Christmas tradegy on the Bay

limeydal · 26 December 2009, 04:58

Sickening ,needless accident on San Diego Bay.

http://www.fox5sandiego.com/news/ksw...,2981579.story

All reports seems to point at the USCG vessel operating at unsafe speeds at night,at a crowded event.
Three agencies investigating and will be interesting to see what comes out of this.

Horrific for the families involved and thoughts are with them in this difficult time
Dal

Hightower · 26 December 2009, 14:00

Very Sad.

jyasaki · 26 December 2009, 20:52

I saw that in an on-line newspaper when it was first reported.

Tragic events.

Never seen one of the 33' CG SAFE Boats: Station Monterey and Sector San Francisco run the 25's as far as I know.

jky

limeydal · 27 December 2009, 01:33

JKY,
I have been out on these events several times in the past.
Gave up on them, as really scary to see guys who don't boat very often ,hurtling about the Bay in the dark.

Never imagined though,that it would be the Coast Guard who would be the one's involved in the collision !
Seems they ran right up the stern of the family boat, scattering the 12 people onboard.

I have noticed a change in attitude, since they came under the wing of "Homeland security" though.
Seems less caring and helpful and more thinking everyone is out there with bad intentions.
Have seen several times CG boats approaching at high speed (fully armed and machine guns manned ) to intercept "family boaters" who committed minor violations.

I know they have to be extra careful ,due to the crazy times we live in, but really!!!!
Sad ,Sad times,
Dal

Hightower · 27 December 2009, 22:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by limeydal

JKY,
I have been out on these events several times in the past.
Gave up on them, as really scary to see guys who don't boat very often ,hurtling about the Bay in the dark.

Dal

The exact same reson I give the Cowes week Fireworks a miss every year. I'd love to go back again, but just too many idiots on the water in one spot for my liking. Bad enough in the daylight, but in the dark....Forget it! The Coast Guard now impose a 15 knott speed limit for that whole Area of the Solent after several big accidents in recent years, but it's still too dodgy in my opinion.

jyasaki · 28 December 2009, 03:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by limeydal

JKY,
I have been out on these events several times in the past.
Gave up on them, as really scary to see guys who don't boat very often ,hurtling about the Bay in the dark.

Know what you mean: I am sometimes out on the SF Bay for 4th of July (sorry, my Brit friends), New Years (if I'm not diving), or KFOG radio station fireworks shows (some of the best displays I've seen.

The number of unlit, no-lookout, drunk, clueless, or all-of-the-above boaters is amazing.

Quote:

I have noticed a change in attitude, since they came under the wing of "Homeland security" though.
Seems less caring and helpful and more thinking everyone is out there with bad intentions.
Have seen several times CG boats approaching at high speed (fully armed and machine guns manned ) to intercept "family boaters" who committed minor violations.

I agree; though, to be fair, their mission changed somewhat at the time of the name change.

Please keep us up to date on any developments in the investigation of this tragedy (though I'm pretty sure the outcome is pretty well written already.)

If you hear anything about a memorial fund or the like, please let us know.

Have a good New Years;

jky

Maximus · 28 December 2009, 09:58

How tragic.Thoughts with the parents.

limeydal · 04 July 2010, 07:25

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2...er-boys-death/

Just awaiting the court martial stage now.

Poly · 04 July 2010, 08:55

Limey - do you think they'll get charges to stick with 4 of them accused. I can imagine that their defences will all accuse each other. The skipper will either say he did appoint lookouts or that he was being directly supervised by his superior who didn't intervene. The senior officer will say he wasn't driving the boat so wasn't directly responsible, and the two "lookouts" will say they weren't given any specific instructions.

limeydal · 05 July 2010, 23:44

Will be interesting to see what happens.
Strange case, as they had literally thousands of people at the Bay watching.
Many had seen them "zipping " around at high speed ,which seemed highly dangerous given the conditions.(crowded Bay at night )
Then they said they were responding to a boat "aground" which is hardly an emergency or life threatening situation here in an enclosed Bay.

I have heard many locals say how the role and attitude of the Coasties has changed the last few years. It sometimes appears they are so intent on enforcing rules, they forget it's "us" they are supposed to be protecting.

Also I can't believe, how these "fast boats" operate in the Bay, is a surprise to their superiors. I will be amazed if they leave it at the crew level and don't point to a training fault at a higher rank.

Sad all around ,
Dal