Titan

It is hard to keep an eye on the Chart Plotter I guess when there are girls on the boat. But that would assume the operator had the brains to turn the Chart Plotter on.....

livy

You're correct Titan, there was indeed a cooler of beers on the boat, but when a toxicity report comes back as negative, that means that the driver was not drinking. Understand? I am not sure if you're still trying to accuse the driver of being drunk when, clearly, it was proven that he didn't even have one drink.


And as for the GPS, it was on. Since the boat was recently towed from Ft Lauderdale, we had just installed the New England chip that day. The GPS worked fine on the way over, but it would not recognize the chip or show a tracer line on the way back. The driver has been to Claudio's numerous times and is familiar with the area, but no one on the boat was able to locate the single, weak, red flashing bulb located at the tip of the jetty, 1500ft out. I am not making excuses, but clearly there is a problem with this jetty when we are the 8th boat to hit it in 3 years.

As for everyone else, I truly appreciate your concerns. For those who boat in the area, we and others are moving towards getting the jetty lit properly so that no one else will have to face the nightmare that we unfortunately have. Please let me know if you are interested in helping.

Anarchy Powerboats

Really??? man I think they make it tougher, it instantly blows out your night vision and everyone elses around you including your own crew, every amateur in the world uses those on Havasu and it makes it a ***** to navigate. Personally I think knowing where markers are is always better then trying to turn night into day. I hope everyone adopts the new LED technology soon, it's great for nav.

Gilman

If you don't know the waters you are in don't get caught out after hours. If your GPS tracked in you can follow it out. If you had a spot light you coud have seen the jetty.............................. if yo knew it was there! No excuses if it was a true BAL of 0.0

CBR

I stopped driving at night around Freeport NY, after a few near misses with jet skiers running at night with NO lights. The fact that it is illegal does not seem to bother large numbers of jetskiers. Scared the crap out of me. Just not worth having a horrible accident. Good thing I was operating at idle speed in the narrow channel, otherwise the jet skiers would have been dead.

Scott B

He stated the GPS worked heading out, coming back in it quit reading the chip..

Spotlites suck, as stated they totally destroy your night vision..

Titan

Livy

If the operator was not drunk fine. But to me for someone who has been boating in that area since I was 10 years old the Jetty is a stucture that you should know is there. And since the vessels operator knew the waters as you stated he should have known it was there. I mean come on. The jetty is only what less than a 1/4 mile from Claudio's dock. You can not tell me that the operator was not acting carelessly in this situation. And you come on to OSO and want simpathy for the accident. Maybe you need to find different friends who are responsible enough to run there boats at night without having any problems. What is the execuse for not seeing the Jetty? The chip on the GPS was not reading correctly. When you turn on any GPS there is a warning signal that says this tool is to be usued as a navigational aid. A chart of the area would have shown the JEtty. Did you guys have any charts on board that you could have referred to before leaving the dock at running speed??

CigDaze

I'm glad to hear that everyone that was onboard is okay, and well on their way to recovery. That's #1.

It's also releiving to hear that the driver was not drinking.....sadly, it doesn't make one bit of difference to the damn media. They like to paint everyone with a broad brush, and especially go-fast boaters.....Let's face it, We're brash, loud and fast and draw attention wherever we go, and often times conjure up envy and longing, so the pre-disposition to judge will always be there in the media. Azzholes.

In any event, hitting a 1500' jetty despite "[having been to] Claudio's numerous times and [being] familiar with the area," is inexcusable. I'm sorry to say that but it is. Boating at night is a serious matter and it can be very difficult. I've studied human factors as it relates to aircraft, and I'm sure boating has many paralells......the human mind is not well equipped to handle situations such as night boating with limited, and often misleading, sensory inputs. I'm sure we've all experienced the confusion that can occurr with only a slight change in your surroundings that you may[or may not] not expect to see at night - it could be changing city lights, a stationary boat, an unlit buoy, etc......In light of this, the Bottom line is that if one is in doubt or not 110% sure of your position and course - STOP! - and regain your bearings. If everyone knew about the jetty, yet no one saw it, that's an damn good time to stop and figure it out. Otherwise, well we know what will happen...

Sorry for the preaching, but I think night boating is something we all should take more seriously. I try to avoid it all costs, especially with a boat that doesn't do so well going slowly.

Titan

Very well said CigDaze!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sean

glad to hear you are recovering. i boat in those waters on a regular basis and try to avoid doing so at night. the fact is that jetty is VERY poorly lit and something needs to be done about it.

it's a shame, but anytime someone hits that jetty, the assumption is automatically made that they are drunk...past events have proven this...your captain apparently happens to be the exception...