Improper anchoring technique blamed for NFL players boating accident

I read a blog from the Orlando Sentinel about the accident report from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. According to the report, the boat swamped and capsized while trying to release the anchor from the Gulf bottom. Evidently when the occupants of the boat were unable to get the anchor to release from the Gulf bottom, they tied the anchor line to the portside eye bracket of the transom. Then they proceeded to use the engine to thrust forward in an attempt to release the anchor. This didn’t work and the boat immediately swamped, submerged and capsized.

The investigator concluded that the accident was caused by the improper anchoring of the boat to the portside transom eye bracket, using a 200 hp motor in an attempt to throttle forward trying to release the anchor from the Gulf bottom, and failure to leave enough slack in the anchor line to compensate for the rough Gulf conditions.

This stresses the importance of proper boating safety. Something as simple as using an improper anchoring technique cause the death of three and injury of one other.

The Orlando Sentinel blog can be found by clicking here.

The accident report can be found clicking here.

Other comments on this can be found by clicking here.