Just stopped by for a drink.. OOPS

[IRGuy]

A 39' Seavee runs up the beach and into a bar..

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/2818 ... kin-marina

[Pete Fallon]

IR GUY,
Another case of electronic control failure? or just too much to drink. Either way it's not going to be pretty, DUI, OUI or failure to maintain safe speed. Insurance premiums going way up. Still freezing my butt off up here in the Northeast 10 degrees at this time going to go down to minus 8 tonight with wind chills tomorrow in the 20 to 30 below zero range. I can't wait until spring , which will be sometime around the Fourth of July maybe.

Pete Fallon

[IRGuy]

Pete...
I lifted this from THT.. according to a poster there it was very foggy most of the day.. and a witness said the boat was going much too fast. Even if there was a failure of some part of the control system that doesn't absolve the operator from not following the first thing they taught us in the captain's license course... "In times of reduced visibility, REDUCE YOUR SPEED!". Apparently the boat had to travel through the weeds and mud in quite a bit of shallow water before it hit the beach, adding to the speed question.

If you look carefully at the pictures you can see that if it wasn't for the strength of the forward part of the tower the occupants of the boat could have been decapitated by the edge of the roof. They really are lucky.

Down here in NC we have been lucky.. temps were in the teens at night off and on for the past week or 10 days, but only rain.. tomorrow we are supposed to have freezing sleet, so most of the schools are closed. I lived in Beverly, MA, for 30+ years.. and I hate snow.

Next week I see my ortho surgeon for a follow up to my knee replacement.. no real problems as far as I can tell, but if I sit with my foot flat on the floor and wiggle my knee back and forth left to right I can feel and hear something loose moving back and forth. I have almost no pain any more, more like an occasional twinge. I had to go to the county courthouse last week, and tripped the metal scanner each time I went through it. I hope yours finally gets settled once and for all.

[Bruce]

Another owner with a pocket full of money but yet not a decent brain cell to be found.

What was the first clue? 4 - 300hp engines on the back of a 39' boat. Hey look at me I go fast........right into the side of a building because I couldn't see due to fog because my instruments lag behind because I go so fast time actually vortexes and I get caught in a warp.

No failure of controls here except the one between the ears.

[Carl]

So the witnesses said he was going fast...thank god for that insight.
I feel like I was there after hearing that highly descriptive eyewitness account.


I can't wait to hear just how fast authorities think this guy was traveling to go that far up the beach and still have enough juice built up to go that far into a structure. So lucky people were not killed...God protects drunks and fools.

[TailhookTom]

"Just add alcohol" Damn, that just leaves me speechless.

Tom

[jspiezio]

The father is also an idiot in this scenario. Who let's a 19 year old boy take a group out on a boat like that, let alone in the fog. That is terrible judgement.

[TailhookTom]

The father is also an idiot in this scenario. Who let's a 19 year old boy take a group out on a boat like that, let alone in the fog. That is terrible judgement.

Did I miss something? Where did you see a 19 year old operator?

Tom

[Bertramp]

You guys are so harsh ..... he just wanted to "wet sand" the boat bottom !! .... and get it done quickly .......

[Dug]

That sure is how I read it! LOL!

[Bertramp]

Years ago, just inside of Shinnecock inlet, I missed a marker (idle speed) and got into some water (or lack there of) in a place where i didn't belong. My props were unharmed, but boy were they polished ...looked like gold !!

[IRGuy]

Running aground is nothing to be ashamed of.. I suspect most of us done that on occasion.. I know I have.. but running into a building 50 feet from the water's edge.. now that is something to reflect on!

[Chanse]

I'm in the area where this happened. It was foggy all day, at times it looked as though it might burn off
but then would get thicker, very heavy later in day and toward evening, He had to left in the in the fog.
I'm liken Bruce's post on this one. Looks like the ass covering equaled the speed of the boat also.

[Chanse]

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission Tuesday charged the boat captain who was operating the vessel that crashed through the back of a restaurant in Ruskin.

Matt Santiago, 31, was cited with reckless operation. A day earlier, he was captaining a boat that carried seven people when dense fog rolled in. FWC investigators said the boat went up the beach before slamming into Sunset Grill.

"It was clear one minute and then foggy the next," said Tim Sanborn, who saw it all happen. "I just happened to be sitting there next to the shack where they rent out the water craft and got up to go to the men's room and the next thing I know, I heard the crash."

A large crane was brought in late Tuesday afternoon; it'll be used to remove the boat on Wednesday. The vessel is owned by one of the passengers and, according to FWC, is valued at roughly $500,000.

Dozens of boaters, residents and tourists have stopped by the scene to survey the damage to the restaurant, of which a cost has not been pinpointed.

"It's disillusioning because our son is here from Michigan -- first vacation he's had in 10 years and we were going to bring him here," said Michele Welch, who is visiting from out of town.

Investigators said they're trying to determine whether Santiago was going too fast, but think they have a better idea what happened.

"It appears the operator was traveling the channel directly towards the restaurant and unfortunately failed to make the turn," said FWC Officer Baryl Martin.

Santiago has faced six previous citations for minor boating violations. FOX 13 tried to contact him but our calls were not returned.

[jspiezio]

Did I miss something? Where did you see a 19 year old operator?

Tom

Tom- I read that from someone in the area and I convoluted it into having been in the article. But in fact it wasn't in the article, and probably wasn't true. The captain appears to have been a fairly well known charter guy from the area.

[Rawleigh]

"Santiago has faced six previous citations for minor boating violations. "

I think we are beginning to get the picture here. As suspected, more money than sense!

[Chanse]

The charter boat Captain Santiago who ran aground and into a restaurant Monday has been cited for reckless operation of his 39-foot boat in dense fog.
Captain O'Riordan says the crash never should have happened. He knows in the fog to rely on his GPS and ease up on the gas. "In the fog, I back way, way down. We were at an idle at some points out there". Captain O’Riordan was fishing in the same area.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission investigators say Santiago with the Tampa Bay Fishing Guide Association didn't do that. FWC adds Santiago had both GPS and radar on the boat, yet headed right for the restaurant.
Records show Santiago has been fined for speeding through a manatee zone, not having proper safety equipment on board, and operating with an expired license.
The Coast Guard will determine whether his captain's license will be revoked.

IMHO He should lose his license and never be allowed to obtain one at any future date. I have seen to many Incompetent operators panic, sound no signals and speed in foggy conditions. He as an experienced Captain should realize the danger that puts his passengers and others in. If he doesn’t know that by now He never will. Yea can’t fix STUPID.

What do you guys think? Do you think guys like this should have a license to carry passengers for hire?

I held my license for 25 years before letting it expire, and still retain many other credential, never been aground In 60 yrs. boating. Seen many, never saw one that could not have been avoided especially with modern GPS/radar and toss in some basic common sense and an awareness of others.

[Tony Meola]

He had to be moving. Looking at the marks in the sand, it looks like the boat stayed right on the keel and didn't even lean over when she hit the beach.

Fog is no joke. Been stuck in it, did not like it, and it took us 5 hours to go 7 miles. Ran shallow because we missed the buoy that we should have turned north up the bay. Then took an hour trying to figure out how to back our way out into deeper water.

He should have his licensce lifted for good. Sounds like they should have done it a long time ago.

However, as a paying customer, thinking about mine and others safety, I would have told him to back off. Obviously they had no sense either.

[TailhookTom]

[/quote]

Tom- I read that from someone in the area and I convoluted it into having been in the article. But in fact it wasn't in the article, and probably wasn't true. The captain appears to have been a fairly well known charter guy from the area.[/quote]

No worries, I thought I missed somethind and wondered if there was a parent whose head was so far up their butt that they would give a 19 year old the keys to that rig.

Tom

[Bruce]

Tom- I read that from someone in the area and I convoluted it into having been in the article. But in fact it wasn't in the article, and probably wasn't true. The captain appears to have been a fairly well known charter guy from the area.

No worries, I thought I missed somethind and wondered if there was a parent whose head was so far up their butt that they would give a 19 year old the keys to that rig.

Tom[/quote]

Welcome to Florida boating. Not uncommon to see a decked out CC boat loaded with teenagers.

[Carl]

No worries, I thought I missed somethind and wondered if there was a parent whose head was so far up their butt that they would give a 19 year old the keys to that rig.

Tom

Oh yeah, cause this 31 year old "Adult" was so much better...

I may have been a reckless teen in my "yut" (my cousin Vinny) but don't recall being that outright stupid...running full bore in the fog...

Then again...different areas. Up here that would be lunacy...but I hear in Florida that Radar is so you can "run" at night and see the cans. Too busy up here for that...maybe I'm wrong.