Tragic boat accident

Bliss36 · **Posted:** Wed Jun 08, 2011 11:45 pm

A local man who just purchased a 33ft Rinker a couple of days ago crashed into the breakwall at the entrance of Burns Ditch at 3am this morning(wed). I can personally attest to how hard it is to navigate this channel entrance at night since it leads to our marina, but what I can't understand is why they were going an est. 30-35mph at 3am! Auto pilot? Drunk? Lack of common sense?

At this point I might normally go on a tirade of boating safety and trying to understand why some people think a 12,000lb piece of machinery is a toy, but I just heard one of the men passed away so I'll take a more somber tone. Here's the story and some pics of them towing it back to the marina.

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/duneland/burns-harbor/article_2052c9c9-2f01-5361-8cd5-cd5a9bbf6816.html

What's really weird is I am almost positive we passed this boat at the mouth of the channel around midnight as we were coming in for the night, and they were heading out.

ridepate · **Joined:** Tue Apr 05, 2011 9:56 pm **Posts:** 220

Probably his first boat......That sucks.

Cap'n Morgan · **Posted:** Thu Jun 09, 2011 6:39 am

Does the breakwall have marker lights along it's entire length ? Or just the red and green lights at the entrance ?

298VISTA2000 · **Posted:** Thu Jun 09, 2011 6:53 am

Ouch!! More evidence of being a newbie given how he tied his fenders for travel. I could only imagine how they were flapping around as he slammed into the breakwall at 35 mph. I guess that could have been where the rescue team boarded but I seriously doubt they would have been too worried about scratching his boat.

jzellers · **Posted:** Thu Jun 09, 2011 7:15 am

Very sad... I'm from Merrillville originally and spent a lot of time on that waterway from the early 70's through the late 90's. Even though the mouth is much better now than it was in the 70's, I still couldn't imagine navigating that entrance at much more than idle at night unless incoming waves required a little extra speed for steerage.

I wonder if he was using his radar. If so, he should have been able to see the wall and perhaps the whole entrance depending on where he hit it.

Bliss36 · **Posted:** Thu Jun 09, 2011 7:20 am

Cap'n Morgan wrote:

Does the breakwall have marker lights along it's entire length ? Or just the red and green lights at the entrance ?

No marker lights along the wall just the red and green entrance lights which are very dim. This entrance is less than a mile from the Port of Indiana which see's alot of comercial traffic, so my theory is these entrance markers are intentionally dim so it doesn't confuse the freighters. You can be less than 100 yards in front of these lights, and still see the Port of Indiana lights better.

Also there is alot of industry concentrated in this area with all of it's lights to add to the confusion. I've made the trip from boaters beach to Burn's ditch countless times at night, and I still have trouble navigating it without help from my gps. I also make the trip at 7 mph since Indiana has a dusk till dawn speed limit of 10mph within 3 miles of shore.

taz42169 · **Posted:** Thu Jun 09, 2011 7:39 am

Ouch. This is very sad and tragic indeed.

ric · **Posted:** Thu Jun 09, 2011 9:35 am

Very sad, but reminds me of this poster:

ulo · **Posted:** Wed Jun 15, 2011 2:31 pm

Word on the street is that boat was brand new. Just purchased at the local dealership. The man who bought the boat went out with an employee from the dealership. The employee was the one that slammed into the wall when the owner went below to take a leak. The owner is the one hospitalized, hopefully he recovers.

Cap'n Morgan · **Posted:** Wed Jun 15, 2011 2:41 pm

Quote:

Lake Station resident Steven Stewart, 39, and Portage resident Raymond Snow were transported to land by 4:35 a.m. Stewart, the boat’s owner, was treated and released from Porter hospital. DNR conservation officer Gene Davis said that both men will be tested for alcohol use. Officials said Stewart had purchased the boat Tuesday.

ric · **Posted:** Wed Jun 15, 2011 3:04 pm

i think the #1 thing people forget to realize is boat's don't have brakes. The girls/buddies I bring out to the lake on my boat are always like "why do you go so slow when docking?" (none have ever been boat owners)

I make them get front rope duty and they have to "attempt" to stop the boat from hitting the dock when going 1mph. They quickly understand newton's laws and how they apply to a 3000lb boat.

Bliss36 · **Posted:** Wed Jun 15, 2011 7:32 pm

ulo wrote:

Word on the street is that boat was brand new. Just purchased at the local dealership. The man who bought the boat went out with an employee from the dealership. The employee was the one that slammed into the wall when the owner went below to take a leak. The owner is the one hospitalized, hopefully he recovers.

I heard the "taking a leak" story also from a guy while I was taking these pics. The boat had a temporary tag taped to the window with a date of 6-30-11 so yes the boat was just bought, but I would guess it was an early 2000's rinker. As Cap' Morgan pointed out the owner is Ok but the the man driving, Raymond Snow was the one critically injured. At one point I heard he had passed, but I was never able to confirm that for sure.

This is a very active port, and I understand these guys were going too fast but this port needs to be better lit! These rocks blend right in with the horizon at night. The entry lights are dim and there is so much light pollution surrounding this area that this is a very confusing port. I have honestly wondered many times how someone who is not familiar with this port could find it let alone safely navigate it.

www.iFourWinns.com

Tragic boat accident

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