Incident at Great Guana Cay, Abacos

[onestepcsy37]

Sunday night, March 22 2015, 8:15pm, S/V Kokopelli, a 2003 Beneteau 42CC Oceanis was anchored off the Bakers Bay development on the north end of Great Guana Cay, Abaco, Bahamas. It was dark at the time. A 30' power boat traveling at "high speed" ran into it broadside.

The power boat was idenitified as a Mako 30, owned by Abaco Dorado Boat Rentals. It was rented to the Bakers Bay Development company and had one of their employees at the helm at the time of the accident.

[CSY Man]

Anchor light on?
In a public anchorage, or anchored in a busy traffic area?

[JPA Cate]

Regrets to Kokopelli: That's really disheartening. Hope it can be made good or better than new.

Ann

[dsturm]

Hopefully nobody got hurt.
Looks repairable.

[Canibul]

some 5200, some gel coat patch...

[svHyLyte]

Bakers "Bay" is actually an open roadstead on the northwest side of the island. As reported in the Blog of Cool Hand Too, that was also anchored in the Bay, Kokopelli was anchored somewhat nearer shore with "all her lights" illuminated as could be seen by the crew of Cool Hand Too shortly before the accident. Evidently no one aboard Kokopelli was injured which is somewhat amazing considering the damage (which will no doubt be very costly to repair). Hopefully Kokopelli will be able to recover the cost although the months will be lost to say nothing of the aggravation.

[shonorow]

I wonder whether the boat which was at anchor had her anchor light on?

[onestepcsy37]

Further information. The husband and wife on Kokopelli were both injured, he more seriously than she. The power boat is apparently a wreck, according to the rental agency.

[Alec H]

This could have been avoided if the operator had used a little common courtesy and slowed down while traversing an anchorage. While it is an open roadstead, it is also calm in prevailing winds and has a great beach; a very desirable anchorage for boats traveling the Abaco out islands. The private Baker's Bay development has taken over the northern part of Guana Cay, and they do not welcome visitors; so why show consideration for non-members. This development company seems to have unlimited funds; so the cost of repairs and even of a law suit will just be another operating expense if it helps keeps those boat people away.

[crazyoldboatguy]

Originally Posted by shonorow

I wonder whether the boat which was at anchor had her anchor light on?

The post that came 90 minutes before yours indicates "all the lights were on".

In any event, it doesn't matter. Going at high speed in a known anchorage is reckless.

[Wrong]

Originally Posted by crazyoldboatguy

The post that came 90 minutes before yours indicates "all the lights were on".

In any event, it doesn't matter. Going at high speed in a known anchorage is reckless.

Ever used the anchorage at Chagauramas, Trinidad?

If so, you know what it means to anchor anywhere that engines smaller than 500 h.p. and high speed achievable at any cost is the norm. Ideally, boats owned by anyone of any significance will have two 500 h.p. engines...

Slow, safe and considerate are not part of the boating lexicon.

[hamburking]

Sorry to hear of this collision. Thanks for posting pictures.

However, the only way to avoid ever having "trouble" is to never go anywhere. Thankfully there were no injuries, and boats can be fixed.

It sucks, but think about this...you are on your boat in paradise, while I'm stuck in canada during the worst winter in recorded history. Its the end of march and it was 20 below zero last night, and a couple cm of snow too. I hope this cheered you up a bit, because my launch is only weeks away and my boat is still frozen solid under snow and ice. In fact Lake Ontario (thats where I sail) is still solid ice here too.

[Wrong]

Originally Posted by crazyoldboatguy

The post that came 90 minutes before yours indicates "all the lights were on".

In any event, it doesn't matter. Going at high speed in a known anchorage is reckless.

This is a fix.

Ever used the anchorage at Chagauramas, Trinidad?

If so, you know what it means to anchor anywhere that engines smaller than 500 h.p. only belong to no-counts and high speed achievable at any cost is the norm. Ideally, boats owned by anyone of any significance will have two 500 h.p. engines...

Slow, safe and considerate are not part of the boating lexicon.

[crazyoldboatguy]

Regarding these high speed boats - I lump them into the "cigarette boat" category - I invoke the inverse proportion rule. The larger the go fast boat, the smaller the "appendage".

Just to be clear, not referring to our powered cruiser friends.

[minaret]

And once again we see the laminate thickness of hull and liner on a production boat that uses those methods.