Crashed Patriot
 

Anyone on here crash their lightning last night on the Thames river in new London Connecticut? Looks like a 35 or 38 with patriot graphics. Pretty bad beak damage , possible total. They just plucked it off the beach about an hour ago. wish I had the skills to attach photos , can be seen at "the day.com".

http://www.theday.com/storyimage/NL/...3.jpg&Maxw=960

this?

Yes , thanks Phragle!

Ouch!

Came into the Slip a Little Hot , I would say.

Looks like the front fell off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m5qxZm_JqM

deBEAKED......

Wasn't there a similar one here for sale? May be an Insurance job?? Just food for thought...

Obviously a Fountain Wannabe with a cardboard or cardboard derivative Beak added.

Looks like a brother to the one 315 duramax owns.
Should be finished in about a week.............

RR

Definitely have not seen that boat around ... lots of rocks in the river, gotta be very careful and use your GPS, although wouldn't expect that at the river's mouth ... I'll have to get the story on it later this morning ... that's gonna put a damper on somebody's boating season!

the boat struck a bouy coming back from montauk. It is not the same boat that is for sale. That is a friend of mines boat. His is a 35' with 500efi's. Similar paint job. But don't they all.

These pics were posted on facetwitterspacegram.

He did it up good....but if you're gonna crash your beak, why EVEN phuck around?

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...7a&oe=57C4C7D3

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...40&oe=57D384B0

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...76&oe=57E3CB63

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...c9&oe=57D69FB3

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...b5&oe=57E7FF08

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...1c&oe=57D349C2

those guys are lucky to be alive. That's not a good site to see

That buoy was already slightly damaged from an incident with a ferry a few years ago but not quite that bad. Was it due to darkness or inattention? Coming soon to a salvage auction near you ! Feel bad for the owner .

https://www.facebook.com/seatoweaste...28866317139036

SeaTow reports it as a 38,

A few years back the same exact thing happened right In front of my house in the shipping channel on the st Lawrence, he hit a channel bouy exactly like that one in the dark. The boat was a 280 power quest. Almost the same damage. Huge hole in the front and a drive ripped off. They were able to nurse it down river about another 2 miles and get it out of the water before it sunk.

Any word on the driver's condition?

38 has 6 vertical supports on bow rails. 42's have 7 and and I think 35's have 5.

Someone go to the buoy and retrieve it's beak !!!

Looks like the rocks on the way to the beach finished the job. 30' boat for sale needs fiberglass repair. Hope all are ok.

it looks like it was a 32 but is now a 27 ya hope all ok

Was that bouy lit?

Did the drive maybe fail first. Looks like scrape marks under the hull but hard to tell where they came from.

I would like to think I am immune from something like this happening to me but in realality it could happen to anyone. Just glad everyone is ok.

Take a close look at that drive... It split lower in half, no prop, shaft, everything missing...

that sucks...

Would be interested to know if this buoy was lit.

The buoy being lit is really of no consequence. Obviously he was going to fast for the conditions. It's sad to see but totally self inflicted. If you look at a chart it will tell you if the buoy is supposed to be light, the color, the flash pattern. The local notice to Mariners published weekly would advise if the light was out. Of course only if it had been reported/noticed.

What if mechanical failure caused the accident?
What if he was avoiding another boat or something else in the water?

I don't think we can call it self inflicted, given the lack of details that exist here or on on FB; at this point.

It is a charted lit buoy, you can tell by looking at it, but was the light out, was really my question. Either way, it's harsh to jump to the conclusion that it was operator error without knowing the story. If he was running 70kts in the dark, sure that's reckless, but if he hit this buoy at 20kts and it wasn't lit, that's a different story or if he maneuvered to avoid something and hit an unlit buoy... If it were me, I wouldn't play judge, jury and executioner off some photos and a story in the New London Day.

I almost clipped one 15yrs ago lack of attention on my half. Would of bin bad but was only doing 15mph.

+1. I was looking at my GPS to set my course and almost clipped one. I was doing about 15 as well.

Hit a buoy sideways with my car. Put it up on it's side for few. Ripped a good gash thru both doors on passeneger side and left a huge red stripe down the side. Fellow workers that Monday morning couldn't understand how I hit a buoy in my car. It was February. Duh !

Thank god ours aren't like the one's in the picture. Our our mostly thick 4 sided wooden poles.

I can absolutely call it self inflicted. If he avoided another boat and wrecked into a buoy he was going to fast for the conditions. A good captain always has his vessel ready to safely maneuver to avoid collision or allision. The coast guard tends to agree with me. Basically if you are not moored there usually something you could have done to prevent it from happening. What mechanical failure causes you to hit a buoy? I will
Never ride with you.

I never debated if it's charted. I hold a 1600ton masters license. The light can be extinguished and many are. The local notice to Mariners published weekly would tell you that. Based on the dance to the vessel he didn't hit it at idle speed. That means he was going to fast. If he was plane at night without radar he's going to fast. I do that too and if I hit something lot or not it's purely my fault.

I've been lucky where as I was almost hit by a boat with it's lights off while we where rafted, and I almost hit one (it had ni lights on and was travelling at us) at speed, in which I had to swerve to wrong side of buoy. Could have hit it easily. Just missed it.

Call those my fault and I'll hit you with a buoy. LOL.

One night , in that same spot, on the other side of the channel , the side you are supposed to be on when returning, ( hitting the green buoy means you are on the wrong side of the channel when returning, just sayin ), my gps said I was well clear of the buoy when in reality I passed by it at 50mph , it was about 15' off my starboard side. Point is , buoy's get moved when they are repaired or for whatever reason the coast guard deems necessary. If your gps map isn't current ( as was the case for me that night) you could be in for a big surprise . I try to be on the lift by dark now, washing her down and having a beer, since that night.

Relying solely on the plotter is not a very smart thing to do. I'll plotter only shows you where things are supposed to be. It is an aid to navigation nothing more. Radar shows you where things actually are and that is what makes it far superior to a plotter for Night running. Not to mention at night you should also run slower speeds. If it is pitch black you should not be on plane.

I don't agree at all, but this solely depends on your knowledge of the area, the area itself and etc.Definately something it takes years of practice/knowledge, etc.

Fog, heavy dew - where you can't see any other vessel lights or etc, I totally agree. Suks when this sneaks up on you. Any chance of this and I stay in.

If it's pitch black no moon light or backlights and you're in plane you are an idiot. Asking for trouble. Even with a plotter. A plotter only shows what is supposed to be not what is actual.

I'm not questioning your navigational intelligence, I'm questioning whether a buoy had a functioning light or not. On a dark night, 5kts or 70kts, unless you have radar, you're not seeing an unlit buoy. Yes, he hit the buoy...probably over 20kts, and no matter the reason, he'll most likely be held accountable for it. I'm just curious how it happened, like most other ppl on here and I'm not pointing the finger at the guy because god forbid, it could happen to most anyone.