Stupid Boater

[mike ohlstein]

A little something from Tommy Drake...

Oregon (KGTV) - A video of a crash last summer in Oregon is going viral; it
shows a motorboat plowing into a fishing boat with three individuals
onboard.

According to Pacific Northwest News:

"A GoPro camera mounted to the Weldcraft fishing boat captured the frantic
seconds as (a) motorboat speeds directly at them."

The accident left all three people, Bryan Maess, an off-duty Hermiston
police officer, Christopher McMahon, 46, a law-enforcement co-worker, and
another friend, Roni Durham, 57 aboard the boat with injuries.

The boat driver, Marlin Lee Larsen, 75, who uses a motorized scooter to get
around, was accused of multiple crimes after telling investigators he was
unable to see where he was driving because he was sitting down and the dash
of his boat was blocking his view.

The lawsuit was filed earlier this month and claims Larsen was boating while
distracted by his cell phone on the morning of August 12, 2017, near the
mouth of the Columbia at the Pacific Ocean, just east of Fort Stevens State
Park.

[PeterPalmieri]

I've seen this one. No time to prepare to abandon ship, this is why my ditch bag, and throw-able are left out on the fly bridge unsecured at all times and offshore life jackets out of the cabin for everyone on board.

You can complain all you want about the guy not paying attention but it could just as easily have been someone who had a medical issue.

I was recently talking to a friend who said he now wears an inflatable vest at all times. He recognized if he goes overboard the chances of his wife and kids being able to recover him are slim to none..

[Tommy]

You are correct, Peter; whether a medical condition, a distracted skipper or stupidity, we have to be prepared for the unexpected. In this case the skipper admitted that he "could not see over the dash"; which begs to ask why he was running at such a high rate of speed (hence my Stupid Boater title). The reason I asked Mike to post it was to remind all of us of the obvious: do NOT assume the other boater sees you. Amazing that the victims had two cameras focused on their fishing action; and amazing that no one got killed. I am impressed that they all bailed when they did as some people will freeze up in that situation.

[MarkS]

Nothing gets you motivated like a spining prop.....

[ktm_2000]

sad part, I've almost got run down by a blow boat under sail. Had my family out and was drifting for fluke, we were sitting in chairs facing to the stern. I didn't hear them come up as the sail boat was under sail, I heard a woman laugh, stood up and saw the bow of the boat less than 25 yds away, thank god the engines were still running and I punched it in gear and hit the air horn. They missed clipping my stern by a couple feet.

If I didn't stand up, they would have hit us

They had no idea I was there, It was light wind and they had their big genoa out which they couldn't see out their port side easily. The 4 people were on board drinking wine and eating cheese got offended when I started screaming at them. They thought since they were under sail they had the right of way and I should have moved out of their way.

I lost my mind and bad things would have happened if my blow boat parents weren't with me that day.