Overturned RIB

[Woodsy]

Originally Posted by Island-Ho

At approximately 10:15pm Wednesday night a go-fast boat (speed unknown) struck Nipple Rock with a big crash , knocking the teat (Flashing Light) off the rock and ejecting the two passengers. The boat continued on at slow speed, circling off the east side of Round Island, for approximately 90 minutes before it was stopped. Now you can continue the rest of the story from the above posts.

Must have been a glancing blow as the boat is still afloat @ MP Headquarters.

Woodsy

[LIforrelaxin]

Originally Posted by Woodsy

Must have been a glancing blow as the boat is still afloat @ MP Headquarters.

Woodsy

I would agree, although I wouldn't be surprised to find out that it wasn't really nipple rock that they hit. There are some other rocks over in that area and if you went to the wrong side of things well there is stuff to hit......

Once they have a report out it should be interesting to read....

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by LIforrelaxin

I would agree, although I wouldn't be surprised to find out that it wasn't really nipple rock that they hit. There are some other rocks over in that area and if you went to the wrong side of things well there is stuff to hit......

Once they have a report out it should be interesting to read....

Definitely hit nipple rock...A close friend spoke to one of the Samaritans who confirmed.

Dan

[ApS]

Originally Posted by Woodsy

Must have been a glancing blow as the boat is still afloat @ MP Headquarters. Woodsy

1) The difficulty in striking Nipple Rock any other way is nearly insurmountable!

2) A perfect direct-strike would be made easier by mounting a flashing light on top of Nipple Rock.

3) Navigating one of these boats is hazardous because the helmsman sits behind an extremely long foredeck, which obscures his (her) vision forward. (And gets even worse when slowing).

4) If the MP rope was intended to "entangle", shouldn't the MPs have been educated to the fact that many boats in this class have rope-cutting "labbed" propellers? (And aren't even safe around flesh and bone--when stopped?)

[Woodsy]

Originally Posted by ApS

1) The difficulty in striking Nipple Rock any other way is nearly insurmountable!

2) A perfect direct-strike would be made easier by mounting a flashing light on top of Nipple Rock.

3) Navigating one of these boats is hazardous because the helmsman sits behind an extremely long foredeck, which obscures his (her) vision forward. (And gets even worse when slowing).

4) If the MP rope was intended to "entangle", shouldn't the MPs have been educated to the fact that many boats in this class have rope-cutting "labbed" propellers? (And aren't even safe around flesh and bone--when stopped?)

I agree that a direct strike on Nipple Rock would be difficult to pull off... as we all know, human nature finds a way!

Navigating a boat like this is no different than any other boat. The slightly longer foredeck is no hinderance to visibility while on plane or while coming off plane. The foredeck can be an issue while getting on plane, but thats one of the reasons why boats like this have trim tabs... to keep the bow rise down while planing off.

Labbed propellers? on a 29' Baja? Highly unlikely given the extremely high cost of labbed prop. ($1500+) Also, for those who don't know what a labbed propeller is, it is basically a stock propeller that has had its blades thinned and trued to pitch. This allows the propeller to have less 'slip" while going thru the water. So while yes they are little sharper than a normal propeller, they can still be entangled with a rope or net.

The real issue here is that the operator wasn't wearing his ECOS lanyard. If they were, the boat would have stopped after they were ejected. I always wear my ECOS lanyard when operating my boat on plane.

Woodsy

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by Woodsy

The real issue here is that the operator wasn't wearing his ECOS lanyard. If they were, the boat would have stopped after they were ejected. I always wear my ECOS lanyard when operating my boat on plane.

Woodsy

Curious how you know this for a fact?…. While I agree that’s what it looks like, I have also seen faulty ECOS switches and have had the need to replace two over my years of boating because they stopped functioning or weren’t reliable….

Let’s wait and see what the final investigation reveals about the root cause as everything else until then is simply assumptions with no basis in fact…

Dan

[ApS]

Originally Posted by Woodsy

The real issue here is that the operator wasn't wearing his ECOS lanyard. If they were, the boat would have stopped after they were ejected. I always wear my ECOS lanyard when operating my boat on plane.

Woodsy

Isn't the real issue here the operator's Failure to Keep a Proper Watch?

[ITD]

Are we going to get the rest of the story here?

[LIforrelaxin]

Originally Posted by ApS

Isn't the real issue here the operator's Failure to Keep a Proper Watch?

APS as with most accidents there are several contributing factors.... I think Woodsy was pointing out that if the ECOS lanyard, the boat being out of control making the situation worse wouldn't have been a problem. There is no doubt that Keeping a Proper watch was a key factor in the accident itself....