"Idiot Drives Boat into Bridge"

I don't know if anyone else posted this news article. But it's a must watch!!

Sailboat vs bridge video goes viral

The sad part is he will turn it into his insurance company and only have to pay a deductible.

Looks to me like two idiots/boats were at work, and one escaped.

Ranks right up there with trying to beat a red light (almost)...

Usually (if it was in the USA)...hitting a bridge is serious...at least if the bridge tender call the USCG. A bridge allusion usually requires a thorough investigation with toxicology and the whole 9 yeards if the investigator goes that route.

Drawbridge 1
Sailboat 0

And here I have always liked to think that people with sailboats have more sense that that (being a former sailboat person, of course). So much for that theory.

The nearest sailboat is extremely over driven. Looks to me like they were racing. Idiot yes.

This is in Norway and he will no doubt try to turn it in, but I can't imagine that any insurance investigator who sees the video wouldn't classify this as "Willful and wanton disregard...."

manyboats said:

The nearest sailboat is extremely over driven. Looks to me like they were racing. Idiot yes.

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Always possible that they are racing, but looks to me as if they are trying to beat the drawbridge. Next opening time an hour or so. Been there, done that. Not broke my mast, but had to wait. Going North on the ICW from Miami is a good example. Always go outside, and if it is too rough to go outside then just find a nice place to anchor.

jwnall said:

Always possible that they are racing, but looks to me as if they are trying to beat the drawbridge. Next opening time an hour or so. Been there, done that. Not broke my mast, but had to wait. Going North on the ICW from Miami is a good example. Always go outside, and if it is too rough to go outside then just find a nice place to anchor.

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Agreed....trying to make the bridge...Norfolk is another Le Mans start every morning.

I think not too long ago one of the train bridges got a sailboat in Norfolk...maybe a local can confirm....

CPseudonym said:

The sad part is he will turn it into his insurance company and only have to pay a deductible.

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Maybe not if his insurance company keeps up with what's hot on YouTube.

The DPO we bought our sailboat from ran it into a power line on Watts Bar Lake, in TN. The way I heard it, he used to get home from an extended business trip, drink his face off and pass out below, leaving his inexperienced wife to motor about. Nobody hurt, damage was surprisingly modest from the distribution voltage and he soon after decided to sell it cheap--probably to save his marriage. His loss, our gain.

Now that guy has a very nice, single-engine, full-displacement trawler!

Not quite as bad a trying to beat the train at a crossing but close.

Wow. Fantastic! What an idiot! Snap!!

VERY LUCKY that the top part of the mast didn't swing into the cockpit and kill someone.

THD said:

Now that guy has a very nice, single-engine, full-displacement trawler!

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No reason to race bridge openings either.

loafs and fishes said:

VERY LUCKY that the top part of the mast didn't swing into the cockpit and kill someone.

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Thought the same thing, VERY LUCKY!

loafs and fishes said:

VERY LUCKY that the top part of the mast didn't swing into the cockpit and kill someone.

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The reason we first bought umbrella liability is we knew someone paralyzed by a mast coming down. Didn't want anyone hurt on our watch without good insurance to help them.

Here's one where the bridge tender was the idiot:

Windoc Bridge Disaster - Video Dailymotion



More: http://gcaptain.com/windoc-incident-photos-video-tsb-report/

Wow

At one point in my career I was a bridge tender for the railroad, and being a boater for decades, I have seen bridge issues from both perspectives. More than once, skippers unwisely charged the bridge I was operating, albeit never with the results shown in this video. Boaters should not think that the bridge tender can suddenly stop or reverse thousands of pounds of steel in motion.
Best bet is to use VHF to establish an understanding prior to commitment of your vessel as the skipper in the video did with bad results. We also always sounded the bridge horn prior to an opening or closing; something I believe is still done for those without VHF.

ColonyCove said:

At one point in my career I was a bridge tender for the railroad, and being a boater for decades, I have seen bridge issues from both perspectives.

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Don't believe that I have ever had the pleasure of hearing from a bridge tender before! Thanks for your input on the issue. I will say that 99% of all the bridge tenders that I encountered during my five years of cruising were very nice people.

One thing that I thought about, watching that fascinating video, is that perhaps the boater was new at going through drawbridges and did not realize that the movement of the bridge is not linear. That is, it starts out slow but gets faster and faster as it goes down. So he might have thought he could make it, not realizing that the down movement would accelerate.

Here's how it should be done:
How to Get An 85 Ft Mast Under A 65 Ft Bridge - YouTube

or

http://youtu.be/YmO_kNjzKA0

captrigney said:

Here's how it should be done:
How to Get An 85 Ft Mast Under A 65 Ft Bridge - YouTube

or

Allure of the Seas sails under the Great Belt Bridge - YouTube

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Interesting. When you take a sailboat through the Okeechobee Waterway, there is a 49-foot fixed bridge at Port Mayaca, on the Eastern shore of the lake. The Indiantown Marina will provide a service (or they used to, anyway) where they bring some barrels to your boat, put them on the deck, fill them with water, and heel the boat over. Then you motor through the bridge, they empty the barrels, put them back on their little barge, and off you go. I think the service was about $75 if I remember correctly. That was several years ago (about 1996) and so it may not still be true. My mast was 51 feet.

I've heard of boats hanging their dingy from the mast and filling it with water to heel the boat over.

I am moored beside the Middle Arm swing bridge on the Fraser river. The big yellow thingy crossing the river.

Some of the stuff is just sad / funny at the same time.

Add some current a couple of bridge guards and wa la let the fun begin.

captrigney said:

Here's how it should be done:
How to Get An 85 Ft Mast Under A 65 Ft Bridge - YouTube

or

Allure of the Seas sails under the Great Belt Bridge - YouTube

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WOW to the first video!!

I used to cross the bridge from the second video once a day when i was a truck driver, beautifull enginering!!

Looks like he wont have to wait for it to open on the way back.