10-20-12 ROCK ISLAND, IL Canton man identified in fatal Mississippi River boat accident pjstar.com (10-21-12) A Fulton Co. man who died after a boating accident on the Mississippi Sat. morning has been identified. Thomas Trainer, 42, of Canton died Sat. after a small boat carrying a hunting party of 7 struck an anchored buoy, Rock Island Co. Coroner Brian Gustafson said. One other passenger, a 50-y/o Iowa man, also died in the accident, and 4 others were transported to an Iowa City hosp. in serious condition, the coroner said. Autopsies are scheduled for Mon. (10-22). The accident occurred on the Mississippi between Muscatine, Iowa, and Illinois City shortly after 6 a.m. The group was traveling to a duck blind on the opening day of hunting season. Illinois DNR conservation officers continue to investigate the accident, and expect to release more information later this week, an Illinois State Police representative said.
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10-19-12 YORK COUNTY, VA Man dies trying to swim back to boat wavy.com (10-21-12) A Gloucester man died after trying to swim back to a boat after spending several hours at a bar on shore.
Virginia Marine Police spokesman John Bull said 30-y/o John Haywood of Hayes decided to swim to shore from a boat on the York River Friday night. Haywood spent 4 or 5 hrs. at a bar near the Coleman Bridge before attempting to swim back to the boat. Two of Haywood's friends on the boat noticed him facedown and unresponsive in the water around 2:30 a.m. They pulled him aboard and realized he had no pulse. His friends called 911, and medics met them at a local marina. Medics took him to a local hosp. where doctors pronounced him dead around 3:30 a.m. The body has been taken to the Medical Examiner's Office to determine the exact cause of death.
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10-21-12 MARBLEHEAD, MA Beverly Fire Department Extinguishes Marblehead Boat Fire beverly.patch.com (10-21-12) The Beverly FD Marine 1 fire boat quickly extinguished a vessel that burned in Marblehead Harbor Sun. afternoon. (10-21). At 1:57 p.m., Marblehead firefighters, the Marblehead Harbormaster and the Beverly FD’s fire boat responded to a reported boat fire in Marblehead Harbor. The boat that burned was a 20-ft. open-top boat and there were no reported injuries, according to a representative of the Beverly FD. The investigation into what caused the fire is ongoing, fire officials in Beverly said.
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10-20-12 DENVER, CO Searchers find capsized boat on lake near Leadville, no sign of missing man therepublic.com (10-21-12) Authorities say they have found a capsized boat on Turquoise Lake near Leadville, but the man believed to have been fishing from it is still missing. Anthony Pacheco left his home with his dog at about 8 a.m. Sat. (10-20), and his family reported him missing when he hadn't returned by 10 p.m. Lisa Burke, a spokeswoman for the Lake Co. Sheriff's Office, says it was very windy on the lake Sat. A dive team is searching the lake, but the operation is still considered a rescue attempt. The dog has been found alive.
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10-21-12 SANTA ROSA COUNTY, FL Hurlburt airman killed in boating accident identified nwfdailynews.com (10-21-12) A 20-y/o Hurlburt airman was found dead Sun. morning (10-21) following a boating accident near the Santa Rosa Sound. Colby Siegel’s body was found less than 30 yds. from the marker his boat struck several hours before, which caused Siegel and the 2 other men on the vessel to be thrown off, according to Stan Kirkland, spokesman with the Florida FWC. The exact cause of death is still under investigation. Siegel and 2 other men, 19-y/o Taylor Wimberly and 23-y/o Derek Richards, went out late Sat. (10-20) for a fishing trip and were headed back around 3 a.m. when they hit Marker 41 near the Sound. Siegel was initially reported missing until his body was recovered at 7:44 a.m. near Cedars, according to Michele Nicholson, spokeswoman with the Okaloosa Co. Sheriff’s Office. Siegel was married and resided in Fort Walton Beach. Nicholson said one of the men swam to shore to call for help. He was spotted on Miracle Strip Parkway at 3:13 a.m. attempting to flag down a vehicle. The USCG, Okaloosa Co. Sheriff's Office dive unit and the FWC responded to the incident. Wimberly and Richards did not suffer life-threatening injuries. Kirkland said the 15-ft. boat, which grounded itself after the accident, was registered to Siegel, but he was not operating the vessel at the time of the crash. The accident is under investigation by the FWC.
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10-20-12 SOUTHWEST RANCHES, FL Boaters found after air boat capsizes wsvn.com (10-20-12) Two men were saved in the swamp after their air boat capsized. BSO set out on an all day search for the men that started at 11:45 Sat. morning (10-20). The driver of the boat called home telling his wife he had overturned his airboat at Holiday Park in Southwest Ranches. Hours later, he never came home and she never heard from him, so she called police. "Yeah, flipped it over," said Joe McKenna. "That's what happened. Went too fast and turned." "The main thing is everybody is safe," said Ryan Fisher, who was also on the boat. "We're all back here and everything's good." BSO search efforts found the 2 men just before 4 p.m. They stood on top of the sinking boat to keep out of the water. Both men were dehydrated but are OK.
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10-22-12 SANTA CRUZ, CA Harbor Patrol: Sailboat retrieved after breaking loose, slamming into Santa Cruz wharf mercurynews.com (10-22-12) Harbor Patrol officials retrieved an unoccupied 28-ft. sailboat that broke its mooring during a storm Mon. morning (10-22) and was being battered against the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, Senior Deputy Harbormaster Don Kinnamon said. Harbor Patrol was called to help about 10:30 a.m. after the boat, Showdown, became loose in heavy onshore winds and rough seas after the boat's new owner, David Greenberg of Santa Cruz, dropped anchor and left it near the wharf.
The sea was so rough that it was difficult getting the patrol boat out of the harbor. When the Harbor Patrol arrived at the wharf, a wharf crew was in a smaller boat trying to pull the sailboat away. Harbor Patrol officials threw out a line and towed Lowdown out about a mile to wait out the worst of the storm.
They were able to make it back into the harbor about 1 p.m., and tied up the sailboat there. It had sustained mast damage.
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10-19-12 PLUM ISLAND, MA Sailboat crew rescued off Plum Island newburyportnews.com (10-20-12) A pair of sailboat crewmen were rescued Fri. night (10-19) when their boat went aground off Plum Island. Steve Dombrowski of Dracut was fishing in the Parker River Wildlife Refuge at around 5:30 p.m. Fri. night when he noticed a sailboat coming very close to the beach. The sea was rough, with waves of 5-7 ft. in height, if not larger, he said. "I knew it was just a matter of time before they hit the shore," he said.
The boat went aground off the beach at a remote spot between parking lots 1 and 2. But fortunately, Dombrowski is among the relatively few people who has federal permit to bring his 4-wheel-drive vehicle onto the beach for overnight fishing and camping. He called for emergency help, and stayed with the 2 men, whom he said were in their 60s, until Newbury emergency workers arrived. The crewmen were OK, Dombrowski said. They were taking the boat from Maine to Florida. Their names and addresses were not immediately available. At the time of the accident, the tide was going out -- it was about t3 hrs. after high tide. The area where the accident occurred is known locally to have shallow sand shoals. The men were transported off the beach by Dombrowski, who was still out at the beach Sat. morning (10-20) along with local tow boat services. As of 10 a.m., tow boat services were trying to determine how to pull the sailboat off the beach. The tide was low, and although it had not suffered any major damage, it had been pushed up the beach by the high surf. There was a heavy fog over the beach, as high humidity and unseasonably warm temperatures hovered over the cooling ocean waters.
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10-19-12 JACKSON COUNTY, MS Woman drowns after falling off houseboat in Jackson County sunherald.com (10-19-12) A woman drowned Fri. (10-19) after falling off of a houseboat in the Franklin Creek of Jackson Co., Cororner Vicki Broadus said. Broadus said the accident occurred at about 4:30 Fri. morning. She said the cause of death was drowning and the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
The woman's name was not immediately available.
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10-21-12 CHESTERFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI Fire destroys four boats at Macomb County marina freep.com (10-21-12) A man trying to protect his boat from winter weather inadvertently sparked a fire that destroyed his watercraft and 3 others in dry dock at a Chesterfield Township marina. The Sun. afternoon (10-21) fire caused an estimated $250,000 in damage to the boats, which were in a dry storage area at the Anchor Bay Marina at Jefferson and Riverpoint, said Chesterfield Township Fire Capt. Richard Schroeder. Firefighters were called to the scene just after 1 p.m. “It looks like one of the boat owners was shrink wrapping, covering it up for the winter, and they used a propane torch for shrinking the plastic that goes over it,” Schroeder said. “He was on a spot too long, apparently, and it melted down and went inside the boat. He kept on going, didn’t notice it. The next thing he knew, the boat was on fire.”
No one was injured. The 4 boats ranged in length from 30 to 37 ft.. He said they were all a total loss. It took firefighters about an hour to get the blaze under control. Along with water, firefighters sprayed the flames with foam that was supplied by the nearby Selfridge Air National Guard Base.
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10-21-12 ANCHORAGE, AK Young Boy Saves Two Hunters in Prince William Sound ktuu.com (10-21-12) An 11-y/o boy, Beck, saved 2 hunters, his father and uncle, who had flipped over in their canoe while trying to retrieve a wounded duck near Harrison Lagoon in the Prince William Sound. Beck was ashore when he saw the canoe flip over, losing sight of the 2 hunters. He immediately made a satellite phone call for help. The hunters attempted to swim towards their cabin, but the tides pushed them in the opposite direction. The 2 men were exposed to the elements for more than 2 hrs. before being rescued by Lazy Otter Charters and the USCG. Officials say both men were severely hypothermic. They were treated by medics and transported by ambulance to an Anchorage hospital.
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10-21-12 EGMONT KEY, FL Three rescued from swamped boat in Gulf nbc-2.com (10-22-12) Three people were rescued from a 25-ft. boat that was taking on water 10 mi. W. of Egmont Key, near St. Petersburg, Sun. evening (10-21-12). The USCG got a call via radio at 8:01 p.m. that the occupants of the boat needed help. A CG vessel, FWC boat and a crew from Eckerd Search and Rescue all got to the scene and safely removed all 3 from the stricken boat. No one was injured, and the CG said that the boaters were well-prepared in the event of an emergency. "All 3 people were wearing lifejackets, and they had a marine band radio, flares and flashlights aboard the vessel," said Petty Officer 1st Class Josh Chears-Stevens, an operations unit controller at the sector. "Having this safety equipment aboard, greatly aided in responding to them quickly before the situation deteriorated." The CG says efforts to get the water out of the boat were not successful, so the owner is working on a plan to salvage the vessel.
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10-18-12 NAPA RIVER, CA Boat capsizes in Napa River napavalleyregister.com (10-19-12) Two men suffered no injuries Thur. (10-18) after their boat capsized in the Napa River S. Cuttings Wharf’s boat launch, according to CalFire and American Canyon fire. The USCG contacted American Canyon Fire at 5:53 p.m. regarding a capsized boat near the Brazos Bridge, Fire Chief Glen Weeks said Fri. (10-19). American Canyon Fire was ready to deploy its boat into the river near the end of Green Island Road when CalFire said the occupants were safely out of the water, according to CalFire and American Canyon FD. American Canyon fire was released at 6:33 p.m. A passing boat picked the 2 men up and brought them to the boat launch at Cuttings Wharf. The men sustained no injuries, CalFire said. Napa Fire also deployed its boat with a swimmer in it from Kennedy Park.
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10-19-12 WANDO RIVER, SC Boaters tossed from boat in Wando River accident postandcourier.com (10-19-12) Four boaters were rescued after their bass boat hit a navigational aid and they were tossed into the Wando River near Drum Island early Fri. morning (10-19). One of the boaters swam to shore, where the boat ended up, and used the vessel’s marine radio to call for help, the USCG said. Three of them swam to a channel marker and held on to wait for assistance. The CG responded to ther distress call at about 12:30 a.m. and took them to the Remley’s Point public boat landing. The boaters were identified as McGuire Keenan, 25, of Columbia; Andrew Yarborough, 25, of Walterboro; Elise Mayberry, 19, of Walterboro; and Wayne Taylor, 27, of Mount Pleasant. The boaters said they were traveling in a 21-ft. bass boat when it struck an unknown object near the Remley’s Point channel marker, and all 4 of them were ejected. None of them were wearing lifejackets. The bass boat stopped on shore on Drum Island, near Charleston, several feet past the waterline. A spokesman for the state DNR said the boat hit a navigational aid, which was fine after the accident. Three of the boaters declined medical treatment. EMTs treated the 4th person, who had several cuts on his foot, and released him on scene.
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10-19-12 BILOXI, MS Boat hits Bay St. Louis Bridge myfoxmemphis.com (10-19-12) The Mississippi Dept. of Marine Resources is investigating an accident in which a 21-f.t recreational boat hit a piling on the Bay St. Louis Bridge. The accident happened shortly after 2 p.m. Fri. (10-19). One person aboard the boat was transported to Ochsner Hosp. in New Orleans with unknown injuries. No other injuries were reported. The MDMR's Marine Patrol division is investigating the accident to determine how it occurred and whether any damage was done to the bridge's infrastructure. A spokeswoman for the dept. said the accident did not cause any shutdown of the bridge.
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10-20-12 NATCHEZ, MS Man's body found in Mississippi River 2-wjtv.com (10-21-12) A Ferriday man's body was found on the Adams Co. side of the Mississippi River after he apparently fell from his boat and drowned during a fishing trip. Adams Co. Sheriff Chuck Mayfield said that the family of 80-y/o Harold Short declined an autopsy because relatives believe he fell overboard and drowned. Mayfield says Short probably fell into the water while trying to haul up a net. He says the search began after a USCG crew from Memphis found an unoccupied boat with the motor going, but only live fish inside. The CG identified the boat's owner and found his truck near the Vidalia RV Park. Searchers found his body about 12:30 p.m. Sat. (10-20), nearly a mile S. of the Adams Co. Port.
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10-21-12 EAGLE MOUNTAIN LAKE, TX Searchers find body of boat captain missing since 26-foot cabin cruiser capsized in lake therepublic.com (10-22-12) Searchers have found the body of a 51-y/o boat captain a week after his 26-ft. cabin cruiser capsized on a North Texas lake. The man's found was found early Sun. morning (10-21). Twelve people had been on board when the boat was apparently hit by a wave on Sun. (10-14) on Eagle Mountain Lake, located just N. of Fort Worth. Witnesses had seen the captain swimming back to the cruiser after it took on water. The man's name has not been released pending notification of family members. The district's officers, joined by state game wardens, had been searching for the boater 12 hrs. a day since he went missing.
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10-22-12 BRANDON, MS Mississippi man sentenced to 26 years for boat crash that killed his father blog.gulflive.com (10-22-12) A Mississippi man found guilty of manslaughter in a drunken boating accident that killed his father and another man was sentenced Mon. (10-22) to 26 yrs. in prison.
Brad Hardy, 31, was convicted in Rankin Co. last week in the deaths of Mikeal Hardy, 60, and Roger Gipson, 48. He was convicted of aggravated assault for injuring another man in the crash. Prosecutors convinced a jury that Hardy crashed into other boats while trying to use his to splash people celebrating Memorial Day weekend at a sandbar on the Pearl River, which feeds the sprawling Ross Barnett Reservoir, a popular spot for water skiing and fishing in central Mississippi. Hardy's defense claimed a catastrophic steering failure caused the crash. Asst. District Attorney Marty Miller said after the hearing that Hardy had a blood alcohol level of .09 percent -- above the legal limit of .08 percent -- almost 1 ½ hrs. after the accident. Hardy had 3 DUIs in the 1990s, said District Attorney Michael Guest. Hardy wept before sentencing, telling the judge that he wasn't trying to splash anyone. "Only me and God really know what happened," Hardy said, standing before the judge in a yellow jail jumpsuit and shackles. Rankin Co. Circuit Court Judge William Chapman wasn't moved. "This defendant is emotional, but it is not any remorse for what he has done. He's emotional because he's getting ready to go to the penitentiary," Chapman said. Chapman said he believed the testimony at trial that Hardy was trying to splash people with the boat. "You chose to drink and operate that boat the way you did. There was nothing wrong with the boat, there was something wrong with the operator," Chapman said. Lt. Randy Newell of the Mississippi Dept. of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks said after the hearing that Hardy was speeding toward the sandbar and tried to spray his father, who had done something similar earlier in the day. Chapman sentenced Hardy to 18 yrs. in Gipson's death and 8 years for injuring William Hulett. Those sentences will run consecutively, for a total of 26 yrs. The judge said Hardy would make the ultimate decision on whether he spends time behind bars for the death of his father. He gave Hardy an 18-yr. suspended sentence for the death of his father, but said he would have to serve that time if he violates the conditions of his release when he gets out of prison.
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