Charter Boat hits a pier in Manistee, MI, one dead

[jimski2]

Heavy fog contributed to a collision with a pier resulting in the death of a 55 year old passenger.

[Landshark]

Must not have had gps. If your anywhere even close to a pier or land why would you be going fast enough for someone to die. Fog= slow the f down

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[Tim Bromund]

Probably DID have gps. My guess is they had the autopilot navigating to a waypoint on the gps and in the haevy fog, didn't realize the angle they were approaching tha harbor and didn't see the pier until it was too late.

If that's what happened, I think it was doubly irresponsible to be running on AP in the fog, but that was just a guess on my part. Could be they were just following the heading on the gps to the harbor. Still should have seen the location of the piers on the chart on the gps though.

I agree, no excuse for going fast enough in the fog for this kind of accident to happen, EVER.

Tim

[on the lam]

In my opinion the appropriate thing to do at this time is to offer condolences to the family of the man who was killed. He was a family man, Marine and corrections officer.

To speculate as to how this "ACCIDENT" occurred is irresponsible. According to all reports the investigation in incomplete, so why should the Captain (who has 25 years of experience in that port) be accused of causing the accident by failing to use his electronics properly, or by speeding?? By doing that you essentially accuse him of killing the man by acting recklessly, which as far as I know is a crime. He doesn't deserve that at this point, and I would hope that the facts will prove otherwise.

Lesson learned, be careful out there.

[Landshark]

I didn't send my opinion to him. I feel terrible for everyone involved but regarless if you are going fast enough in heavy fog for someone to die you are an idiot

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[Landshark]

Is there a link to the story out there in internet land?

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[Miss em]

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/ ... _as_m.html

[on the lam]

I didn't send my opinion to him. I feel terrible for everyone involved but regarless if you are going fast enough in heavy fog for someone to die you are an idiot

Did you ever consider that the man died from drowning after the boat sank, or any other of the hundreds of possibilitys that could have led to his death. Speed may or may not have been a factor. My point is its easy to speculate, but your doing so at the expense of another man who has found himself in a terrible situation that will ruin his life as he knew it, and he has to live knowing he will ultimately bear responsibility in some way by captining a boat on which another man died.

[Landshark]

Yes. I feel awful for him. I feel worse for the family of the man who died. All I am saying is I have seen many charter boat in oswego who have waited to head out because of dense fog. I guess we will have to just wait and see. Til then I hope the other 2 ppl heal.

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[jimski2]

A couple rules to be reviewed are USCG Navigation Rules 6, simply, proper posting of a lookout, radar plotting procedures, visibility, such as fog, being able to stop completely in less than half the visibility distance and use and obervation of fog signals, see also Rule 19. All Charter Boats are required to have a copy of the "Navigation Rules" on board their boat.

[Landshark]

If visibility is less than 100 ft, how fast does a boat need to be going to injure 2 kill 1 and sink? It just looks like human error or judgement but maybe it was mechanical. A tradegy regardless

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[33tiara]

I fish out of Manistee, I awoke at 5 a.m. walked out to the cockpit and at 5:03 I heard what sounded like a cannon. I knew a boat had hit the south wall. I fished all weekend and the fog was extreme many times not more than 30 ft. vis. My heart goes out to all the people involved. No doubt the fog was directly the cause. But come on fishermen you are responsible for the safe operation of your vessel. If you do not have radar which I am sure this charter captain had all of the bells and whistles, you have no business out in the fog. I learned a long time ago when you are out on a clear day and fishing is slow get in to your electronics and learn them inside and out. I often turn on my radar and indentify all of the vessels around me on a beautiful clear day. I watch all of the vessels move so I can reconize exactly what I am reading on the radar. When fishing this past weekend with no visibility I am totally confident navigating the waters. I see every single boat, which way they are traveling ect. The key to being confident is again using these electronic tools on beautiful clear days to make yourself aware as to exactly what you are reading. I believe there are many boaters who have all the bells and whistles who really do not know how to use them correctly. There is no excuse to what happen Saturday morning. That south wall in Manistee shows up on your radar and your GPS more than you can imagine. If you understand your electronics this will never ever happen. The key is understand your electronics on clear days, understand the vessels moving around you. When that fog sets in you will feel confident navigating the waters. Do it often when the fishing slows down. On saturday night it was perfectly clear and within 15 minutes the fog set in and you could not see 50 feet. If you do not understand your electronics there are great tutorial CD's available online which is how I learned to use my Ray Marine equipment. So boaters on clear days practice with your equipment so when visibilty is limited you are proficient using them. It may save a life. This particuler incident no doubt was the lack of a captain not paying attention to his electronics, being overly confident and to complacent. Now the poor guy has to live with one of his good friends passing away for the rest of his life. Not to mention his loved ones missing him. This is absolutely totally avoidable. It happens every single year on the south pier of Manistee Harbor. Understand your electronics.

[goin deep]

Here's the latest:

http://www.upnorthlive.com/news/story.aspx?id=460622

Brian

[jimski2]

Money is the cause of the accident and will be the result of the Court Actions from it. Some days you have to just wait and sit, not take chances for the money.

[Richard Bullen]

Had CN FISH on my backside didn't notice him till I heard engine torquing up looked back he was in full reverse just inside mexico Wall. They do say on the GPS gear it's to be used as guide it's not an avoidance device. Look in front of you like us smaller guys do.