Boat Crash In Montauk

Saw a report on another site of a bad boat crash in the fog yesterday morning, near the Montauk inlet. Reports indicated that a Cabo sport fisherman was traveling 30 knots in the dense fog & T boned a wooded trawler that went down in a matter of minutes. The crew of the trawler recovered from the water & the Cabo towed to the Coast Guard station by Sea Tow. Whatever the speed of the Cabo was, it was agreed by all that it was up on plane.

That's scary..

Sounds reckless.

Stupid is as stupid does. Thank goodness no one injured...


That Cabo is one nice and very expensive boat. Too often I find an inverse relationship between the cost of the vessel and the captain's brains!

While steaming to the Race at a safe speed yesterday morning I did hear lot of radio chatter about debris in the water just east of the Montauk inlet; that might explain it.

Radar, Chartplotter, and all the other goodies or not... you still need to SLOW DOWN, in the fog!!!

Too often I find an inverse relationship between the cost of the vessel and the captain's brains!

Radar, Chartplotter, and all the other goodies or not... you still need to SLOW DOWN, in the fog!!!

Excellent points that all should heed...

Pic of the 40' dragger before it went down. You can see the Capt. with his arms outstretched.

Dragger was the Petrel out of Montauk & the Cabo was the Chaos out of Niantic Ct. Looks like the dragger really got blasted. Don't know if the Capt of the dragger was in the wheelhouse, but glad he is standing upright & dry. Good shot of how thick the fog was.
John

John, both the Cap. and mate were just setting out when that happened.

Here is the story.

.

A 40-foot dragger sank after it was struck by another boat in dense fog not far from the Montauk Inlet Saturday morning.


Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound received a report of a collision about a quarter-mile from the inlet at about 6:30 a.m. The commercial fishing vessel Petrel, based out of Montauk, had been hit by the sailing yacht Chaos, a 40-foot powerboat, according to Petty Officer Anthony Pappaly, a Coast Guard public information officer. The crash occurred just north of the Bell buoy, where the commercial fishermen were getting ready to put out their net.


The two people aboard the Petrel, the captain and his first mate, were taken aboard the Chaos as their boat began to sink into the harbor. A photograph circulating on Facebook Sunday, taken from the Chaos right after the crash and before the Petrel sank, showed major damage to the Petrel’s bow.


Friends of the commercial fishermen said the other boat was going 30 knots, which is just under 35 miles per hour on the road. The Coast Guard spokesman said they did not have information about how fast the boat was going, but that visibility was low.


The Chaos, which is based out of Connecticut, also suffered some damage and was towed to the harbor, where a marine investigation began. East Hampton Town police and Coast Guard Station Montauk both cited the operator with negligent operation of a vessel, a misdemeanor.


While the operator was charged, Pappaly said it was not necessarily the cause for the collision. He said the crash was still under investigation, and he declined to release the operator’s name.


Petrel’s captain, whose name was also not released, suffered a shoulder injury and was taken to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, where he was treated and released, Pappaly said. None of the several people aboard the Chaos were injured.


The owners of the Petrel are working with a commercial salvage company to recover the boat. It poses no hazard to other boats, according to the Coast Guard, which is monitoring any environmental issues.


The Chaos will remain in port until necessary repairs can be made, the Coast Guard petty officer added.

Glad everyone involved survived such a hard impact. I would love to hear the conversation once the Capt. & Mate from the dragger were brought aboard the Chaos.
John

I was out Saturday morning in that fog and visibility was horrendous.

And that is exactly why I did not leave the dock this weekend
I'm not automatically blaming the Cabo captain but like capt mike said, being able to afford a fancy boat with all all the toys bells and whistles doesn't equate to knowing how to use them or engage common sense.
The waters of shinnecock are full of peeps like that and no way I'm going to jeopardize me and my family in those conditions for the sake of a fun family fishing trip.

At about 3pm Saturday we ventured to Tiana beach by Car. I watched the fog go back and forth from somewhat visibility to no visibility over the course of 2 hours. I was dumbfounded by the amount of boats heading west, I'm guessing back to moriches, in the thick fog at high rates of speed. Waverunners/jetskis included

I'm glad the capt and mate of the trawler are OK and I hope the Cabo was properly insured to compensate the trawler

Doesn't look like all that much damage on the cabo
John

Too often I find an inverse relationship between the cost of the vessel and the captain's brains!

I find the same thing to be true about cars.

What a lot of the local Montauk people are stating is that the Cabo Captain had his radar set to 12 miles, which, if true, shows an incredible lack of seamanship on his part.

I was out Saturday am too and that was the thickest fog id ever experienced (ran 35 miles from the North Fork to Montauk). I had my radar set at 1/2 mile and had two people on look out and was going about 1/2 the speed I normally travel.

What a lot of the local Montauk people are stating is that the Cabo Captain had his radar set to 12 miles, which, if true, shows an incredible lack of seamanship on his part.

I was out Saturday am too and that was the thickest fog id ever experienced (ran 35 miles from the North Fork to Montauk). I had my radar set at 1/2 mile and had two people on look out and was going about 1/2 the speed I normally travel.

Guy definitely was not a good semen.

I was there on Saturday and the fog was really bad. The guy on the Cabo went up and over the bow of the dragger that’s why his damage didn’t look so bad but he damaged most of his running gear. Here is a video of the fog and I was doing about 8knts

I was there on Saturday and the fog was really bad. The guy on the Cabo went up and over the bow of the dragger that’s why his damage didn’t look so bad but he damaged most of his running gear. Here is a video of the fog and I was doing about 8knts
View attachment 22393

Yup. I’ve been making the long run from the North Fork to Montauk for close to 20 years and Saturday was the WORST fog I’d ever been in. Don’t get me wrong, every year we deal with bad fog days, but I have never experienced thick fog like that literally from my dock all the way to the fishing grounds with not even a mini break anywhere in between. I typically run 35 to 40 miles an hour and was going way WAY slower Saturday with the radar set to 1/2 mile to 3/4 of a mile. Took me over 2 hours to get to the grounds.....

Only bright spots were fluke fishing was actually excellent and fog cleared by the time we left....