Water Dog Charter Capt found at fault
Posted: Dec 22nd, '10, 16:02
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/chart ... 39370.html
Popular fishing charter skipper Thomas C. "Capt. Tom" Henry was responsible for the freak accident Sept. 3 at the Jupiter Inlet that cost him his life, a state investigation has concluded.
Henry, 59, of Jupiter, a popular and accomplished charter boat captain for two decades, died on Labor Day, three days after he fell off his charter boat, the Waterdog.
"Mr. Henry operated the vessel in a careless manner by attempting to drive over the backside of the wave as he approached the inlet," Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission investigator Jon Garzaniti wrote in a report made available Tuesday.
First mate Tim Sperling, 54, disagreed with the finding.
"He was very meticulous and was always paying attention to what was going on," Sperling said Tuesday. "Things happen so fast on the water, a moment of carelessness might be one second."
Henry's widow, Pat, had not yet seen the report, and couldn't comment, Harriet Freeman, her Palm Beach Gardens attorney, said Tuesday.
"She always thought he was more than careful," Freeman said.
According to the commission's report, the white 48-foot 1986 Sportfish had been coming into the inlet in rough seas, returning from a charter with a family of five from Carrollton, Texas, when it hit a large wave.
The boat rolled to the left, nearly capsizing.
Henry, who was on the bridge, was thrown into the water; he struck the boat on the way down, breaking his neck, the report said.
The boat then made a 180-degree turn. Sperling realized no one was steering, took control of the boat, and called for help.
Palm Beach County lifeguards watched as the boat "plunged bow first into the trough and then pitched sideways," a Palm Beach County Ocean Rescue incident report said.
It said two lifeguards "witnessed something falling overboard and suspected it could be a person."
After the lifeguards radioed the boat but got no response, another boater called to say he'd spotted Henry in the water.
The lifeguards went out in a small boat and pulled Henry out.
He was taken to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach. The boat was towed to Palm Beach Inlet.
The five customers had been bounced around by the wave, but were uninjured.
Diane Smith, 40, and sons Jacob, 4 and Ethan, 8, were flung about the cabin and a laptop flew off a table and struck Diane Smith's mother, Evelyn Maughon, 73, in the face.
"(I) saw the deck hand on deck trying to hold on," Diane Smith wrote in the wildlife commission's report. "A few minutes later my husband went upstairs and returned to the cabin and told us the captain was overboard."
Her husband Jeremy Smith, 37, who runs a pool service firm in Carrollton, near Dallas, said from Texas that the trip was the first time at sea for his wife and kids but that Capt. Henry "was super kind to my boys." He described the incident as "pretty scary."
The family landed back in the Dallas area the day Henry died. "That was heartbreaking," Smith said.
Popular fishing charter skipper Thomas C. "Capt. Tom" Henry was responsible for the freak accident Sept. 3 at the Jupiter Inlet that cost him his life, a state investigation has concluded.
Henry, 59, of Jupiter, a popular and accomplished charter boat captain for two decades, died on Labor Day, three days after he fell off his charter boat, the Waterdog.
"Mr. Henry operated the vessel in a careless manner by attempting to drive over the backside of the wave as he approached the inlet," Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission investigator Jon Garzaniti wrote in a report made available Tuesday.
First mate Tim Sperling, 54, disagreed with the finding.
"He was very meticulous and was always paying attention to what was going on," Sperling said Tuesday. "Things happen so fast on the water, a moment of carelessness might be one second."
Henry's widow, Pat, had not yet seen the report, and couldn't comment, Harriet Freeman, her Palm Beach Gardens attorney, said Tuesday.
"She always thought he was more than careful," Freeman said.
According to the commission's report, the white 48-foot 1986 Sportfish had been coming into the inlet in rough seas, returning from a charter with a family of five from Carrollton, Texas, when it hit a large wave.
The boat rolled to the left, nearly capsizing.
Henry, who was on the bridge, was thrown into the water; he struck the boat on the way down, breaking his neck, the report said.
The boat then made a 180-degree turn. Sperling realized no one was steering, took control of the boat, and called for help.
Palm Beach County lifeguards watched as the boat "plunged bow first into the trough and then pitched sideways," a Palm Beach County Ocean Rescue incident report said.
It said two lifeguards "witnessed something falling overboard and suspected it could be a person."
After the lifeguards radioed the boat but got no response, another boater called to say he'd spotted Henry in the water.
The lifeguards went out in a small boat and pulled Henry out.
He was taken to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach. The boat was towed to Palm Beach Inlet.
The five customers had been bounced around by the wave, but were uninjured.
Diane Smith, 40, and sons Jacob, 4 and Ethan, 8, were flung about the cabin and a laptop flew off a table and struck Diane Smith's mother, Evelyn Maughon, 73, in the face.
"(I) saw the deck hand on deck trying to hold on," Diane Smith wrote in the wildlife commission's report. "A few minutes later my husband went upstairs and returned to the cabin and told us the captain was overboard."
Her husband Jeremy Smith, 37, who runs a pool service firm in Carrollton, near Dallas, said from Texas that the trip was the first time at sea for his wife and kids but that Capt. Henry "was super kind to my boys." He described the incident as "pretty scary."
The family landed back in the Dallas area the day Henry died. "That was heartbreaking," Smith said.