state agency and Hamilton County Sheriff's Office used remote-operated vehicles and a tow-fish sonar to search for Acord's body, sheriff's spokesperson Matt Lea said in a text. Acord was found around 5:30 p.m.

Hamilton County's emergency management agency and the Dallas Bay Volunteer Fire Department also assisted in the search, while state wildlife officials were set to investigate the death.

Coast Guard Rescues Man in Water Off Florida Keys

2/25/24 – Miami, FL

The Coast Guard rescued a man in the water early morning on 25 February, near Wisteria anchorage in the Florida Keys. The man fell into the water while attempting to board his dinghy from his sailboat when the dinghy capsized.

Fireman Nicholas Leek, aboard the moored Coast Guard Cutter Thetis, heard someone cry out for help in the water around 2 a.m. Leek contacted Coast Guard Sector Key West who issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast and launched a crew from Coast Guard Station Key West to rescue the man.

Coast Guard Urges Mariners to Use PFD, EPIRB, Whistle

The man was found clinging to a rope connected from his sailboat to the dinghy. Upon being rescued, he stated he had been calling for help for an hour. The man was transferred to awaiting EMS in stable condition and taken to Lower Keys Medical Center.

“Due to the vigilance of Fireman Leek and his keen hearing, we were able to successfully rescue the mariner,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Alek LaMour, a U.S. Coast Guard Sector Key West watchstander. “This is a great reminder that as the warmer months roll in, mariners should maintain boating safety precautions. Wear lifejackets, keep an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon onboard, and carry a secondary noise-making device such as a whistle to call for help.”