Boating Accident - Treasure Island
 

Channel 9 has reported that a boat crashed into rocks near Treasure Island last night.

The report stated that the boats operator from Alton became disoriented when crossing the lake last night. Passengers were thrown forward but no one was seriously hurt. The MP was called.
No on line links at this time.

Boat runs aground in the dark, just off Treasure Island

ALTON — Two passengers in a boat that struck rocks about 50-feet off Treasure Island on Tuesday night were transported to Lakes Region General Hospital in Laconia for treatment. Cynthia Sapier, 36, of Barnstead was said to be suffering from facial lacerations, bruising to her lower torso and possible internal injuries and Ronald Panella, 59 of Alton received facial lacerations and bruises. According to a Marine Patrol report, the two were were in a boat being piloted by Robin Pyburn, 50, of Alton, that was attempting to return to the West Alton Marina. Those onboard apparently became disoriented in the dark and spent several hours trying to find the marina. At about 8:15 p.m., the boat traveled inside a buoy and became grounded on the rocks it hit. Sapier and and Panella were thrown forward at impact, when the sustained their non-life threatening injuries. The Alton Fire Boat responded to a subsequent 911 call and transported everyone to shore. Treasure Island — also known as Redhead Island— is a small island located just east of Sleepers Island.

http://www.laconiadailysun.com/Lacon...2009/10/8L.pdf

I'm always confused by articles written like this. They became disoriented in the dark and spent "several hours" before crashing at 8:15 p.m.?

I know it gets dark earlier now, but geez.

Several hours lost on the lake at night sounds very scary. Thankfully no one was killed in the crash.

I took a wrong turn once coming home from the fireworks. Got disoriented for just a few minutes and it was unnerving. Can't imagine how it feels after hours.

Gps??
 

This is a simple example of how a low cost GPS can be your best friend, especially at night. Don't rely 100% on it, but use it to orientate yourself when needed.

Glad everyone is O.K. as it could have been much worse.

Dan

Type of boat
 

I have not read what type of boat it was, anyone have this info?

Look at this recent crash on Flathead Lake in Montana. A state reps were tooling around wondering why their GPS seemed off when they ran ashore.

http://www.kfbb.com/news/local/63798842.html

So typical
 

of the vast majority of boat Crashes. Nice to see he has tremendous amounts of personal responsibility too:rolleye2:

I couldn't find anything in that story about a GPS, but if in fact true, the good Senator is an idiot! He had a useful tool to help aid him in navigating his boat. He failed to believe what he saw and instead of stopping and confirming he continued on his merry way into the rocks! Not very bright!

Dan

Sorry, Check this account which details the GPS issue.

I had a similar occurrence this summer. Although I did know basically where I was, it was dark and foggy, and I was heading around a large reef. I slowed to headway speed, giving up on the GPS system, except for my tracks. I looked intently for the lighted markers, dim as usual.

Mostly, I was disappointed with the lack of performance on my new GPS.

I also note that he blew a .16 two hours after the accident, which translated into a .19 according to the report. I'm sorry, both numbers are impaired.

Note he was piloting a bowrider as well.

Treasure Island Accident
 

I own the property that this boat hit. From the marks on the rocks, it appears that this could have been much much worse. The rocks that they hit are just at the end of a small peninsula off the east side of Treasure. There is a black buoy just off the point and a flashing red about 100 yds further out. From the marks that I could see it actually looked like the boat was almost heading diagonally away from the island which means they were at risk of hitting the island proper. You can actually see a big white splotch on the rock just off the end of the point if you approach from the south side of the point. Had they been 10 feet to the left they would have hit a large boulder instead of "ramping up" onto the rocks at the they end of the point. Sounds like liquor was a factor according to folks I talked to. Yes it was dark out but the fact that a flashing buoy was close by is pretty damming in my estimation. Assuming that you have a map of the lake in your boat you can always just go headway to the buoy and figure out where you are. Not sure how fast they were going but it was clearly too fast if they were lost. Glad to hear we didn't have another Diamond Island incident.

MisheMokwa

Thanks for the update! Nice to hear from someone who lives there!

Sure sounds like it could have been much worse. They are very lucky!

Dan

Flashing Light
 

I was thinking about the flashing light bouy. Was it active and bright? I use that bouy to navigate from Diamond Island or from Alton Bay. There been years the light is very weak. Is that the case that night?

flashing buoy
 

I was there this weekend and it was active and strong. I come back from Wolfeboro frequently at night and can usually spot it just after coming around Sewall Point.

What a difference
 

"Those onboard apparently became disoriented in the dark and spent several hours trying to find the marina. At about 8:15 p.m., the boat traveled inside a buoy and became grounded on the rocks it hit. Sapier and and Panella were thrown forward at impact, when the sustained their non-life threatening injuries. The Alton Fire Boat responded to a subsequent 911 call and transported everyone to shore. Treasure Island — also known as Redhead Island— is a small island located just east of Sleepers Island."

These boaters "spent several hours trying to find a marina", and were "disoriented" in the dark at 8:15 PM, which is, generously, 2 hours after dark.

This generated less than 15 posts about the accident, and I've not read anywhere anything about the boat or subsequent followups. It sounds innocent enough, but there's nothing more than the original article, which was very weird.

Don't worry, this time next year it will be counted as a high speed accident with multiple serious injuries that could have been prevented....if only....

If only....
 

If only what? If only there was a speed limit? If only people didn't drink while driving on the lake at night? What point are you trying to make?

A recent experiment found that persons whose visual references are minimized and placed into unfamiliar territory, tend to travel in circles.The boaters wanted to return to West Alton Marina. Does West Alton Marina rent boats—and if so—is it too much of a "jump" to think this may have been a rental boat?

If boaters can have their blame for a collision lifted by a restaurant's "over-serving", can marinas be blamed for "over-renting"? :confused:

There is a reference to adjusting "a navigational aid".

The Diamond Island collision outcome would have been different by striking land just a boat's length to the left or right—likewise for the Senator. ("Ramping-up" to the right and, certainly, grave injuries lurking to the left).

http://media.kfbb.com/images/REHBERG%20BOAT.jpg

(But at the Diamond Island crash site, a "landfall" at either abutting residence would have been bad news for residents!)

A quick phone call to the marina would give you that answer. Still waiting for someone to post what type of boat it was.

west alton marine
 

West Alton Marine does not rent boats

:D (to My Knowlege )

Misleading PIC
 

I don't think that picture is the DIAMOND Island site of the Blizzard accident. . Just sayin NB

That's great. But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that you can't spend SEVERAL HOURS wandering around and THEN become disoriented at 8:15 PM. That was a pretty easy point to digest there.



Confused again? Someone could be blamed partially for renting a boat to a party, but the new Boater Training Cert took care of all that :rolleye2: Marinas cannot be responsible for what a boater does After they rent something if operator error was the cause.

Nobody ever lifted anyone's blame for an accident that I know of. Regardless of whether the drunk has become over served at a particular bar or not, it's still his responsibility. The bar is far more culpable if they overserved someone that was Already intoxicated.

We generally reserve the blame for an incident After reports and investigations are done.



We should probably not mention any other accidents in this thread, people are getting :confused::confused: This thread is specifically for an accident that occurred on Treasure Island, and so far, we have only limited information.

...If only...Insert a new crazy law here...

If only boating at night is banned

If only the state would remove those pesky rocks

...If Only...the carnage would end!!! :look:

Can't we have one thread about a boating incident without this crap? APS please remove your misleading photo or at least clearly identify it. It has nothing to do with the topic at hand. Open a thread in the SL forum and make your point.

I'd really like to hear some update about the Treasure Island grounding but I guess now I just have to wait and wade through this.

Your trolling attempts to turn this into an anti-SL thread started at 10:34AM on 10/14. Give it up. Some people just can't leave well-enough alone. I hope that if there is one more mention of the SL in this discussion it will be moved to the Anti Speed Limit section where it belongs.

Aps
 

trolling attempt to turn this thread into a pro-SL is injustifiable. I goes both ways. leave it a rest!

Seriously, in your world sarcastic humor is not allowed? I'm glad I don't live in your world! Lighten up buddy :eek: But I am glad to see that you agree the speed limit law is a crazy law :laugh:

As far as an update on the Treasure Island accident I doubt that you will find much if anything in the papers. No injuries, no serious damage, no one has the resources to follow up on somethnig like that. If you want to know you'll have to do the leg work yourself.

The Perspective from Shorefront...
 

It's directly copied from Lakepilot's link. http://www.kfbb.com/news/local/63798842.html

Like the Diamond Island example, it's only a matter of a few feet to either side how either of these collisions could have been much less injurious—or far worse.

West Alton Marina's website states that they do rent boats.

We agree that "You can't fix stupid"? ('Read that on the Internet somewhere). :emb:

With 253 islands, "running into islands" appear to be one of Lake Winnipesaukee's more common collisions: Just off the top of my head are Parker Island, Camper Island, Eagle Island, Rattlesnake Island (2), Diamond Island—now Treasure Island.

Point 1) Some injuries (and worse) could have been avoided by a boat's-length—others occur by inches. The collision with Treasure Island occurred just after the lake rose 2½ inches.

Point 2) Most islands have residences today. The Eagle Island collision had the boat come to rest next to a bedroom and under their electric powerline. (Trees had to be cut down to remove the boat).

At Diamond Island, where the impact was severe enough to have a deck anchor strike a residence, but an abutting residence is "nestled in the pines" just 50' away.

(Even more exposed is the residence next door—the home of their rescuers! :( ).

Aps
 

Please don't quote me out of context. I posted that link (not the picture) in response to someone wondering about using a GPS for navigation. It was an example of someone on Flathead lake in Montana (not on Winni) that said they ran aground because their GPS didn't work.

Aps........
 

Could you please post the link to West Alton Marina's website because I've Googled it a couple of times now and I haven't found one! Thanks! :)

I am on your side through this, but have to comment that someone does not run aground because their GPS didn't work. The GPS is not what is driving the boat. It is the drivers responsibility to maintain a safe course, proper lookout, etc. I didn't do the research on this to know exactly what happened, but at the end of the day if the visibility is too bad to proceed safely you should not go anywhere, especially fast enough to launch a boat like that.

West Alton website
 

Acres, I also cannot find the website for West Alton Marina, could you please provide that link? Thank you.

I used to slip my boat at West Alton Marina and they do not rent boats and they also do not have a web site.
This sounds like familar propaganda from other threads!

Avert! Avert!
 

Apparently, very few here want to be reminded of that one. :rolleye1:

Normally, I'd check History to find it, but I'm at a different computer, and it's possible that Google lead me astray with this page. There, Google only hints at a WAM website, but this link indicates that WAM will rent boats. :look:

But it's not my copyrighted page—so please don't shoot the messenger. ;)

Yours is the same viewpoint I've maintained for a long time. Blame will be shifted to some failure or another, but we all know who the responsible individual ultimately is.

Their granite outcroppings do seem different than ours. :rolleye2:

I shall endeavor to avert my eyes when possibly seeing pictures that might appear in all future links. ;)

Now that I think about it, I had a marina refuse to rent their 14' Boston Whaler to me. :eek: This occurred after a few seasons of renting from those same folks as a sub-adult—splitting the rental with a friend.

The refusal followed their question, "Where are you going fishing?"

We were definitely out of sight of land where we fished, but we could still see the tops of transmission towers!

I don't know why adults have problems: adult beverages, perhaps? :confused:

The only thing I found on Google was Wolfeboro Bob's post 31 above. If it sounds good and will support your agenda, make it up. There has been a substantial amount of that going on on the SL pro's side for years. The silence is deafening.

So you took the highlighted words of your own Google search (West Alton Rental) to indicate that WAM rents boats and had a website? And the link you provide "proving your point" is just another forum site and not a link to WAM?

Then blame it on the search engine! :rolleye1:

Way to do your research!!! Just keep throwing it out there to see what sticks :O

And I got a real kick out of your RECENT POST of OCTOBER 17 given YOUR attraction to finding and posting photos of pretty High Performance boats doing what you claim to be dangerous things...including one sitting at idle in front of palm trees! LOL LOL :)

GPS Reliability
 

If I'm not mistaken, a GPS either gives you a correct and accurate position within a few yards... OR NO Position at all. If the GPS is a handheld and is used with a solid roof overhead (metal blocks the signal) it will likely lose the signal and you will have NO Position until it re-aquires the signal...which may take several minutes.

I have used a GPS inside the house and it will not acquire a signal through the wood walls, probably because of Foil Backed insulation in the walls...BUT it will see the satellites through a south facing window. Sometimes a GPS will lose the signal out in the woods with a tree canopy overhead. Leaves contain water which can block the signal if there is enough of them...then you will have NO Position. NB