Boat captain tossed overboard taken off life support

AndreF · Post by **AndreF** » Sep 8th, '10, 11:13

http://www.wafb.com/global/story.asp?s=13100144

Brewster Minton · Post by **Brewster Minton** » Sep 8th, '10, 12:12

Very sad. When your time comes, thats it.

AndreF · Post by **AndreF** » Sep 8th, '10, 12:14

This is what I was told:

These were shot coming into Jupiter inlet last Friday afternoon. The boat is the Waterdog, a 48' Garlington used for charter and run by a fellow charter captain buddy of mine, Tom Henry. The swells were caused by the offshore hurricanes and this inlet can be very difficult in most any situation. Unfortunately, Tom was thrown from the bridge of the boat , broke two vertebrae in his neck and was taken off life support yesterday. This was a seasoned captain who bought this boat down in Venezuela 10 years ago. He had run charters out of this inlet for more than 10 years!! The mate regained control of the boat and returned to the dock with the 5 people from the charter unharmed.

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Sep 8th, '10, 18:49

"Stuff happens; it has nothing to do with not doing it right," another captain said.

We've been discussing this incident down here as many of us knew the boat.

I'm still of the opinion the the capt suffered some type of medical issue right before this incident.

randall · Post by **randall** » Sep 9th, '10, 07:23

here's a lesson i learned the hard way....you can be a pro...you can do it for decades...............but it only takes one second of inattention, arrogance and overconfidence to smack you hard or kill you.

no one who does dangerous work is immune...you just think you are.

sorry...sounds like he was a good guy.

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Sep 9th, '10, 09:32

Goes back to "I'd rather be Lucky then Good"

A small slip at the wrong time to throw you off balance can be nothing or everything.

Such a shame, thoughts and prayers for him, his family and friends.

Capt. DQ · Post by **Capt. DQ** » Sep 9th, '10, 09:36

As most surfer's do not ever want a close-out wave, as the pictures show the Waterdog coming over the top on a breaking closeout swell coming in the channel with the boat powered up with a good head of speed. I've seen Capt's submarine the bow on a lot of different boats in passes with large closeout swells.

The lesson here is...you might want to consider adding supenders or a safety belt to the Capt. on the bridge or center console boats in certain sea conditions. I not talking about a kill switch like that of a bass boat running 60+. Just my observation of the pictures.

I'm amazed that nobody inside the boat was injuried also.

My Condolences go out to the Family.
DQ

Brewster Minton · Post by **Brewster Minton** » Sep 9th, '10, 09:44

All the captians I have spoken with say that it is one of the worst inlets on the east coast.

In Memory Walter K · Post by **In Memory Walter K** » Sep 9th, '10, 09:49

I have to tell you, it's a lot safer in rough water to stay sitting down on the bridge. I have a bench seat and have slid from side to side in a bad rocking condition. Standing up I was saved by having a full bridge enclosure that kept me in. Guys in much bigger boats can get cocky about it but, my recommendation is to stay seated.

randall · Post by **randall** » Sep 9th, '10, 10:00

ive seen that inlet 10 foot plus.

John Brownlee · Post by **John Brownlee** » Sep 9th, '10, 15:58

We went out Jupiter inlet headed for the Bahamas Friday about an hour after this happened. We had no clue it had occurred until we got back on Monday, although there were still a few Coast Guard boats around. It was breaking about six feet all the way across, the swell from Earl. It's obviously easier to go out through that stuff than come back in.

I did hear that Tom had shoulder surgery recently and may have had one arm in a sling, which would explain some things. A lot to control with one hand.

matt ciarpella · Post by **matt ciarpella** » Sep 9th, '10, 20:15

Wow.
I chartered Toms 52 Garlington in October about 5 years ago out of Ocean City Md. We were going to take my 26 cc out that weekend but the seas were up and decided a bigger boat was in order. Not wanting to be blown out, I called OC Fishing Center and asked "who will charter in 10 footers plus?" He was among the choices and I had heard of his rep as a captain. About 10 miles out alot of boats were heading in and I asked "are thease boats coming in from overnight in this ?'' He replied that most of the fleet had turned back.
He asked " You guys are OK, right?" and I said " Yep, thats why we hired you."
We then received a real class on offshore sportfishing in big seas.
What a day!
Jake the mate was the man.
And when we came back to the docks with flags flying while most stayed in,
Tom was the Captain.
God Bless and thanks for the ride Tom.

JP Dalik · Post by **JP Dalik** » Sep 10th, '10, 20:35

This is crap!!!!!!!

The bottom line is that a guy whose done this maybe a thousand times gets caught off guard with a stacked wave and for whatever reasons ends up deceased. Now all of the sudden every swinging dick on the internet gets to see the photos and play Monday morning quarterback. This is the exact reason I didn't post/mention any of this on Sunday when I got the 20 shot thread.

Why on Earth would any of us feel a need to comment on the tragic loss of a persons life, especially after being able to see that life end frame by frame. I see very little good coming from critique or speculation on this topic.

If you don't know how to run your boat in an inlet this incident is not the place to comment or speculate about abilities. It is a Eulogy and should only be treated with the simple statement:

Tom Henry rest in peace. May GOD have mercy on his soul. AMEN

CaptPatrick · Post by **CaptPatrick** » Sep 10th, '10, 20:41

What JP said....

Sean B · Post by **Sean B** » Sep 10th, '10, 23:51

Well pardon me for bringing it up. I certainly did not mean to offend anybody.

I thought this was a place for discussion and sharing of knowledge... I never perceived the topic as some sort of "eulogy" or holy internet thread.

In my world accidents are openly discussed to see if anything can be learned from the tragedy, and that's what I was doing here. I never meant to imply that I thought this particular Captain did anything wrong, or right for that matter. None of us were there and have no idea what really happened, photos or not.

So anyway, sorry I brought it up. Over and out

pacific marlin · Post by **pacific marlin** » Sep 11th, '10, 05:14

JP and Capt Pat.

I'm sorry if this offends but I'm with Sean on this one.

Yes it was a very tragic accident and all our thoughts must go out to Tom and his family,

However, if something can be learned from this, to avoid it happening to someone else, then that can only be a good thing.

I didn't know Tom but from what you all say,he was a good man and a fine Captain,

I'm sure he would have wanted people to learn from this .

My heart felt condolences to Toms family.

Regards Ian.

randall · Post by **randall** » Sep 11th, '10, 08:24

seems an obvious topic of conversation to me. are we getting so PC we cant talk about things that obviously affect us all?

that said there is NO disrespect to the man who by all accounts was a great captain. all the more reason to talk about it.

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Sep 11th, '10, 09:29

To use a contemporary term it seems as if this subject has become "toxic" here, which is very sad.

A day or two before this string started I saw the sequence of pictures of this terrible accident on another forum, and from them I tried to determine what had happened with the handling and response of the boat, so I might personally improve my boat handling skills based on information from what may or may not have been someone else's mistake. None of us was there so we don't know for sure exactly what happened, but when I saw the first post here on this subject I thought I would follow the discussions so I might learn something. I have learned more than I expected to, and I appreciate the input others have made on this subject. No comments here are critical of the captain, nor should they be.. again, none of us was there to know what happened.

Each of us here has their own reasons for coming to this forum, and, as it has been mentioned several times over the three or four years since I started coming here, one of the great things about what Capt Pat has created for us is the free exchange of opinions and information, boatwise, politically, and personally, while maintaining respect for each other. I don't agree with some of Randall's political views, but I read them with interest and respect because he provides me with views other than my own, and that helps me understand better how others think. The same with the discussion above.

Not owning a B31 I try to keep my comments here neutral, more or less as a guest in someone else's house. If my posts above upset anyone I am truly sorry, but they were based on my attempt to promote the exchange of information only.

It is a slippery slope we are on here if we here lose our respect for other's opinions and criticise them openly.. because this is probably the fastest way to drive them away from this special place, and turn this forum into a lukewarm and bland place where everyone agrees with each other. It would be sad if someone here was afraid to post something for fear of others not agreeing with them.

Just one man's opinions. Take them or leave them.

CaptPatrick · Post by **CaptPatrick** » Sep 11th, '10, 09:54

What JP said....

I guess I should have been more percise. One liners just cover too much ground.

I agree with JP in sentiment, but I don't think anyone here has made any comment as to be concidered as "Monday Morning Quarterbacking".

Sean, Ian, Randal, and Frank are correct. It's incidents like this that are good starting points for conversation relating to how we might handle a similar situation if it were to happen.

Jupiter Inlet, which I've run many many times and also elected to go 30 miles out of my way to avoid a few times, can be one of the nastiest cuts on the east coast.

I've also backed through two inlets, once by choice and once by being forced to.

Following seas are not always what makes an entry dangerous. Usually it's a more complex set of variables lumped together.

These three things alone are worthy of a new subject line...

I'll attempt to split this thread so that we can carry on with the dialog under a new heading: Boat Handling in Adverse Conditions

Br,

Patrick

Face · Post by **Face** » Sep 11th, '10, 11:28

randall wrote:seems an obvious topic of conversation to me. are we getting so PC we cant talk about things that obviously affect us all?

that said there is NO disrespect to the man who by all accounts was a great captain. all the more reason to talk about it.

Thank you Randall. This board really is pleasant in comparison to many other forums. The arrogance and rudeness on other boards is a huge turn off. Another nice thing about this board is Capt. Pat rarely has to split threads, remove posts or ban people. Let's keep it that way. Sure this is a sensitive topic but no need to jump all over people for commenting on related topics with good intentions.
-Joe

CaptPatrick · Post by **CaptPatrick** » Sep 11th, '10, 11:50

Capt. Pat rarely has to split threads, remove posts or ban people.

Rare indeed... This is maybe the 2nd thread I've split, removed maybe 6 offensive posts, and have yet to ban anyone in over 10 years.

But it's not so much that I'm an old softy, it's a high praise as to the quality of our members...

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Sep 11th, '10, 11:54

JP,
It's not crap. Nobody is putting this man down...go back read what is being said...or in a nutshell "he was a great Captain and he past doing something we all enjoy". We all deal with it different...for me, prayers go out to him and his...but I also want to get an idea of what happened and learn from it.

At the very least we can all take away...go home and Kiss your Loved Ones as you don't know when your time is up and Give respect to mother nature. Then if one of us should hold the wheel a bit tighter and it saves us from a similar situation...what would be a better way to eulogize a persons passing. Definitely not crap.

JP Dalik · Post by **JP Dalik** » Sep 12th, '10, 10:55

I couldn't imagine a worse scenario than to have my last few moments on earth shown to anyone who wants to see it because someone was there to photograph it.

I have a hard time thinking anyone should be entitled to throw that stuff on the web. Its a damn shame that this Capt's first introduction and final memory for so many people is going to be this set of photographs.

Its not just this site, I've seen only few annectodal stories regarding what kind of a guy he was. Just a subject line on every fishing/boating website I can think "Florida Capt thrown from boat" This is the "crap" I am talking about.

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Sep 12th, '10, 11:48

...guess sometimes I need a good whack to the head to "get it".
Point taken.

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Sep 12th, '10, 17:14

JP...

In no way am I criticizing what you have said.. your opinions are yours, mine are mine, and this is not the place to have arguments about them. But please indulge me and let me cast another light on the above string of posts...

Suppose one of us was faced with the situation of having to enter from seaward a dangerously breaking inlet, with no alternative possible, and something we learned from the comments above was useful to us and helped us manage the situation, would you still feel the same way? We might have lost our own boat and perhaps our and other lives if we had not read about backing into an inlet. I never heard of that before, nor do I want to have to do it, but you can be sure if I was in a situation where that seemed to be the only way to go, I would try it. If I had not read the above, it would never have entered my mind.

Just a hypothetical question.. no need for a response from anyone.

Rawleigh · Post by **Rawleigh** » Sep 13th, '10, 08:56

If it could happen to someone as experienced as he was it could easily happen to any of us!! I look forward to learning more about inlet running on the other thread. RIP Captain Tom!!

bertram31.com

Boat captain tossed overboard taken off life support

Boat captain tossed overboard taken off life support

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