Accidents of the Week - October 14, 2023

Wave Sinks Speedboat on C&D Canal, Boaters Rescued

10/1/23 – Chesapeake City, MD

A busy stretch of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal was shut down to vessel traffic on 1 and 2 October, after a speedboat was overcome by a wave, broke into pieces, and sank. In the overnight hours of the morning on 3 October, towboat operators hauled up multiple pieces of wreckage from the boat.

The incident occurred just before noon on 1 October near Schaefer’s Canal House in Chesapeake City, Maryland. Natural Resources Police (NRP) reported that a 26-foot Baja go-

fast boat had taken on a large wave, which quickly sank the vessel. “The exact cause is still under investigation but preliminary findings indicate sea state was the cause,” NRP Sergeant Ken Layman declared.

Boaters Rescued by Good Samaritans

The area of the canal around Schaefer’s Canal House is a no-wake zone, but was busy on Sunday, a warm and sunny first day of October. Thankfully, both people on board the boat survived and were rescued by good samaritans on the water. They were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The Coast Guard issued a Hazard to Navigation notice closing the C&D Canal to all traffic due to the submerged pleasure craft in the center of the channel, “sitting on the bottom with the bow sticking up to about 13 feet.” They marked the wreckage as an isolated danger.

Around 3 a.m. on 3 October, Towboat US Chesapeake City went out to the scene to remove the wreckage. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and a Northstar Marine salvage crew worked alongside Towboat US through the night to remove the wrecked boat. “Due to the complexity of the situation, we had to bring in a barge and crane to pick the vessel up. Unfortunately, it was severely damaged due to the impact and environment. It was removed in two pieces,” the towboat company shared in a social media post.

Police continued to investigate the sinking.

Coast Guard Crew Saves Sinking Boat in Vermont

10/2/23 – Mallets Bay, VT

A two-man crew from the U.S. Coast Guard in Burlington, Vermont, helped salvage a 40-foot boat that was rapidly sinking into Lake Champlain’s Mallets Bay on 2 October.

According to a Facebook post from the Coast Guard Station Burlington, the crew responded to a call and found the vessel’s bow submerged and “taking on a large amount of water up forward.” The post said the boat’s engine room was overflowing and there was four feet of water in the cabin. “The situation didn’t look good.”

The two men, in a 29-foot Coast Guard response boat, passed over a dewatering pump then “expertly and swiftly began raising the bow of the boat.” Not long after, a commercial salvage company arrived on the scene and were able to temporarily plug the hole in the bow, which was then towed to a nearby marina and hauled out.

Coast Guard Reminds Boaters to Watch Out for Debris

“Twenty minutes later and this boat could have been at the bottom of Mallets Bay,” the Coast Guard said in the post. “Stay safe out there, folks. The captain of the damaged boat told the Guardsmen that he may have struck a log, “but was unsure.” The Coast Guard advised boaters that, “As the weather cools and fewer boats start taking to the water, we remind everyone to wear the proper PPE and always have a lookout to make sure you don’t hit any floating debris or logs.”

Two Men Found Dead in St. Croix River

10/3/23 – Hudson, WI

The bodies of two men were recovered from the St. Croix River near Hudson, Wisconsin, on the evening of 3 October, hours after a witness reported seeing a boat circling with no one inside.

According to the St. Croix Sheriff's Office, a witness reported seeing a fishing boat going in circles at around 9:35 a.m. near Troy Beach. The witness also said they saw a body near the boat floating in the water. When deputies arrived on scene they found the 18-foot Smokercraft had stopped after apparently running out of gas. The sheriff's office says the water in that area is approximately 30 to 40 feet deep.

The first body was discovered just before 12:15 p.m. by the Washington County Dive Team, which was assisting the St. Croix County Sheriff's Office in rescue efforts. Sheriff's officials said the body of a second victim was recovered just before 6 p.m. The authorities held off on releasing the names of the two men until the families had been notified and autopsies completed.

Two Boats Totaled in Florida Marina Fire

10/4/23 – Gulfport, FL

Firefighters responded to a boat fire at the Pasadena Yacht and Country Club in Gulfport, Florida, on the afternoon of 4 October. Helicopter footage showed one of the boats at the dock going up in flames with smoke visible, and the fire spreading to another boat.

Gulfport Police Department dispatched officers, emergency crews, and firefighters to the scene at around 17:00 hours, but despite their best efforts, two boats were totaled and sank, while two more on either side of the fire were damaged.

The cause of the fire was reported to have started in the battery compartment of a 13-meter flybridge cruiser. No one was reported injured in the fire.

Kayaker’s Body Found in South Carolina Lake

10/7/23 – Oconee Co., SC

A kayaker who died over the weekend of 7 and 8 October when his kayak overturned in Lake Jocassee was identified, according to County Coroner Karl Addis of Oconee County, South Carolina. Addis said Joshua A. Morales, 23, of Auburn, Georgia, had died as a result of an accidental drowning. He said Morales' body was found at about 1:15 p.m. on 9 October by South Carolina Department of Natural Resources divers in approximately 46 feet of water.

Oconee County Emergency Services Director Scott Krein confirmed that the body had been found by dive crews at approximately 1:30 p.m. in Lake Jocassee. Krein had earlier explained that there were two people in the kayak when it overturned from strong winds at around 6 p.m. on 7 October. A woman and a dog were rescued and sent to the hospital for hypothermia.

“We had two people that got caught in the wind storm that came through and capsized their kayak, multiple kayaks actually," Krein said Saturday. "We have retrieved one and some of their equipment but we are still in the process of looking for the other victim at this time.”

Coast Guard Rescues 8, Including Child, Clinging to Overturned Boat

10/7/23 – Horn Island, MS

Eight people, including a child, were rescued by Coast Guard crews after the boat in which they were riding capsized on 7 October near Horn Island, off the Mississippi coast.

Shortly before 10 a.m., Coast Guard Station Pascagoula was notified by the Jackson County (Miss.) Sheriff’s Office of a boat sinking near the island, and a 45-foot response boat with a medium crew was launched. About 15 minutes later, an HC-44 Ocean Sentry aircrew from Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile, which was involved in a training exercise, located the capsized boat and reported seeing eight people holding on to the overturned vessel.

Child, Not Adults, Using PFD

The response boat arrived on scene and rescued the seven adults and one child. They were taken back to Coast Guard Station Pascagoula and transported to a local medical facility. No

significant injuries were reported. The Coast Guard noted that only the child was wearing a life jacket when the rescue boat arrived.