08-18-13 CHATHAM COUNTY, GA One killed Sunday in Chatham County boating accident Part of King’s Ferry Boat Ramp is closed as the state DNR investigates a fatal boating accident. At 5:23 p.m. Sun. (08-18) a call went out that a boating accident occurred. Capt. Doug Lewis with DNR Law Enforcement said that investigators were told a boat went under a train trestle over the Ogeechee River and one of the occupants, 25-y/o Shana Crozier of Savannah, stood up and was hit by the trestle. Lewis said the investigation was still ongoing and officers are sorting out the details. "(We are) just trying to identify the correct boat operator, gather any evidence that we can find, help the family in any we can, and just try to bring this to a closure," he said. Lewis said the trestle is located E. of King's Ferry in Chatham Co. Savannah-Chatham police are assisting the DNR. Investigators were still on scene about 9 p.m. Sun. No further information was immediately available. Read full story here.
08-18-12 PORTAGE DES SIOUX, MO Man dies in fatal boating accident on the Mississippi River A 60-y/o man died in an accident while boating with friends on the Mississippi River near Portage des Sioux Sun. afternoon (08-18). Mike Dallwitz died from injuries after he dived into the water, which turned out to be less than 2 ft. deep, said Missouri Highway Patrol Sgt. Al Nothum.
The Highway Patrol got an emergency call at 3:50 p.m. Nothum said that Dallwitz and his friends had boated up to a sandbar to relax and enjoy the river. He dived in, not knowing how shallow it was. The sand was only a ft. or 2 below the surface. The fatal accident occurred at Mile Marker 217 near Portage des Sioux. His friends pulled Dallwitz from the river and motored the boat back to the dock at the Hideaway Harbor boat access to get emergency help. Dallwitz was pronounced dead at the scene by the medical examiner. Read full story here.
08-17-13 MARGATE, FL Four teens hurt in Margate boating accident Four teenagers were hurt in a boating accident in Margate on Sat. (08-17) when their 14-ft. vessel struck a piling, according to a fire-rescue official. One of the teens was thrown from the aluminum Jon boat, but his companions were able to pull him back onto the boat, Margate/Coconut Creek FD Division Chief Dan Booker said. None of them was wearing a lifejacket when the accident occurred on the C-14 Canal about 1 p.m. Read full story here.
08-17-13 POCASSET, MA Boating injury sends one to Boston hospital An unidentified man was transported to a Boston area hosp. by a MedFlight helicopter team after being injured while boating off Pocasset Sat. (08-17). The incident occurred around 6 p.m. According to police at the scene, the man may have suffered a back or spinal injury. His condition and the circumstances leading to his injury are unknown at this time.Read full story here.
08-17-18 KALAMAZOO, MI Fisherman's body recovered from Gull Lake after boating mishap The Kalamazoo Co. Dive Team recovered the body of a 35-y/o Kent Co. man who fell off a fishing boat in Gull Lake and apparently drowned Sat. (08-17) mid-morning. Deputies say the man and a woman had used a public access point to launch their boat and they were making their way into the lake when the boat suddenly lurched and witnesses say they were both thrown into the water. She was able to tread water until other boaters came to her rescue, but the man was not. The couple weren’t wearing lifejackets. Divers found his body just before 4 p.m. It’s being investigated. The name of the victim has not been released. The National Safe Boating Council says with the summer season waning and Labor Day weekend a busy time for people who want to enjoy their boats one last time for the season, its important that they remember to wear their lifejackets. The USCG says 85% of drowning victims in recreational boating accidents last year died because they were not wearing life preservers. Read full story here.
Captain Robert McCullough said the body of 45-y/o Todd Bryan Ham was located by SC DNR officers Fri. morning (08-16). McCullough said Ham set out about noon Wed. (08-14) with his 18-y/o son on a fishing trip. McCullough says the boat encountered trouble and the men went into the water. The younger man was able to get a lifejacket out of the boat and was rescued, but his father disappeared in the water. Read full story here.
08-17-13 LAKE OF THE OZARKS, MO Chillicothe man dies in boating accidents A Chillicothe man, Blake Briner, 22, died Fri. afternoon (08-17) in a 2-boat collision at the Lake of the Ozarks. The accident occurred at the 18.8 mi. mark main channel of the Osage Arm around 4 p.m. The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported that the accident occurred as Briner, driving a 1995 Bombardier PWC was downstream. Brett Keith, 28, of Chillicothe, driving a 2001 Bombardier PWC, was following the Briner vessel, when Briner reportedly made a 180-degree turn. The front of the Keith vessel struck the front of the Briner vessel. Briner was pronounced dead at 4:35 at Lake Regional Hosp. by Camden Co. Medical Examiner Dee Ballard. Keith was arrested at 4:51 p.m. Fri. on a charge of BWI. He was being held on a 24-hr. hold at Camden Co. Jail.Read full story here.
08-17-13 BALTIMORE, MD Two injured in Essex boat fire Two people were injured Sat. afternoon (08-17) as they pushed a burning boat away from other vessels at an Essex yacht club. The boat – a 30-35-ft. cabin cruiser-style powerboat – caught fire near a fuel pier at the Baltimore YC, said Capt. Rich Schenning, a spokesman for the Baltimore Co. FD. Some people on the dock tried to push the boat out into the water to prevent other boats from catching on fire. Two people, however, were taken to Johns Hopkins Bayview Med. Center's burn unit to be treated for 2nd-degree burns. Fireboats were brought in to put out the fire. A hazmat team also responded in the event of any fuel or oil spills resulting from the fire.Read full story here.
08-19-13 MOOREFIELD TOWNSHIP, OH Woman drowns after falling off boat at Buck Creek park A woman who drowned after falling out of a boat and into CJ Brown Reservoir has been identified. The body of Ellen Hamm, 54, of Springfield was pulled from the water by an underwater rescue crew on Mon. night (08-19). At 9:25 p.m., the Clark Co. Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call from a man on a boat at the reservoir saying a his wife had gone overboard. The male caller also said he could not locate his wife after she had fallen off the boat. When the first deputies arrived on scene they spotted signal flares cast from the boat of the male caller out on the water. A bystander took the deputies out on the lake in a boat to meet with the boat from where Hamm had fallen. Deputies then located Hamm’s body in the water and determined she was dead. Her body was recovered with help from the Clark Co. Underwater Dive Rescue Team, according to the release. A coroner’s investigator had responded to the scene by 11:15 p.m. The man who was with the woman in the boat received medical attention at the scene before he was questioned for the investigation by deputies, said Lt. Christopher Clark of the Criminal Investigations Division. The question of what caused Hamm to go overboard is still under investigation, but it is not believe that alcohol was a factor. The drowning remains under investigation by the Sheriff’s Office and the Clark Co. Coroner’s Office. Deputies said other boats were out on the water at the time of the drowning. Read full story here.
08-18-13 CHICAGO, IL 9 rescued from sinking boat near Chicago A Chicago-based USCG crew rescued 9 people from a sinking vessel on Lake Michigan late Sun. (08-18). A 33-ft. boat started taking on water after apparently striking a shoal about a mile from the Calumet Harbor breakwall near Chicago. The people aboard called for help on their marine radio. A CG crew aboard a 45-ft. boat responded and moved the people off the distressed boat, which then partially sank with about 6 ft. of the bow above the waterline. The CG says the boat had about 80 gal. of fuel aboard, but there are no signs of pollution. The CG monitored the situation overnight and the vessel was salvaged early Mon. (08-19). The rescued boaters’ names are not being released by the CG. Read full story here.
08-17-13 BRAZORIA COUNTY, TX Man overboard! Amazing story of survival after boat capsizes three miles from shore in Gulf Swimmers along Surfside Beach feared the worst Sat. evening (08-17) when a small sailboat washed ashore without a soul on board. But thanks to a life vest and some old fashioned perseverance, the owner of the 12-ft. vessel managed to swim 3 mi. back to the coast, where law enforcement found him safe and sound later that night. The survivor's Hobie Cat catamaran was found at 7 p.m. on Sat., prompting the Brazoria Co. Sheriff's Office to alert area emergency crews from the USCG. After a helicopter and response boat searched the water for an hour, co. deputies spotted the 51-y/o boater far from where his abandoned craft was located. Still donning his safety vest, the man told authorities he fell off the boat and swam 3 mi. to shore. “This goes to show that a lifejacket can and will save your life,” operations specialist Raymond Clemons said in a Sun. (08-18) statement from the CG's Houston-Galveston office. “The important thing in this case is that the man not only had a lifejacket on board but made sure he was utilizing it. That is what saved his life.”Read full story here.
08-16-13 LAKE ZUMBRO, MN Boat catches fire on Lake Zumbro kttc.com (08-16-13) An engine problem was the likely cause of a boat fire on Lake Zumbro Fri. morning. Pine Island Fire Chief Jon Eickhoff said a man attempted to start his boat when it caught fire at the Fisherman's Inn boat launch.
08-17-13 PRAIRIEVILLE TOWNSHIP, MI Divers Search Gull Lake For Grand Rapids Man Who Fell Off Boat Divers have been searching Gull Lake in southwestern Michigan for a man who fell overboard and likely drowned. A couple from the Grand Rapids area launched their boat in Prairieville Township Sat. morning (08-17), with plans to go fishing. Kalamazoo sheriff’s officials say both fell out of the boat while going across the lake. The woman swam to safety but the man went down in the water and wasn’t seen again. The man’s name has not been released.Read full story here.
08-18-13 CORONA DEL MAR, CA Boat washes ashore onto Big Corona A 28-ft. power boat spent the night on the sands of Big Corona State Beach after its propellor became ensnared in a swim line offshore late Sun. (08-18). The incident occurred about 10:30 p.m., when Orange Co. Sheriff’s Dept. Harbor Patrol deputies received a report of a boat in the surf, said Sgt. M. Robertson. The boat’s operator did not request emergency assistance, and no one was injured. The boat’s propellor became wrapped in the swim line and quit working, and the tide almost immediately washed the boat toward shore. Harbor Patrol deputies took a report, but the operator has not been cited. There apparently was no fuel spilled in the incident. The owner arranged for a private tow company to tow the boat off the beach. Read full story here.
08-17-13 GILA COUNTY, AZ Cowboy’s Death On Roosevelt Lake Stuns Rodeo Community A boating accident that killed a beloved cowboy on Roosevelt Lake this weekend has shocked the rodeo community. Wyatt Althoff, 26, was riding on a boat with 8 friends Sat. afternoon (08-17) when he fell overboard. It is unclear what led to the accident, according to the Gila Co. Sheriff’s Office. On Mon. (08-19), divers recovered Wyatt’s body. News of Wyatt’s death spread quickly over the weekend, with hundreds of people commenting on Wyatt’s Facebook profile and that of his family and friends.Read full story here.
08-18-13 LA PAZ COUNTY, AZ Dock damaged in hit and run accident The La Paz Co. Sheriff’s Office is looking for a pontoon boat that allegedly crashed into a private dock Sun. morning (08-18) in Miraleste Shores. The boat left the scene before it could be stopped. The accident occurred at 9 a.m. The dock’s owner, Tamara Martin, told the Pioneer she heard a loud crash that she thought was a tree falling. She said she was informed by her son-in-law that a boat had hit their dock. When she went out to see what had happened, she saw her damaged dock. She said the boat must have been traveling at a high rate of speed as the impact split some 12 by 4-inch boards. Martin estimated the damage at $6,000 to $8,000. She said she and her family have friends with small children who like to visit them. She said she was glad none of them were on the dock at the time. Witnesses said the boat headed N. Sheriff’s deputies searched for the boat Sun., but were not able to locate it. Some photos were taken of the boat. It’s described as white in color with damage to its right front side. Read full story here.
The Yuba Co. Sheriff's Dept. reported 30-y/o Matthew Camp apparently went overboard when his boat hit a wake at an estimated 40 mph on Sun. (08-11). Camp's passenger, 39-y/o George Szuh of Roseville was injured in the accident but survived. Yuba Co. marine enforcement and Placer Co. marine enforcement units searched for Camp since the incident. His body was recovered at a reservoir depth of about 165 ft..Read full story here.
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