Was this Captain Licensed?

Possible, but most likely not. That's not a boat oft used in a commercial operation. The vast majority of those boats are run by O/Os with no formal qualifications.

Licensed or not, that is no place to be running any boat at high speed. Having grown up in the area and boating it over many years, the channels wind around, water is shallow in many areas, other boat traffic can be a problem and the marshes are unforgiving once you are on top of one. This boat had t be going fast to have ejected everyone and killed three. Waiting for the names to see if I know any of them.

The story stated a Hustler powerboat was involved. If so, the guys over at OSO will be the first to know...

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/...g-island-boating-accident-tonight-2-dead.html

"Nassau County police were investigating the cause of the accident"

what is there to investigate, the causes are clear cut. one word... STUPIDITY!

running at high speed in narrow twisty channels at night...

Det. Lt. Kevin Smith - Master of Understatement

When I was a kid my father and I once helped a neighbor who had foolishly tried to diagnose his outboard while running the boat and hit an island at a bit less than WOT. It was a small Glastron w/ a ~90 hp Evinrude, and whatever speed he was making only got him about 50 feet onto land and left him with a bump on the head and a bruised ego.

Is there a way to do the math to figure out how fast the boater in the article might have been going?

There is a lot to investigate. Maybe there was a mechanical failure of steering or throttle controls ... maybe there was (fill in the blank).

The guy paid with his life for what might have been a mistake or might have been something else. Until all other possibilities have been excluded, don't be in such a rush to close the case.

They used the term "captain" losely. It was a beautiful night under a full harvest moon. Almost bright as day...almost. Hustlers go upward of 70mph. Those chanels are about 100' wide, winding and the buoys are 1' tall and mostly unlit. The feel is like running a slalom course; very seductive.....and deadly. This accident could have easily involved other boats. Last year we had a go-fast go straight into a bridge wide open at night and another run over a boat with a father and daughter aboard. A few days ago I passed a floating tree trunk 3' in diameter and over 20' long. We all know what happens when you meet that at 70mph. Sorry to be a kill joy, but these boats don't belong in the hands of anyone who doesn't FULLY understand the responsibility and deadly consequences. Being able to afford it doesn't qualify. They also have no business running within 1/2 mile of land or other boats.

Who knows, maybe the guy held an unlimited master's certificate.

Geez, kind of turns them into fliegende Holländer then doesn't it?

DK. Up here we'd just call him the Flying Dutchman.

Yeah, and I am Tinkerbell...Much more likely that he was an idiot with a line of credit.

Have you forgotten all the work ALPA went through to protect the hundreds of pilots who were so readily dismissed as "idiots" when the real cause of their demise was often found to be many things other than "pilot error?"

You of all people here should be more in tune with the idiocy of instant (and remote) judgement as to the cause of an incident or accident.

I don't know whether he was a Captain or not. But I can tell you, he was going too fast for conditions. In order for a 40' speedboat to end up 150' on dry land, he had to be going pretty darn fast and it was at night. If he was travelling at 25 mph, there is no way the boat would've ended up 150' on dry land and ejected the people from the boat. When I was younger I've run over sand bars at 25 mph and the boat came to a rather abrupt halt and I sure as heck wasn't ejected from it.

He was evidently captain of his little boat. Whether he held a certificate or not is beside the point except for the dilletantes who like to argue about what a captain is. Which is kind of funny since until recently most Sons of Magellan running yachts didn't have a license yet were happy to sport an acre of braid and call themselves Cappy.

Who knows what happened, maybe the throttles stuck and he panicked, maybe someone else throtttled up when he was doing something else? I am sure we will learn the results of his autopsy and toxicology reports and maybe even get testimony from the survivor. Until then it's all speculation, and mean pointless speculation at that.

Yawn....

Someone who is licensed is called a Captain

Someone who is un-licensed and running a boat, is called an Operator.

No offense Capt J, but do you honestly trust the media to get a detail like that correct? In this day and age, I hardly would.

I just read 2 different stories about the crash. One said captain and the other said operator. I read the names listed and he's no working captain that I've heard of and I get around the Island a lot. They also said the channel is 76' wide and 2/3's of it are blocked by the barges working on the Parkway bridge. I came by there last week and that sounds accurate. Even and sometimes especially a captain can be a fool, but I don't think that's the case here. I think this is just a normal case of way too much HP in the hands of the wrong person. 3 more for the summer record books. I would vote for a ban on speeds over 40 kts. within 1/2 mile of shore or other boats. That would have eliminated 5 deaths this summer on Long Island that I know of. Florida has a speed limit of I believe 30 mph if I'm not mistaken. All the idle speed zones drive me nuts, but I have no problem with the open speed cap even though I really enjoy speed.

Ed,
There's something wrong here. The guys a local, been boating for years. He decides on the last ride of the season to go WOT or close to that through the Goose Creek Bridge, that can be cozy on a good day, but this time the construction barges are all around? It's night, but moonlit, flooding tide, and he screams through the bridge and ends up on the marsh? I think we need to seriously consider a problem was occuring on the vessel, either he slumped into the controls (as mentioned previously) and they couldn't lift him or turn or a major malfunction that caused the speed. Just seems way out of character for the time and location.
Not that I am defending go-fast boats and their "operators" as I've seen my share of gold-chain wearing, testosterone filled knuckleheads, especially around LI. But this smells fishy, not adding up for me.
So sorry that people were hurt and killed due to this situation.

Not that anything isn't possible, but I don't know that he went through that bridge at speed or lost it on one of the turns along the 76' wide canal, possibly as he passed the crain. When I passed the other day the crain barge was at the construction dock which is around the corner from the bridge. Other work barges are at the bridge. As for running 70 or even 100 mph through those channels it's nothing unusual. Doing it on a moonlit night is just fun and thrilling ... oh yeah, and deadly. I'd also be interested in hearing the tox report after an indian summer Sunday. That said, lawyers are already hinting at mechanicals. Hustler will be hurt by this no matter what. Just what Long Island needs right now is to lose more marine jobs this summer.