Last night a 37' Center Console boat ran into the back of a 40' or so ferry. Not a vehicle ferry but a ferry full of people. 1 dead 12 injured.
Alcohol not a factor according to law enforcement. Lots of details to come of course.
https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/pinellascounty/clearwater-ferry-crash-boat-accident/67-af213d5a-60ff-4924-9009-009f5bb900b1
There is a live report from Clearwater authorities on Fox on YouTube if anyone interested.

Wow, we were right there two days ago. T&P for the victims and families involved. Scary.

**Seems** like distracted driving has reached the water.

Boat fled the scene sounds suspicious. Wonder if it was foggy or raining hard when crash occurred? Otherwise can't see how you run into a ferry.

there's video of the crash online. was already up yesterday. the video is from a good distance so weather was not an issue.

somehow the boat just didn't see the ferry. LOTS of reasons why that could have happened. Boat promptly left the scene which definitely ain't a good look

Another case of looking at screens instead of forward and about?

On the link I posted, if you watch it…..there is good video. No fog. No weather at all.

There is video on the link I posted of the news showing the crash.

I have a theory that more boat captains don't know how to read bouys and markers but can of course read depth charts and depth finders and GPS navigation. More, bigger boats running around, and on the coast in particular they are afraid of running aground so they get glued to their nav and depth finder and don't look up enough.

Center console, after dark, pre-occupied.

Boat companies are building consoles taller and taller so people can put large graphs, and electronic engine gauge screens and joystick positioning displays in them… also heads within the consoles.
There are some center consoles now that unless you are close to 6' tall you have hard time seeing over them.
Especially if you are at a bow up attitude that compounds the issue.

Gunny-
Read a news blurb that the driver was 0.00 when he blew

Yea I herd that during the news conference.

When my dad was a cop and I would ride with him and make an accident he would many times say .. " Well this was caused by DWHUA".
Driving With Head…… you get it.

I was having dinner with a MIssouri DNC officer and he said that many of the boat accidents are caused by BUI or cell phone distractions…same as driving an auto. Go figure.

He's going pretty fast for low light conditions. When we leave through the Old Brazos River before daylight, all the port lighting presents additional challenges.

It's really odd that he chose to flee. It certainly seems suspicious.

Sounds like the guy was a frequent flyer. From another article …

In 2012, Knight was on his yacht, Pure Knight Life, in the waters off the Renaissance Vinoy Resort with a group of friends after a night of partying, police said, when one of them fell off the boat. The man hit his head on the way down and drowned.

The Medical Examiner's Office determined the man had a blood-alcohol content of 0.239, nearly three times the level that Florida law presumes impairment and also had cocaine in his system.

The man's family filed a wrongful death suit against Knight later that year,

Records show Knight has been arrested three times on charges of driving while impaired in 1992, 2002 and 2012. He pleaded no contest each time and received probation and fines, records show.

He also was cited in 2017 on a charge of careless operation of a vessel after he allowed a boy under the age of 14 to operate a personal watercraft in John's Pass without adult supervision. He pleaded no contest and was fined.

Just….wow.

Stat Monitor Repairman said:

---

In 2012, Knight was on his yacht, Pure Knight Life

---

Dang

https://www.northropandjohnson.com/yachts-for-charter/pure-knight-life-108-broward

EliteElectric said:

---

Gunny-
Read a news blurb that the driver was 0.00 when he blew

---

As far as I know, breathalyzers don't detect drugs. Just because he blew a .000 doesn't mean he wasn't impaired.

great point

This is really a side note to the tragedy forming the basis for this thread, but there must eventually be a licensing/training requirement for boaters.

50 years ago, the same sort of idiots got behind the wheel of watercraft as do now. However, the boats that existed 50 years ago would neither allow you to travel as fast or as shallow as the new models do AND the number of people with access to boats has exploded. Therefore, you can (on a whim, possessing no boating experience whatsoever) run down to the local dealer and finance a go-fast boat with a 400 HP outboard capable of speeds exceeding 80 MPH for literally 25 years. You are free and clear to then launch said craft and unleash yourself upon humanity. Even without adding drugs and alcohol, you have the seed for a problem just waiting to happen... again and again.

Due to sheer numbers, it is still fortunately rare compared to auto accidents.

In the late 70's and early 80's there were plenty of jet boats and v-drives that could approach 80. There were also some bass boats that could do the same. Not uncommon for some early 80's vintage Allison's, and HydroStreams and Skeeters to run right at 80 or exceed it.
So speed on the water is not a new thing on the water available to the average consumer in reality.
The difference is most guys that bought boats capable of that back then had a lot of experience under their belts of performance driving before they moved up to boats like that as most had been driving boats since being young.
Now, as you stated, fellas go out and spend the money on a go fast boat and have little, if any, performance boat driving skills.
I'll also add that in my marine industry career, many customers now purchase boats with high horsepower motors…. but the boats never approach their performance capabilities because those owners don't have any intention of ever running the boat that fast….. its just an ego trip to have that Merc. 500R on it for them. And they have the money to waste to do that.

If there isn't moonlight, I stay off of Lake Travis at night. Believe it or not, the moon provides quite a bit of light at night.

Also wonder if they changed drivers when they fled.

Only been on Travis once at night. In many Texas inland waters, you can cited for going faster than just minimal planing speed after dark.

I'd agree there are many more boat owners and operators and even renters that have little to no experience before they finance and jump right into a large and fast boat, whereas decades ago people tended to work their way up to bigger boats or grow up boating at some level so they had some basic experience. Going tight to hundreds of HP and thousands of pounds with no brakes and no experience is a bit of a risky proposition for everyone on the water.

Those of us with experience should help or guide rookies as much as we can and be patient with them.

Stat Monitor Repairman said:

---

Sounds like the guy was a frequent flyer. From another article …

In 2012, Knight was on his yacht, Pure Knight Life, in the waters off the Renaissance Vinoy Resort with a group of friends after a night of partying, police said, when one of them fell off the boat. The man hit his head on the way down and drowned.

The Medical Examiner's Office determined the man had a blood-alcohol content of 0.239, nearly three times the level that Florida law presumes impairment and also had cocaine in his system.

The man's family filed a wrongful death suit against Knight later that year,

Records show Knight has been arrested three times on charges of driving while impaired in 1992, 2002 and 2012. He pleaded no contest each time and received probation and fines, records show.

He also was cited in 2017 on a charge of careless operation of a vessel after he allowed a boy under the age of 14 to operate a personal watercraft in John's Pass without adult supervision. He pleaded no contest and was fined.

---

That is a huge part of the problem, letting people off the hook and then they continue to do what they do. He should not be allowed to drive anything, car or boat, after the second offense and the ban should last a lifetime. And that's assuming nobody got hurt or killed because of his actions. If they did, then execution would be my preference, or life at hard labor, no parole.

Gunny456 said:

---

In the late 70's and early 80's there were plenty of jet boats and v-drives that could approach 80. There were also some bass boats that could do the same. Not uncommon for some early 80's vintage Allison's, and HydroStreams and Skeeters to run right at 80 or exceed it.
So speed on the water is not a new thing on the water available to the average consumer in reality.
The difference is most guys that bought boats capable of that back then had a lot of experience under their belts of performance driving before they moved up to boats like that as most had been driving boats since being young.
Now, as you stated, fellas go out and spend the money on a go fast boat and have little, if any, performance boat driving skills.
I'll also add that in my marine industry career, many customers now purchase boats with high horsepower motors…. but the boats never approach their performance capabilities because those owners don't have any intention of ever running the boat that fast….. its just an ego trip to have that Merc. 500R on it for them. And they have the money to waste to do that.

---

Though still fast (and dangerous) as you note, many years ago most bass boats had 150 hp motors, maximum. BASS had a limit back then, so boats were designed and equipped with that in mind I think.

I was fishing a Bassmaster Top 100 tournament in Alabama and on the final day was fishing with Charlie Reed who won the 1986 Bassmasters Classic. He was in contention so we had a camera boat on us all day. Bob Cobb asked questions and had conversations with him all during the day. He asked Charlie if he fished any of the Bassmaster Invitational Trails, like the Central or Eastern (Charlie was from Broken Bow, Okla.). He emphatically said no he did not and would not. That there were too many inexperienced amateurs running boats in those series and somebody was going to get killed and it wasn't going to be him!

Mercury introduced its " Tower of Power" in line 6 cylinder 150 Outboard in 1972….Then the evolution of the 150HP V-6 outboards by Mercury, Johnson/Evinrude and Yamaha in the mid to late 70's. In addition to the 150 HP engines, Mercury and Johnson/Evinrude, introduced the 175, 200, 225, and 235 HP V-6 outboards right at that same time period in the mid to late 70's.
BASS started the Max 150 HP rule for their tournaments shortly thereafter. It really was not implemented for safety reasons, but rather due to trying to add some "equality" to the BASS tournaments to try and level the playing field. They dropped the restriction in 1996 due to the evolution to longer, wider, and heavier boats.
BASS was one of the only circuits to impose the 150 HP rating.
What people need to remember is that up until the mid 80's, most all tournament fisherman were fishing out of 16' to 18' max length boats. One of the most popular tournament boats in that time range was the Skeeter HP 150 Wrangler at 16'8"… the first V-Pad hull designed bass boat in 1975….and rated for 150 HP.
Ranger brought out their 350 in the early 80's rated for the 150 rating as well.
As the bass fisherman were desiring a better ride and more spacious casting decks….the boats evolved through the 1990's to become longer and have wider beams. With the longer and wider beam boats, the boats became heavier and required more HP to obtain the same basic performance parameters of the older shorter and narrower boats that were then rated for 150HP.
Such was the evolution to 20' -22 ft bass boats by most tournament fisherman in the mid to late 90's that BASS dropped the 150 rating in the mid 90's.
Performance hulls have evolved in hull technology and advanced construction techniques over the past few years to give superior handling, safer, smoother, and drier rides never before thought attainable.

Here is another fun fact: in the early 2000's the TOTAL number of new fiberglass Bass Boats registered and sold in the U.S. by ALL brands of manufacturers approached 36,000 - 37,000 annually.
Since that time period of max production the numbers have drastically declined. In 2024 the TOTAL number of new sold and registered new fiberglass Bass Boats built by every single manufactured brand in the U.S. was hovering around only 7,000!
So there certainly is not a growth or increase of fiberglass Bass Boats on the lakes of the U.S.

Gunny456 said:

---

Mercury introduced its " Tower of Power" in line 6 cylinder 150 Outboard in 1972….Then the evolution of the 150HP V-6 outboards by Mercury, Johnson/Evinrude and Yamaha in the mid to late 70's. In addition to the 150 HP engines, Mercury and Johnson/Evinrude, introduced the 175, 200, 225, and 235 HP V-6 outboards right at that same time period in the mid to late 70's.
BASS started the Max 150 HP rule for their tournaments shortly thereafter. It really was not implemented for safety reasons, but rather due to trying to add some "equality" to the BASS tournaments to try and level the playing field. They dropped the restriction in 1996 due to the evolution to longer, wider, and heavier boats.
BASS was one of the only circuits to impose the 150 HP rating.
What people need to remember is that up until the mid 80's, most all tournament fisherman were fishing out of 16' to 18' max length boats. One of the most popular tournament boats in that time range was the Skeeter HP 150 Wrangler at 16'8"… the first V-Pad hull designed bass boat in 1975….and rated for 150 HP.
Ranger brought out their 350 in the early 80's rated for the 150 rating as well.
As the bass fisherman were desiring a better ride and more spacious casting decks….the boats evolved through the 1990's to become longer and have wider beams. With the longer and wider beam boats, the boats became heavier and required more HP to obtain the same basic performance parameters of the older shorter and narrower boats that were then rated for 150HP.
Such was the evolution to 20' -22 ft bass boats by most tournament fisherman in the mid to late 90's that BASS dropped the 150 rating in the mid 90's.
Performance hulls have evolved in hull technology and advanced construction techniques over the past few years to give superior handling, safer, smoother, and drier rides never before thought attainable.

Here is another fun fact: in the early 2000's the TOTAL number of new fiberglass Bass Boats registered and sold in the U.S. by ALL brands of manufacturers approached 36,000 - 37,000 annually.
Since that time period of max production the numbers have drastically declined. In 2024 the TOTAL number of new sold and registered new fiberglass Bass Boats built by every single manufactured brand in the U.S. was hovering around only 7,000!
So there certainly is not a growth or increase of fiberglass Bass Boats on the lakes of the U.S.

---

Then later, some cited safety factor as a reason to drop the 150hp limit due to tournaments on the huge lakes, particularly out west, and the need to outrun bad weather. I might be wrong, but I think the western USA tournaments were running bigger motors to be able to run and fish the larger bodies of water. I never had more than a 150hp engine.

I remember the early bass boats, very narrow, stick steer. Skeeter boats and Terry boats back in the day.

Interesting the stats you post on boat numbers. Those top of the line bass boats can cost some serious money now. I simplified my life several years ago. Sold my bass boat and now fish out of a kayak or jon boat that I leave at one of our reservoirs. From taking $5,000 worth of rods and reels and enough tackle to sink smaller boats, I take only 2 rods and reels and only 3 different lures. I do like going with my son in his bass boat though!

Man I always enjoy discussing stuff with you. We have a lot in common. Roger that on the making life more simple. I seem to relax more, catch more fish, and have more true "fun" just getting back to simple basics of just enjoying the peace of just fishing the old way.
Have a blessed Sunday sir.

Related because the field sobriety test was also a 0.00, but the incident in Chatham IL (just outside of Springfield, IL) his past week where a woman drove a jeep into a child care facility. Killed 4 kids.
At first it was widly believed to have been either drugs or alcohol related but by all indications it was neither, as far as I know.

"Offical" reason is that she had a seizure and I don't believe shes been charged with anything. So, who knows, these things can happen without any sort of involvement of drugs or alcohol.

Gunny456 said:

---

Man I always enjoy discussing stuff with you. We have a lot in common. Roger that on the making life more simple. I seem to relax more, catch more fish, and have more true "fun" just getting back to simple basics of just enjoying the peace of just fishing the old way.
Have a blessed Sunday sir.

---

Same here Gunny, I enjoy your posts and your outlook on things.

I am 72, and had my time running across the water to another location, or to a weigh in. I really loved it. I don't remember at what age, but I left to go fish a tournament out of state and my wife was holding the back of my son's t-shirt, he was 4 or 5 I guess, standing in the driveway flailing his arms and crying, wanting to go fish with me. After that, my tournament fishing days declined to the point I fish one a year, with him.

The past few fishing trips for me have been taking grandchildren to fish off the bank, corks, small hooks, and worms. With 5 or 6 of grandchildren wanting to fish, it isn't safe to be in a boat, so we fish off the bank. Didn't take my own fishing stuff, nor did my son or daughters. We were too busy herding cats, watching them, baiting hooks, taking fish off the hooks, answering a hundred questions, praising them when they caught something, building up their confidence in themselves.

I have been fishing in one of those spots for 68 or 69 years. I go there alone sometimes to put my world back in balance, to enjoy the quiet (kayak or jon boat, no motor), to remember when my dad took me there to fish so long ago. But the sound of a young child squealing when they catch a fish is pretty sweet music.

You have a blessed Sunday yourself!

Good post brother. Very good post as usual. I'm only a couple of years behind you. I'm still playing with go fast boats but have no kids or grandkids. I'm blessed as the wife has been involved in my racing days since before we were married and she enjoys performance boats too and understands that if I die messing with them I will die happy. .
If you ever find yourself in the Ozarks my gate is open to you sir anytime!