Boston harbor boat accident
 

How horribly tragic is this.

Woman's arm severed in Boston boating accident, boater arrested
http://wfxt.m0bl.net/r/25gi58

Booze 'n boats...

13 people . . .
 

is too many people for such a small boat, IMHO. Sad that an impressionable 19 year old lost her arm.

I'm sure his crack team of attorney's will sue Chaparral for capacity limit as did these folks.

http://www.tradeonlytoday.com/2012/0...-prop-lawsuit/

Irony
 

Irony on the name of the boat - "Naut Guilty"

Very sad, I hate even when people are around the propeller when the boat is off!

The owner/Captain is a defense atty. Based on a newspaper report, he also owns at least part of a club in Boston that is under fire for serving minors.

R2B

Based on this, I googled 'naut guilty owner' and came up with this link:

https://www.bostonherald.com/news_op...runken_boating

Sometimes from accidents I figure I can learn something... not so much in this case:

From the article:
owners was 33 and an attorney and one of his areas of expertise is OUI cases.
Boat was not registered
large quantities of alcohol was found on board
refused field sobriety test (all lawyers advise you to do this) four hours later blew breathylyzer of .09
Girl jumped overboard to retrieve a seat cushion about 7:30 PM
13 passengers, 5 were 19 year old girls, a 15 year old boy and other adults 21 to 33 years old.

Woman lost an arm just below the shoulder, also abdomen and face injuries.

Looks like even his documented boat was expired:
http://boatdb.net/boat/naut-guilty-1081663.htm

This is sad story in so many ways.

Rich I think the boat is documented thus not showing bow numbers

This guy is in deep trouble. A young girl is maimed, the defendant is belligerent to the arresting officers, he is over the legal limit 4-hours after the incident, occupation is a OUI/DUI attorney, he has a previous DUI conviction and his boat is named Naut Guilty. Lots of underaged kids on board (15 year old boy and four 19 year old girls) perhaps/likely drinking? I wonder if he will take the stand to represent himself given his experience?

Yes... But I didn't mention no bow numbers, did I?

The linked article mentioned that there was no valid registration. Someone had a link to the documentation on the boat, which you can see via the link, and that documentation is also expired. ;)

Hence, bow numbers or not, there is no valid registration. ;)

EDIT: Oh I just checked that database. I know my documentation is valid as I renewed it this year, but that database shows that I'm expired too, so I retract my comment about his documentation being expired, it may, or may not be. But I think this is the least of his problems right now.

'Naut Guilty' is the name of the boat ...... and as an attorney, the owner/driver chose the name 'Naut' that is a miss-spelling and does not really exist in the English language ..... seems like naming it the 'Knot Guilty' would have been more appropriate considering the very long time historic use of lines and boats; and lines require knots like the bowline, the square knot, and the fisherman's knot, and even the sheepshank knot and the surgeons knot ....... but never and no-way to the naut!

Therefore, for miss-naming his 29' Chaparal 290 Signature cruiser the Naut Guilty as opposed to the Knot Guilty....I hereby find him guilty and sentence him to writing KNOT GUILTY on the blackboard 2900 times with his left hand....so he'll start to find out what it's like to be without a usable right arm..... so be it!

The reference is to "nautical," which is entirely appropriate.

And you calling someone out on their use of the English language is ironic.

latest news
 

what a jerk this guy is!

http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opi...other_asks_for

Not this time
 

Less, this is a tragic event for all involved. Whether they are the victim or the owner and operator of the boat, or their families, their lives are changed forever. It is a sad day and may cause many of us to be more careful when we boat.

I, for one, do not think this is a great story to put humor to.

Latest update: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/20...UyJ/story.html

Mentions that the captain wasn't on the boat when the accident occurred--what type of liability is there for the boat owner if not on deck?

Lots of liability. If you are the captain you shouldn't leave your boat especially when it is full of young and inexperienced kids.

The boat insurance will likely have to pay, but there's no law against a boat owner swimming when there are other people on the boat and he will not likely face any charges if true. Whomever drove the boat into the victim will likely face charges.

Dave

What if it is found that Captain Naut Guilty allowed his boat to be piloted by someone without a proper license? I don't know this to be a fact but if I were a betting man I'd bet that the idiot who had the boat motor running while there were swimmers in the water doesn't have the proper credentials to operate the boat. Further Captain Naut Guilty had an unregistered boat and he allowed heavy drinking on his vessel and many of the kids weren't of legal drinking age. These actions clearly contributed to this tragedy. Dave, I consider you to be the foremost expert on boating on this forum. However, I think you will be found to be wrong on Captain Naut Guilty's liability.

Sounds like a mess . . .
 

Please bear in mind, I have no skin in this game, I am just trying to look at it from a pragmatic point of view based on information provided by news outlets.

The burden of proof of a crime rests with the state and if it's true that the captain was not even on the boat when the accident happened, that makes it impossible to convict him of causing the accident. It's not illegal to own a boat AND be drunk AND be swimming near the boat. It's illegal to operate the boat while drunk and there's no proof he did, if you believe the news reports. One could easily argue that the boat was operated without the captain's permission.

As far as the alcohol goes, he may be charged with providing it to underage people, but that's not nearly as bad as the charges he'd face if he backed the boat over a swimmer while drunk. If the passengers were all over 18, he'd likely just pay a $300 fine, if convicted because the boat is not a business that is licensed to sell alcohol and the crime is just a violation. From what I've read, he was not the only one on board that was old enough to possess alcohol, so he can very likely avoid charges on that too.

If the boat was indeed unregistered, he will likely face a a minor fine.

There were lots of poor decisions made that night, but the state needs to prove guilt of a crime, not poor decision making. They may not even be able to prove who was operating the boat when the accident happened. The key witnesses were all likely drunk and a defense attorney would simply argue that their memories are suspect.

No License required
 

You do not need a boating License in Mass. if your over 17 years of age.

If someone can find a way of keeping alcohol and other drugs away from boaters it would probably take care of a big percentage of the problems on the water.

Alcohol has ruined many lives and will continue to do so because of it's availability.

Alcoholic beverages have almost always enhanced my life. It would be shame to punish those of us that can enjoy them responsibly because some people make bad decisions.

Here's list of countries where alcohol is not very available due to prohibition:

Afghanistan.
Bangladesh.
Brunei.
Iran.
Kuwait.
Libya.
Saudi Arabia.

Which one do you think America should try to be more like?

So has:

Unhealthy food
Tobacco
Electronic games/consoles
Gambling
Porn
Religion

(this is not an all-inclusive list).

At the same time, all of those things in proper moderation (including alcohol) are fairly benign.

I like this guy.

:cheers:

All of these will cause boating accidents and therefore ruin your life?:confused:

The second line of your comment seemed more anti-alcohol in general and not just boating related.

Maybe...just maybe...when all the facts are brought forward, this was just a very unfortunate ACCIDENT?? :eek::eek:

If in fact the lawyer had his boat anchored and he was swimming or floating in a tube 1/8 mile away like the news is now saying, he certainly did nothing wrong by leaving his keys in the boat...(How many of us go swimming with the boat keys in our pockets?? :confused:)

There is absolutely nothing wrong with having alcohol on board even with children as long as the children are not consuming. Its no different than having alcohol in your house with kids.

Maybe someone on board was trying to turn the stereo on and turned the key a little too far beyond the accessory notch while in gear?? I know I have accidentally started my boat (not in gear) by doing this exact same thing.

Now I'm not saying he's not guilty of anything...I'm just saying the news (as well as a few people here) have already hung this guy out to dry without any facts whatsoever. The only facts anyone knows right now is someone lost an arm and that is tragic!

Dan

We also know he is guilty of boating under the influence.

How do we know that? we assume he is, or maybe you know more about the case than I do. I haven't heard any one say he was driving the boat for sure. I hope the guy gets jail time, everything about this guy screams dueche. any 33 year old guy hanging out with 19 year old girls is a loser, I don't care what his occupation is, he's a piece of trash. also it's such a cop out to blame alcohol availability.

Dan
 

How do you know he didn't plan on staying anchored overnight?
This isn't the lake, you CAN do that there.
So maybe he was drinking, but not planning on moving the boat at all.

They found him away from the boat.

Not defending 4 guys in their 30's with a bunch of 19 to 22 year old girls.

But before you lay guilt on him, that might have been the plan.
And I'll bet that's the defense he uses in court.

I think you you should re read my post... You have me confused with someone else maybe?...:confused:

I do agree with you totally!

Dan

Huh??
 

Really? How do we know that?? It has even gone to court yet???

Sheesh!!

Dan

Just to add to this topic the news reported the girl that was severely injured jumped overboard to retrieve something that she dropped in the water.