Lake Powell accident

Those darn houseboats... They so small, hard to spot, go so fast, and maneuver so quickly. Worst than jet skis
 
Probably an open bow wake board type boat. They are everywhere on Lake Powell.

Job 1 = Drive the boat.
 
just saw an update
Dad (age 59) driving. They were avid boating family and he had kids and grandkids in boat. His wife (57) died and
(Correction)
1 daughter and girlfriend of his son (mid late 20s) are missing
Apparently he was distracted by one of the young kids and saw houseboat too late
 
400 feet of water. All the water in my bay wouldn't fill a 400 foot hole!
 
My family just spend 10 day there and got retrieved at 8 am the same time of the accident. All week long we witnessed very overcrowded boats. Many Utahans have very large families and usually recreate with other church members with large families. We are not Mormon but we have lived in Utah (Park City ) for 20 years. and know it is part of the culture.

As soon as we got home and on turned on the news we saw what had happened. So saddened but we were not surprised.

Our 35 ft Carver is supposed to handle 12 people but we would not even consider it or want that many people with us.
 
Apparently NOT the house boat operators fault. And I assume he wasn't anchored in 400' of water. Wonder did the HB captain in horror see what was getting ready to happen ? Sound his horn ? Smaller boat couldn't have heard a horn ? Why aren't horn buttons routinely mounted in a easy to find "panic" location ? Mine is like most, one more toggle switch in line with blower, arch lights etc.. I have considered keeping one of those "horn in a can" type so I could point it where the sound needs to be directed (not always fore ward). Updates on this accident will be interesting to read. Sad for the family, and the people on the houseboat, nobody wants to involved in a fatality fault or not.
Disclaimer: I am in no way assigning fault to anyone involved since I was not a witness. Nor am I assuming that a horn would have prevented this accident. The opinions expressed are solely my thoughts after reading the article and in no way are intended to be construed as an application of maritime rules or legal opinion concerning the collision of these two vessels.
 
I keep canned air horns at the helm and inside the cabin area for quick deployment. They are always a good idea as well as having flare guns loaded and at the ready.
Bill
 
quote:
Originally posted by Billylll

I keep canned air horns at the helm and inside the cabin area for quick deployment. They are always a good idea as well as having flare guns loaded and at the ready.
Bill

Click to expand...

Yes flare guns work well against jet skis, just remember to lead the target :D
 
As of Sunday, they found one of the two missing women at 340 ft using SONAR and a submersible. I do a lot of SCUBA diving there and I can tell you that even at 60 ft it is very dark and cold so it is pretty amazing they find the bodies but they usually do. The lake level is considered low this year but still, a lot of water.

The house boats cannot anchor in the main channel but a lot of times you do see houseboats just stopped in the middle of the channel for whatever reasons.
 
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