Accidents of the Week - November 18, 2023

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.

Sailboat Sinks off Outer Banks, Buried by Shifting Sands

11/2/23 – Outer Banks, NC

A 51-foot sailing sloop was left as nothing more than a mast sticking out of North Carolina’s Ocracoke Inlet after it fell victim to the treacherous Outer Banks currents.

“Sadly, the Graveyard of the Atlantic claims another vessel,” the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum wrote in a Facebook post on 7 November. “The shifting shoals have quickly covered the vessel with sand. Her mast and spreaders are all that remain to be seen.”

There were conflicting reports on when the boat had run aground, but the crew “made it safely to shore” without injuries, local news reported. The boat was identified as a WASA Atlantic 51 Sloop from Phillips Boatworks.

“The vessel was motoring southbound to Florida on the ocean side of Cape Hatteras and Ocracoke when they ran aground near Ocracoke Inlet after experiencing electrical and mechanical failures aboard,” the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum reported.

Sailboat Damaged by Flames in Lake Michigan Marina

11/5/23 – Racine, WI

A 47-foot sailboat caught fire early on Sunday, 5 November. The boat was docked in Lake Michigan’s Riverside Marina in Racine, Wisconsin.

The fire caused fire and smoke damage to the boat valued at $815,000. The Racine Fire Department responded to the marina around 6:15 a.m. for a report of a fully-involved fire aboard a sailboat. Firefighters found a 47-foot 2022 Dufour 470 sailboat with fire mostly extinguished in the cockpit. A news release reported that emergency crews had boarded the vessel and forced entry to the below-deck area to extinguish active fire in the aft port-side berth.

Bystander Applied Fire Extinguishers, Disconnected Power Lines

Racine officials said the fire extended to about half of the below-deck area and produced intense heat and smoke damage throughout the entire interior of the vessel. The fire was extinguished about 15 minutes into the incident. The exact cause of the fire had yet to be determined, although foul play was not suspected.

Nobody was hurt – and no other vessels or the Riverside Marina were damaged. Marina sources explained that a boater who was spending the night onboard at the marina had noticed flames in the cockpit at the left wheel of the affected sailboat. He called 911 and applied handheld fire extinguishers to the fire in the cockpit area before he disconnected shore power electric lines to the vessel.

Officials said the boater’s actions had kept the fire from growing and involving other nearby vessels in the water and those stored on-shore.

Police Officer Rescues Drowning Woman from Lake

11/5/23 – Lincoln, NE

A police officer in Lincoln, Nebraska, rescued a woman who capsized while kayaking in the town’s Holmes Lake on 5 November.

At approximately 6 p.m., people walking around Holmes Lake heard yelling. It was a woman screaming for help. She had tipped her kayak over and wasn’t wearing a life jacket. Lincoln Police were called, but it took a while before anyone arrived to help.

Officer Pierce Krouse was one of the first to the scene. He said it was hard to find the woman in the water. “It was pitch black, and the kayak was kind of a darker color, so it was super hard to see it,” Krouse said. “It kind of just looked like a stick floating.”

The woman had tipped over near the south shore and wasn’t able to get to safety. The current and winds kept pushing her farther out. By the time Krouse found her, she had been calling for help for about half an hour. Even though Lincoln Fire & Rescue (LFR) was on the way, Krouse jumped in.

“The whole point of the job is just to help people as much as possible,” he said. “And I don’t think I could have just stood on the shore and waited for LFR – the rescue team – to get here, knowing that she had been in there for so long.” She was about 20 to 30 yards from the shore, and Krouse swam out to save her. He said when he reached her, he grabbed her by the sweatshirt and laid her over the kayak to push them back to shore.

Krouse said he had never received any water rescue training, so he had to rely on instinct. He was able to get the woman out of the water safely, and she was treated by medics at the scene. “It was just a relief when she got there,” Krouse said. “She was a little bit shaken up, understandably. But thankfully, she was okay.” After the ordeal, Krouse went home, showered, changed into dry clothes and then went back to work as soon as he was cleared by the hospital.

Boat Sinks in Detroit River; Four Rescued, Treated for Hypothermia

11/2/23 – Detroit, MI

Four individuals were saved from the Detroit River, after a harrowing incident on Thursday 2 November. Their boat sank around 5:30 p.m. on the river’s east side while they were fishing.

Rescuers acted swiftly, pulling the victims from the frigid waters. Detroit Fire Chief James Harris stated that they had responded to a distress call about a sinking boat. On arrival, they found four adult males struggling in the water.

The victims received immediate care for hypothermia by EMTs and were reported stable. The cause of the boat’s sinking remained unclear despite witness accounts. Authorities were delving deeper into the incident.

Rescuers Search for Lost Kayakers in Waist-Deep Water

11/7/23 – Bradfordville, FL

A kayaking duo’s trip out on the water was unexpectedly extended when they got stranded in a Florida river, officials said.

Emergency responders received a call about a pair of kayakers lost at about 7:15 p.m. on 7 November on the Ochlockonee River, according to a social media post from Bradfordville Fire & Rescue. Rescuers from various local agencies responded to aid in the search around Iron Bridge Landing, where the pair was said to have been, officials said. The responders placed a boat in the water at first to search the area, but downed trees made it too difficult for them to navigate the river, officials said. Their rescue operation then shifted to a new mode of transportation: on foot.

Rescuers got off the boat and trudged through waist-deep water, “crisscrossing the river” to look for the pair, officials said. An hour later, responders realized the location they were searching may not have been accurate to where the lost kayakers actually were, according to the post.

While one group of responders waded through the river, others initiated sirens and called out to the missing people along the riverbank, according to the post. With the help of a helicopter flying over, the pair of kayakers was located a few miles north of where rescuers initially searched, officials said. The kayakers were beached on the sand of the river, according to officials.

Using a “giant tree” that was toppled over, rescuers crossed the river to reach the stranded kayakers, according to the post. After finding the two, they were checked for any injuries and given blankets and coats to warm up, officials said. They were transported across the river in their kayaks, where medical personnel with stretchers awaited them. The rescue operation ended around 2 a.m., the fire rescue said, and both kayakers were in stable health.

Boat Capsizes in Haulover Inlet, Passengers Rescued by Good Samaritans

11/11/23 – Miami, FL

Passengers from a small boat needed rescue after their vessel capsized in the middle of Haulover Inlet, near Bal Harbour, Florida.

Video footage posted online showed how strangers passing by were able to help the passengers to safety and have their boat towed back to shore. According to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, the incident happened shortly before 8:00 AM on the morning of 11 November and required the assistance of a tow boat, the U.S. Coast Guard, and a fire boat, which was later cancelled.

Fire Rescue officials did confirm that no injuries were reported to them and no one needed to be taken to a hospital. According to a caption of the online video on the incident, three people jumped into the water without life jackets.

Boat Goes Up in Flames in Los Angeles

11/11/23 – San Pedro, CA

A 50-foot boat in Los Angeles’ San Pedro Harbor went up in flames on the afternoon of 11 November, prompting a swift response from firefighters.

The fire was reported at 4:08 p.m. in Berth 85, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department, just off Harbor Boulevard between Fifth and Sixth streets, near the Los Angeles Maritime Museum.

It was unclear what had caused the fire, but firefighters had the flames out at 4:16 p.m., authorities said. One patient was evaluated for possible smoke inhalation.