Near miss boat between Tug and its tow
- Thread starter SpringFever552
- Start date
SpringVelocity
Crew Member
God people are stupid.
Lobster Boy
New Member
There was a fatal accident some years back (1999?) when a pleasure boat with 15 or so people on board did just that in English Bay on a fireworks night. Five people died.
The boaters in the video above were very lucky...
The boaters in the video above were very lucky...
Chasin' Dreams
Well-Known Member
May have been someone running a jet and not a prop. I've seen a few Sea Doo jet boats in the salt chuck lately around False Creek and West Van. Not too fun when they suck sea weed up the intake though. But there are some of them around. Even if so, still a very stupid maneuver but there's no shortage of stupid out there.
fishin solo
Crew Member
no surprise there ..... too many idiots out on the water.... should make a boating license somewhere along the lines as to getting a car drivers license....... if the penalties are the same as on the road then why not make the boat test the same? you get a dui on the water you lose your bcdl anyways .... time for this country to wake up and open their eyes....
walleyes
Crew Member
But when's the last time you've heard of anybody getting a dui on the water. Drinking and boating are promoted even encouraged on most places. We rarely see a pic with out some sort of alcohol drink in it. Then we wonder why we have so many stupid things happening on the water lol. And hey I'm not innocent of it myself back in the day I did my fare share as well. And yah I know,, everyone can have a drink and not screw up,, yet we have so many screw ups out there lol, it's never the guy that's doing it, that is the guy doing it. If that's makes sense.
It can and unfortunately rarely happens - where the RCMP Marine division catches a drunken idiot driving a boat - and he gets a DUI and simultaneously looses his BC driver's licence.
I agree Walleyes - the mindset needs to change. When I was a kid - everyone drank and drove - admittedly stupidly. It took a generation or 2 to change that mindset - along with some serious consequences and enforcement.
Not sure why some people don't understand that driving a boat is generally even more serious than driving a vehicle, terrestrially. Guess it's lack of experience.
Yes, the speeds on most boats are less than that of a car (normally) - but you can't walk on water when your boat sinks (unless you are Jesus - of course) - you can't breathe the stuff like a fish does - and help can be a long ways off - if at all. No room for stupid.
The driver should always be sharp, aware - and thinking. Not seeing any "thinking" in this video. The idiot could - and should have - gone out and around at a safe distance. The cable attaching the tug and tow likely was lower in the water - due to the lower speeds when towing - in a harbour. He got lucky.
If his boat had of stalled then - that barge would have rolled over top of him - and likely would have sank him. He - and the unfortunate passengers he might of had onboard - got lucky. next time - maybe not so lucky.
Thanks for sharing, SpringFever!
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fogged in
Well-Known Member
Had a guy years back try the same trick, he hit the cable with his prop, flipped his boat, and he drowned as a result
Looking at that video, I would guess there was not much clearance between his prop and the tow cable.
It\ll be interesting to see how this one plays out: http://thechronicleherald.ca/metro/1494131-impaired-operator-runs-boat-aground
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