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View Full Version : Boat crash in Gulf Breeze Florida



Barry Eller
03-31-2013, 07:13 AM
A Velocity crashed in Gulf Breeze yesterday. Killing the driver and injuring 4 others. A friend of mine was invited to go on the boat but didn't. Her boyfriends daughter did and she is in ICU in critical condition.

http://www.pnj.com/article/20130331/NEWS01/303310043/Speed-boat-crash-kills-1-near-Gulf-Breeze


http://www.pnj.com/article/20130331/NEWS01/303310043/Speed-boat-crash-kills-1-near-Gulf-Breeze

dsparis
03-31-2013, 07:34 AM
Wow tragic

Offset
03-31-2013, 08:10 AM
Not much left to tell a story. Very tragic that a life was lost and others seriously injured.

Hope for the best for these folks.

Barry Eller
03-31-2013, 10:22 AM
[COLOR="#0000FF"]this is a quote from a witness on a local fishing forum...."I saw the whole thing. The boat was a blue color. The guy was doing about 70mph and hit a wake, flew, submerged the front, got launched about 30 feet at an 80 degree angle, and then shattered when it hit the water. After hitting the water, the back half was spinning in circles as fast as the boat was initially going before submerging about two minutes later. There were 5 people on the boat. About 7 boats arrived on scene with in a minute. 2 people immediately jumped in and swam the passengers to 3 nearby boats and went immediately to Shorline. 2 critical, one dead, and other 2 with injuries. All of the people were family and friends. I heard the people in the boat, including the driver, were drunk well beyond the limit, but I do not know for sure, My thoughts and prayers go out to their family."
COLOR]

Barry Eller
03-31-2013, 10:24 AM
from a local Pensacola Fishing forum....hit the wake of a 65' sportfishing boat...

I saw the whole thing. The boat was a blue color. The guy was doing about 70mph and hit a wake, flew, submerged the front, got launched about 30 feet at an 80 degree angle, and then shattered when it hit the water. After hitting the water, the back half was spinning in circles as fast as the boat was initially going before submerging about two minutes later. There were 5 people on the boat. About 7 boats arrived on scene with in a minute. 2 people immediately jumped in and swam the passengers to 3 nearby boats and went immediately to Shorline. 2 critical, one dead, and other 2 with injuries. All of the people were family and friends. I heard the people in the boat, including the driver, were drunk well beyond the limit, but I do not know for sure, My thoughts and prayers go out to their family.

BOSTONCAMARO
04-02-2013, 12:23 PM
sorry to hear...

Barry Eller
04-04-2013, 04:42 AM
This is from the Pensacola News Journal this morning

http://www.pnj.com/videonetwork/2275002668001/Fatal-boat-wreck-Raw-video-of-rescue

clayman
04-04-2013, 09:27 PM
This was a friend of mines boat. He just sold it to the now deceased gentleman. I only spoke with the wife, but she said they were really upset about it. She thought he wasn't experienced enough with the boat, speed and judgement. It was a 39 Velocity with staggered 700's. Still on the bottom, wonder what the salvage rights are? RIP

joseph m. hahnl
04-05-2013, 08:37 AM
Devistating . Did you notice? The engine bay was still chugging along in the video.:frown:

Barry Eller
08-16-2013, 04:53 AM
Details have been released about this crash.



http://news.gulfbreezenews.com/news/2013-08-15/Front_Page/FWC_Cocaine_in_boaters_system.html

Greg Guimond
08-16-2013, 05:57 AM
Tragically we see more and more of this stuff. How did your friends boyfriends little girl end up doing?

CHACHI
08-16-2013, 05:59 AM
My thoughts and prayers go out to all the families.

Ken

Pismo
08-16-2013, 06:06 AM
Amazing detail from today's media.

gcarter
08-16-2013, 09:51 AM
This is tragic.
So very many things were wrong in this scenario. It shouldn't have ever happened if just a very few rules had been followed:
No drugs or alcohol
Life vests
Knowing how to operate the boat and knowing its limits

I remember a few years ago there would be regular threads on here where some would defend their rights to drink and boat and would argue how well they performed when drunk!!!!!!!
Fortunately, there haven't been any of those lately.
I would hate to read a similar article about someone here, particularly someone I knew.

CHACHI
08-16-2013, 10:08 AM
This is tragic.
So very many things were wrong in this scenario. It shouldn't have ever happened if just a very few rules had been followed:
No drugs or alcohol
Life vests
Knowing how to operate the boat and knowing its limits



And kill switch tethers.

Ken

Carl C
08-16-2013, 11:30 AM
.02 from one beer is not drunk and there is no telling if the driver was under the influence of cocaine at the time. It sounds like a tragic accident from hitting a boat wake badly. These things happen in all types of motorsports. We all know that. It also sounds like the wind was calm and that 85 mph in a 39' boat was not out of line for the conditions. Calm water could also explain why life jackets were not in use. I'm not defending drinking and boating but the captain had ONE beer.

gcarter
08-16-2013, 12:12 PM
I'm not defending drinking and boating but the captain had ONE beer.

That you know about.

Carl C
08-16-2013, 12:53 PM
That you know about.

There has been only water and juice in my cooler this summer. I had a few drinks New Year's Eve and not a drop of alcohol until Put-in-Bay last Tuesday night. I spent the night there. Do I defend the right to drink on the water? Yes. A lot of us raft up or anchor and spend the day relaxing. Do I defend driving under the influence or letting your passengers get trashed? No. One reason I don't attend events is the heavy focus on drinking.

gcarter
08-16-2013, 02:23 PM
I guess my statement was prejudiced a bit, and I retract my last one.
There was plenty of fault here to go around.
Probably the biggest one was too much boat for the naive new boat owner taking his family on an outing where he didn't know the boat's characteristics.
Drunk, high, or what ever, this was stupid.
I don't like to go fast in boats, particularly when the driver is a newbie, or, perhaps impaired.
Now his widow gets to mourn him and watch other family members recover.
I wouldn't have been a passenger on this outing.

joseph m. hahnl
08-16-2013, 05:05 PM
The factor was speed :yes:. going 85.5 across a wake:shocking:! I suspect most boats, would crumble. Especially with 1600HP driving the stuff. Regardless of, if you took a puff in college:pimp:.

Barry Eller
08-20-2013, 06:26 AM
The Charter Boat, Entertainer, throws a huge wake when up and running. I have been on it several times and have encountered its wake. I SLOW down, it looks like about a 5 footer from the drivers seat of a 22. It was the Entertainer's wake that the Velocity hit. http://entertainercharter.com/index.php/our-vessels/the-entertainer/

Carl C
08-20-2013, 08:38 AM
So is it normal for a 39' offshore Velocity, traveling well under it's top speed potential, to break into three pieces from hitting a five foot wake? I don't think so. Freak ACCIDENT. I've hit unforeseen five foot wakes in my 22. Why does someone always have to be to blame. People die all the time in snowmobile, ORV, boat and car accidents. We all know the risk we are taking when indulging in these sports.

CHACHI
08-20-2013, 09:28 AM
Traveling well under it's potential. Wake is from a 44 foot crusier.

Obviously, the boat didn't flip like the Velocity. Maybe it's 50 foot length had something to do with that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhuQLZs3PA0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqqwTJc81yg


Ken

RickSE
08-20-2013, 10:07 AM
The stupid part is that they were running at those speeds with a 13-year old in the boat w/o a vest.

gcarter
08-20-2013, 10:12 AM
So is it normal for a 39' offshore Velocity, traveling well under it's top speed potential, to break into three pieces from hitting a five foot wake? I don't think so. Freak ACCIDENT. I've hit unforeseen five foot wakes in my 22. Why does someone always have to be to blame. People die all the time in snowmobile, ORV, boat and car accidents. We all know the risk we are taking when indulging in these sports.

Carl, of course the driver is to blame. His decision not to slow down (remember he had four other people on board) resulted in his own death and the others injured.
It seems obvious to me no one expected any unusual activities since the driver didn't have his tether on, nor was anyone on board wearing a PFD.
If there had been a decision to go wake jumping, and everyone agreed and was prepared w/the proper PFD, tether, etc., then you could make your argument. This was bad decision making! Period.
Carl, he had his wife and family on board! Do you think he valued the thrill of wake jumping higher than his own life or the well being of his family? I'm sure he didn't, it was a STUPID move and he was at fault.
If this had been a private aircraft w/the same people on board, and he had decided to buzz the beach and crashed, the FAA and NTSB would have been all over it for 6 months to a year. That's how serious this stuff really is.

Greg Guimond
08-20-2013, 11:37 AM
As an operator we each are 100% responsible for everything, period. I can't see how this tragedy was anything more than a series of really bad decisions.

#1 - What prior experience did the owner have with hulls of this size and horsepower? Probably not as much as he should have had.
#2 - Kids wear life vests, period end of discussion. Adults should also, but that is a conditions dependent decision.
#3 - The lanyard is attached 100% of the time, period, once you come out of idle and the no wake zone.
#4 - Wake jumping with any passengers is stupid and can get very dicey, very quickly at even lower speeds. It takes nothing for a hull to trip and stuff off a high roller that looks small until you are on it. This guy was not throttlling a little 16, 18, or even 22 where an abundance of horsepower and a quick blast of the throttle will keep the hull bow high at the "oh s**t" moment on top of the crest. The other day I was following behind a similiar size tour boat sending up a nice even 4-5' rollers. I took the opportunity as I was by myself to continue to teach myself how to launch off the crests in a controlled fashion and prepare for re-entry. Did it maybe 20 times from different angles to check the diferent permutations with The Mule and remember at the crest I can pretty much stab the gas peddle and launch the nose high at will. I've done this many times. I wonder how much seat time the driver had even logged with his new boat before he attempted this stupid act?
#5 - I may have my facts mixed up but was the driver doing 85mph when he hit the cruiser wake? Friggin idiot if that was the case but again it may have been doing 85 at certain other points in the run and not at impact.

When I had my accident in 2011 in my little toy 16 it all happened so fast that things were over in seconds. Then minutes skipping along the water like a toy soldier launched from a cannon. I wear two vests and the lanyard but still ended up face down in the water evidently according the the good soul who got to me in minutes and pulled me out and called 911. Spent 5 days in ICU and got a lot of time to think about what stupid things people do when others are in there rig.

I'm all for pressing the limits in a controlled fashion as long as its just me on board when it's time to meet my maker.

biggiefl
08-20-2013, 12:49 PM
They don't know exactly what speed he was going. All they know is the tachs were stuck at a certain rpm which they equated to be 85.8mph. He could have been going 110 and slowed down to 85 when he hit the wake. Nobody knows except the survivors.

joseph m. hahnl
08-20-2013, 06:00 PM
That is creepy:eek!:



Found a article in SpeedBoat Jan '08. VELOCITY VR1 powered by a 572 cu.in 700 H.P. motor built to Steve Stepp's specifications. Boat ran 100.2 MPH @ 5250 RPM. "HIGH LIFE

Greg Guimond
08-20-2013, 08:37 PM
I'm not following why you would pull up a post from HIGH LIFE .......................RIP

mattyboy
08-21-2013, 07:12 AM
sad story, when will people learn the responsibility of taking the wheel of a performance boat . seems like we just saw something like this go viral on youtube with the family that flew all around the cockpit of the fountain.

gcarter
08-21-2013, 07:39 PM
A bit off subject, but this boat flipping reminded me of Donald Campbell's "Bluebird" K7 when in January of '67 flipped at around 330 MPH in England.
Here's a very impressive video of the run and crash:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xemKc2In5Y

Here's another w/greater detail at the beginning of the video.....other biographical detail later.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jBdPcR_O_I

tmdog
08-21-2013, 09:36 PM
GC, I remember that incident. I believe on the return speed run he hit his own wake upsetting the hull. At that speed hitting a peanut shell would have the same results. Well almost.

scippy
08-21-2013, 11:12 PM
I remember how the crash was big news back then (hard to believe some 46 years ago) anyway, didn't realize his body was not retrieved until 20 years later.........what took so long?

silverghost
08-22-2013, 12:11 AM
We were only the second boat, and persons on the scene after a horrific boat crash in Ocean City NJ a number of years ago.
A Sonic speedboat was T-Boned by a white Grady-White outboard fisherman in the intercostal just past the OC NJ boat ramp. Five on the Sonic speedboat were killed~~Three of the five occupants were missing until surfacing three days later. A second woman was found~~~crushed & trapped dead in a ball in front of the Sonic's bow hull debris area wreckage a bit later.
The Sonic's mid hull sides section on both sides was obliterated as the Grady-White actually drove right through the center of the Sonic speedboat with five persons aboard.
The Sonic speedboat looked like a bomb had exploded in it's mid section ! There were hats, shoes, flares, lifejackets, and all sorts of peronal, & boat debris floating around on the water.
Dad & I heard the severe impact from a few blocks away~~~but did Not witness the actual impact.
We found the Sonic speedboat partially beached on the marshland just in front of the Condo complex, and just past the public launching ramp.
It's fiberglass two mid-section sides flapping around like a fiberglass bed sheet.
The Grady-White was holed and listing to port just in front of the ramp and slowly taking-on water.
We nudged her up & onto the cement boat launch ramp so it would not sink. The kids still on the Grady were in shock. Several were in the water, having been ejected on impact~~~and we fished these kids now in the water out and on to the dock area.
We assisted the Coast Guard, & NJ Marine Police Patrol, and Ocean City NJ Fire Rescue, ~~~and related our story about the speeding & unsafe conduct of the Grady~White's operator just a few min before this tragic fatal crash.
They DID-NOT seem to be interested in hearing our story of the very close call we had encountered just immediately prior to this horrendous crash ! ? ? ?
WE were later simply stunned only when months later the "Official " investigation report blamed the Sonic Speedboat for this tragic & very avoidable accident.
How could a Sonic Speedboat that was "T"-boned in it's mid secion have caused this accident ???
We never believed this report's conclusion ! ! !
It was OUR opinion that the Grady-White driver's reckless driving, Zig-Zagging, & excssive speeding actions killed five innocent fairly young people on that Sonic speedboat ! ! !
It's true what they say~~~Dead men tell no tails ~~~or in the Sonic's case ~~~Their side of the story.

Also~~~We were NEVER called to testify at any accident hearing despite giving our entire prior earlier close call encounter/ accident story of the wreckless Driving Zig-Zaging & Speeding of the Grady -White just a min or two before this tragic five fatality boat crash.
WHY WERE WE NOT CALLED AT THIS OFFICIAL ACCIDENT INQUEST TO TESTIFY ? ? ?
Sadly all occupants, ALL FIVE in the Sonic Speedboat were instantly killed in this tragic crash~~~with no person left alive on the Sonic Speedboat to tell THEIR side of the accident story.

Here is our report to the rescue personel~~~
Dad & I were out for a very slow early evening lagoon ride when this white Grady-White outboard sport fish boat blew very close & Zig-Zaging recklessly past us travling at 45-50 MPH . The Grady -White narrowly avoided hitting US in our American Skier Eagle 24' We later learned an adult Father was taking a group of high school teenagers out on a high-speed "Graduation Thrill Ride" .
He was traveling way too fast in a posted "No Wake" speed zone actually IN the intercostal waterway; Zig-Zaging and running way too close to us at a very high rate of speed !. The kids were screaming their heads off !
They scared the living-daylights out of Dad, who was driving our boat, as well as myself !
A min. or two just south of our location we heard a severe accident impact blast/bang impact sound and the sound of a screaming out of control big outboard.
We immediately speeded-up & headed south to investigate, & assist, if possible.
We arrived way BEFORE the Coast Guard, Marine Police Patrol, & OC NJ Fire Rescue crews.
We were simply stunned at the severity of the accident scene .
It was one of the worst things I had ever seen in my entire life.
Dad's said so also !
The accident scene image is still burned into my memory today !

Speedboats always seem to get the blame in these sorts of accidents~~ if it was really Their fault--or not ! ! !

To my last day I will always believe that that Grady-White driver Recklessly & avoidably killed those five fairly young people in that Sonic Speedboat~~`who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time !
ANOTHER VERY SAD & TRAGIC BOATING ACCIDENT STORY ! ! !

gcarter
08-22-2013, 08:12 AM
I remember how the crash was big news back then (hard to believe some 46 years ago) anyway, didn't realize his body was not retrieved until 20 years later.........what took so long?

Pete, I think the answer is advances in diving and sonar technology.

mike o
08-22-2013, 10:08 AM
There has been only water and juice in my cooler this summer. I had a few drinks New Year's Eve and not a drop of alcohol until Put-in-Bay last Tuesday night. I spent the night there. Do I defend the right to drink on the water? Yes. A lot of us raft up or anchor and spend the day relaxing. Do I defend driving under the influence or letting your passengers get trashed? No. One reason I don't attend events is the heavy focus on drinking."One reason I dont attend events is HEAVY DRINKING". Really :lookaroun: Please :rolleyes: " Come on Man " :doh:

mattyboy
08-22-2013, 10:23 AM
story in today's news . woman falls overboard from her sailing vessel while it is moored, husband and son below watching TV . she was an experienced sailor tried to get back to the boat but the current in the hudson river dragged her away from the boat. rescue workers found her in the dark safe but a little wet and cold she had her life jacket on. she slipped and fell overboard on a wet deck, from the interview i saw the normal for them was on deck life vest on . never skip on your safety routine

Greg Guimond
08-22-2013, 10:52 AM
Wow Matty, I can attest to the strength of the current in the Hudson River especially south of the TZ Bridge. I was running that stretch last evening trying to figure out why The Mule is "crabbing" at speed. Without the lifejacket she is done even with late August temps.

mattyboy
08-22-2013, 11:28 AM
She got picked up by rescue crews off the Tilcon plant in Haverstraw