Facts to Ponder on Boat Crash/14 Minutes

In the "For What It's Worth" department, a reader has sent us some snippets of the ALEA accident report on the Shoal Creek boat crash. According to the cabin cruiser's GPS, the speeding ski boat hit the cruiser at 10:34. The first 911 call made it to the switchboard at 10:48. Assuming it took at least one minute to retrieve a cell phone (a very conservative estimate) and one minute for the call to go through, you have at least a 12 minute delay in reporting the accident. Let's hope more information comes out during grand jury testimony.

Now some interesting points to ponder from a local boating expert:

1. While Shoal Creek may not be 60 feet deep at Robbins Island, it is approximately 50 feet deep.

2. A 30 foot cabin cruiser can't dock at just any small pier along the waterway. Most of these family docks are for bass and ski boats and can't accommodate a cabin cruiser. Similarly, the docks are not lit and would not allow for checking for a breach to the hull. 

3. On a cabin cruiser of any size, it's almost impossible to see damage to the hull from simply looking from the deck above.

The grand jury will meet in a little over one week. Afterwards, what will the Shoals talk about? 

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