Portland Spirit Captain Has License Suspended

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"Well what about the Rule of Tonnage? They should have gotten out of my way!"
 
Quoted from the gcaptain article... "The Red Bull event organizers were also issued a warning for underestimating the crowd size and blocking the waterway, and the Coast Guard shut down the event early at about 3 p.m. in the afternoon."

While the captain should have taken measures to prevent a collision, he should not be 100% at fault.
 
theTopsail said:
While the captain should have taken measures to prevent a collision, he should not be 100% at fault.
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Just from looking at the video, I would say that he is 100% at fault for the collisions.

However, I would hope that there were a lot of other citations given to those boaters for impeding navigation, BUI, failure to comply with a LEO, etc...
 
Captain is certainly responsible for avoiding a collision in that situation.

I'm annoyed that the USCG wasn't sited for either failing to have closed the channel for the event or maintain the navigable channel during the event. Certainly enough alcohol fueled boaters to keep 100 LEOs busy. Another reminder for people with common sense to avoid boating during those types of events.

Ted
 
dhays said:
Just from looking at the video, I would say that he is 100% at fault for the collisions.

However, I would hope that there were a lot of other citations given to those boaters for impeding navigation, BUI, failure to comply with a LEO, etc...
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I won't argue about how the captain should receive most of the blame for the collisions. I am just intrigued by the coast guard boat that is standing by whilst the collisions are taking place. I hope the coastie was at least on his vhf assisting the captain.

RE other citations being given out, I sure hope the captain was not the only one reprimanded.
 
I`ve seen a Red Bull display of strange machine futile flight forays off a tower to advertise their drug products. Icarus established it was rubbish, long ago. Boring beyond belief after the first competitors attempt and fail, no matter how high the participants were on caffeine. I`m sure the "ship" had no right to mow through the spectators but the Captain, facing his accustomed channel blocked by morons, gets some sympathy.
 
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I just watched 3 or 4 videos of that situation. In one of them...the cameraman says the USCG has been warning people to clear the channel for 2 hours.....

I'm sure the USCG didn't site themselves for not clearing the channel....but that might have been warranted. Certainly they share some of the blame.
 
SaltyDawg86 said:
Well what about not blocking the channel?
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Ummmm, Salty, I was joking when I said that. One of the problems with the internet is you cannot post facial expressions and voice inflection when making jokes. Sorry if I misled you or any one else.
 
GFC said:
Ummmm, Salty, I was joking when I said that. One of the problems with the internet is you cannot post facial expressions and voice inflection when making jokes. Sorry if I misled you or any one else.
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I got ya. My bad. Though in all honesty, I don't know what that capt was thinking.
 
A really sad display of selfish non-cooperation. Just how hard would it have been for those small boats to temporarily clear the channel they were blocking??
 
If true that the Spirit is prohibited from turning around in the channel, and the event was much larger than anticipated by EVERYONE, and you really couldn't see from the departure point of the Spirit...... then like diving a car through packs of small barnyard animals....go slow and hope they are smart evough to get out of the way.... :D

Guess the average boater isn't as smart as small barnyard animals. :facepalm:

Either way, just looks like trying to tow a vessel through a NJ Intracoastal stretch on opening day flounder season.... :eek:
 
Lots of blame to go around here, it seems to me. It would be interesting to know what special-event rules the local CG office had issued prior to the event. If the organizers had been talking to local LEOs, the latter should have known to bring in the local USCG district. Commercial operators like the Spirit should have been in the conversation, too.

Apparently the Spirit captain felt that he had a right to keep to his schedule, just like any other day. That assumption is often a good way to get in trouble. A boater should be mindful that nothing about a nautical schedule should treated as if it's sacred.

Recreational boaters can sometimes be like manure. When they are spread out in the right places, good things can result. But when you get them all tightly packed together in one spot, the effect can be combustible.
 
Blissboat said:
Lots of blame to go around here, it seems to me. It would be interesting to know what special-event rules the local CG office had issued prior to the event. If the organizers had been talking to local LEOs, the latter should have known to bring in the local USCG district. Commercial operators like the Spirit should have been in the conversation, too.

Apparently the Spirit captain felt that he had a right to keep to his schedule, just like any other day. That assumption is often a good way to get in trouble. A boater should be mindful that nothing about a nautical schedule should treated as if it's sacred.

Recreational boaters can sometimes be like manure. When they are spread out in the right places, good things can result. But when you get them all tightly packed together in one spot, the effect can be combustible.
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As well as result in a big stink?
 
Some of the recreational boats are anchored or moored. Doesn't that trump the "rule of tonnage". It seems colliding with a boat at anchor in broad daylight is solely the responsibility of the captain of the moving vessel.

In my area at high attendance events (e.g. 4th of July) the local authorities drop buoys in the river to mark a transit channel separate from the places where you can loiter/anchor/raft up. Then they spend the day cruising the channel to make sure it is kept clear.

In the video, there is a CG boat clearly visible in front of the Spirit. They could have either cleared a channel in advance of the ship or told the Spirit captain to do something else. Looks like the CG just sat there and watched.

On the other hand, I bet that one of the attractions on that particular Spirit cruise was the opportunity to cruise by the Red Bull event for people who did not have alternate access to a boat or didn't want the hassle of bringing their own boat to such an event and fighting the crowds. This probably had something to do with the Spirit captain's decision to do what he did.
 
I'm not a fan of "big crowd" events, and I went to my last concert years ago.

When going to a big crowd area, one can often position themselves to be on the sideline, or out of the way and not get messed up in the thick of things.

We have a 4th of July fireworks event that has several coves to hide in and still get a great view. Most boaters just crowd together.

There's NO way I'd get even close to that Portland event.

As for the captain, clearly guilty as charged.

And as much as I like the CG, they were a complete failure at this event and should also be held accountable.

As for the boaters, perhaps some could be charged with obstruction, but at anchor, I doubt they could be charged for BWI (at least they can't in FL).
 
In hindsight, it appears that the USCG and/or the local LEOs could have done things differently to avoid the problem. I would bet that in the future, things will be done differently.

On the video that I watched, there was both a USCG and a LEO boat there trying to clear the channel. It is a bit of "too little too late".

While it is easy to say that the USCG boat should have cleared the channel, I think that would have been easier said than done. On the one hand you have a military crew with the full weight of the Federal government behind them. They are armed and they are trained. OTOH, you have 2-3 18-20 year old kids faced with scores of boats with hundreds of drunken fools. What are they going to do?

Years ago a kid I knew that was the youngest brother of a friend of mine enlisted in the USCG. He loved it and did a full career. He did make the comment one time that the level of responsibility was sobering. At 22 he found himself as senior guardsman in a boat with the rest of the crew being kids right out of high school. They were trained, but they were still kids. On certain hoardings at sea, the protocol was that the crew have weapons drawn. His concern was always that none of his crew do anything stupid.

Anyway, lessoned learned hopefully on all sides with no one getting hurt in the process.
 
dhays said:
In hindsight, it appears that the USCG and/or the local LEOs could have done things differently to avoid the problem. I would bet that in the future, things will be done differently.

On the video that I watched, there was both a USCG and a LEO boat there trying to clear the channel. It is a bit of "too little too late".

While it is easy to say that the USCG boat should have cleared the channel, I think that would have been easier said than done. On the one hand you have a military crew with the full weight of the Federal government behind them. They are armed and they are trained. OTOH, you have 2-3 18-20 year old kids faced with scores of boats with hundreds of drunken fools. What are they going to do?

Years ago a kid I knew that was the youngest brother of a friend of mine enlisted in the USCG. He loved it and did a full career. He did make the comment one time that the level of responsibility was sobering. At 22 he found himself as senior guardsman in a boat with the rest of the crew being kids right out of high school. They were trained, but they were still kids. On certain hoardings at sea, the protocol was that the crew have weapons drawn. His concern was always that none of his crew do anything stupid.

Anyway, lessoned learned hopefully on all sides with no one getting hurt in the process.
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Wow, I'd be scared shitless if I were boarded with a 22 year old captain and a bunch of HS students with guns drawn! That would be a recipe for disaster.
 
Seems to me the Captain might have taken the "they should not be there so I`ll proceed as if they are not" approach, which of course makes zero sense. But to an extent, he`s right, they should not have been there, obstructing a known frequently used ferry route passage ( always assuming no alternative access) is asking for trouble.
 
We send those "kids" off every day to kill people. I'll bet most of the people in the small boats had some level of alcohol and that the Capt was stone sober, my sympathy goes to the Capt. If there was fault, USCG and LEO to blame.
 
Sure ....and the highway patrol is in fault of every highway accident.

Walk a mile in all involved shoes before making sweeping comments.
 
psneeld said:
Sure ....and the highway patrol is in fault of every highway accident.

Walk a mile in all involved shoes before making sweeping comments.
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Well, it's not always the LEOs fault, but in this case they obviously had fault. They are there to "serve and protect" and enforce the law. They encouraged a dangerous situation and led people INTO harms way and should get some time off, too.

And we know it wasn't a sweeping comment, but the quality of our LEOs has gone way down over the years.
 
Another sweeping comment....
 
Those collisions looked more like nudgings to me. This is a river, right? I saw no evidence of current? I suspect he thought the LEOs were going to take care of him, when they did not/could not it was too late to back up and forward was the best course of action.
 
Teenagers with guns led by a 22 year old is the definition of the pointy end of the spear.
 
It would be interesting to know what communications there was between the captain of the Portland Spirit and the USCG.

Having been a passenger boat captain and been faced with a similar situation I would expect there was some communications in the form request/instruction from the bridge of the Portland to the USCG vessel on site. If not, you would think there would be instruction from the USCG vessel to the Portland Spirit to stay clear. I doubt the captain entered that situation with zero comms with the UCSG vessel in front of him.

Regardless, I wouldn't have entered that channel until I saw a cleared path that had some appearance of being under control. Once committed, if the channel started to collapse, its more of a risk to try back out of it. Especially if the current was with the Portland.
 
Benthic2 said:
I just watched 3 or 4 videos of that situation. In one of them...the cameraman says the USCG has been warning people to clear the channel for 2 hours.....

I'm sure the USCG didn't site themselves for not clearing the channel....but that might have been warranted. Certainly they share some of the blame.
Click to expand...

The folks asked to move refused to do so......:banghead:
 
this was like most critical situations......the problem was 15 minutes before fiberglass met figerglass. When it was obvious the channel was not clear.....and the LEO's and USCG were on scene.....what's the right thing to do???? I"d guess no one steped up and took charge.
 
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