Power boat hits swimmer

Dont they have yellow swimming bouys guarding the beach in the UK, like they do in Spain etc? If not, it's about time they did!!!
 
I can see an increase in these accidents happening in the next year or so, as there has been a lot more powerboats on the water this year, presumably from the windermere boating scene, who have decided to venture to new areas, the mooring area where i am, is starting to become intolerable with an increase in large wash every 15 minutes....

I am expecting to start to see speed limits put in place in areas you would not of expected a few years ago.....
 
If the boat was doing a stupid speed close to a holiday beach, I hope the skipper gets a big enough fine that the boat has to be sold.

Of course, it's always possible that the boat was navigating with caution outside the marked swimming area and the swimmer was being stupid, but somehow, I doubt it.
 
It had to happen .........

Many time you see speedboats etc. launched of beaches ... with swimmers etc. around ....

Not all beaches are manned to stop this. As people get more time off - thoughts turn to hobby's etc. - cheap speedboats ertc. are available to the 'unwashed' ......

I am not condemning motor boats far from it ... as there stupid people on sail as well as power .... there is no exclusivity to it.

But many non-boaters go for motor withoutr a clue of what they should do ....

I have a set of photos of a 4x4 trying to recover a speedboat in Cornwall .... a) the 4x4 siunk its wheels into the sand trying to pull trailer and bota out, b) then they tried a rope to the trailer from the 4x4 - it was literally string ... twang and bust !! ... c) they tried again direct hitched 4x4 to trailer .... this time 4x4 up to doors in water !!!!

All the time swimmers and sun-bathers all around .... in the end a bunch of volley-ball guys broke off from the game and pushed the boat and trailer up the beach for the guy ....

To crown it all .... about 200 yds of to the side was a slipway !!! and yes yellow markers showing swimming area cordoned of.
 
We were witness to the rescue activity invloving the helicopter and the RNLI rib. The rescue took place about 100/150 mts out at the southern end of the beach. The beach is patrolled Abersoch shore patrol and has designated areas. From the North to South, the first area is swimmers only; no boats allowed. We did not see any boats in this area. The next stage is for general boat launching and the South end of the beach is the Jet Ski area. There is a line of buoys about 200/300 mts out, parellel to the shore, which marks the speed limit inshore. Certainly everone kept to these areas when launching but there was a bit of cross over between Jet Skis and power boats off shore. The incident took place in the jet ski area.
Since this was our first visit we were keen to familiarise ourselves with the system. It was obvious that the biggest danger would be people in the water so took care to be aware of this but, given the amount of chop in the bay we would have been very surprised to see any one swimming that far out. In the boat launch area there were very few people swimming/playing in the water. Obviously the boat driver is at fault (same as if you hit a pedestrian on the road) but I would not have permitted any of my family to swim in that area.

I am Windermere refugee (with some experience of Scottish Lochs & West coast) and agree that there is bound to be a knock on effect of the speed ban on Windermere due to dispacement. However, general affluence means that there are more and more boats about.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Of course, it's always possible that the boat was navigating with caution outside the marked swimming area and the swimmer was being stupid, but somehow, I doubt it

[/ QUOTE ]

generous of you to at least grant the possibility ..........
 
David,

They do usually enforce them in Abersoch, lots more than they used to do.

Ironically the Beach Patrol guys in Abersoch use jet skis as well as land based vehicles and a boat.

I did not see this accident (I did however see the helicopter circling for what seemed like ages) but was on Abersoch main beach on Saturday and the speed limit, as well as the no boats in the swimming area seemed to be enforced and generally adhered to too.

Until you get the full facts it will be difficcult to see whats what, but as has been said if you are driving a boat near a beach it really is your responsibility to keep clear of the swimmers - if you can't do that then stay well out.
 
Re - beach patrols

I'll take your word for it as I haven't anchored up there for a month or so, but I have seen so many craft blasting about inside this zone (this year) that I now won't let my kids swim in this area at all.

What role does the 'Patrol boat' moored at the marina play in this?

PS - The chopper lowered a guy onto the boat and then cirled while he was waiting for the casualty to be given aid, then whe she was ready she was lifted off.
 
Re: Re - beach patrols

Ah, that makes sense - the helicopter that is - he was milling around for ages though, wasn't he?

I am surprised about you seeing boats in the cordoned off zone, although when we nipped onto the beach on Saturday to get and ice cream the beach patrol were sat right next to it, which would make most people behave. It is probably different when they are not around.

Perhaps as is mentioned above, they'd be better off cordoning it off all the way round, rather than just at the sides, and using floating rope - that would certainly stop anyone going in there.

As for the patrol boat, you are right, it doesn't get much use does it? They seem to use the jet ski around Abersoch loads more although I have seen the patrol boat out a few times, but only on the really, really busy summer weekends.

On another note, do you think it has got much busier post Windermere? Was hard to judge this weekend, but over the last Bank Holiday there were more boats out than I had seen for years, perhaps ever.

If you want some p&q your should try some of the bays on the North side of the peninsular. We went around to Porth Iago on Sunday and not only were we the only boat there, but we only saw about 7 other boats all day, until we returned to Porth Ceriad. It was however at least 5 degrees cooler on that side, but on Sunday that was no bad thing.

The only downside is that would be a long day and an early start, for you but that's a whole other debate!!
 
Traffic

Not sure whether it is busier or not on the water, there seem to be more boats launching from the harbour side, but I suppose the Park & Launch lads would know what the demand levels are. Bluewater extended recently so maybe that was in response to demand.

Nice idea to go round the north side but as you guess it is a marathon for us and my two want to go where all the action is. Went to Bardsey on Saturday (3.5 hours!) and it was serene!

In general not bothered about the numbers, just get concerned by some of the dangerous antics from the 'where do I sign (finance agt) and where's the throttle?' brigade.

Is there any news/detail on how the accident happened?
 
Don't often look at FibNet but, interestingly, this thread indicates that the person injured was climbing out of the water into the boat and was thrown back in, and injured by the prop, because the engine was accidentally put into gear.

So, most of the debate and speculation about who was where - and whether they should have been there or not - is a bit academic. But it's a nasty reminder of what can happen if you have somebody in the water at the stern of the boat, with your engines running, even if they're in neutral...............
 
Re: It had to happen .........

<<I am not condemning motor boats far from it ... as there stupid people on sail as well as power .... there is no exclusivity to it.>>
Good point Nigel, but it's quite a bit easier to kill someone with a power boat just because of the power and speed concerned.
 
Tricky one this...Coz I know this area well and there are all sorts of high speed water sports and not all involve engines by any means. The beach refered to is the town beach and is cordened off with yellow markers that designate low speed. This doesn't always stop some inconsiderate speedboaters though. Equally, it doesn't stop the RS400 racers who come in at amazing speed for sail power - encouraged by SCYC!!. Doesn't seem to stop the kite surfers either.

Abersoch at busy periods...AVOID!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top