Posted on 06/28/2008 10:20:32 PM PDT by troy McClure
Prosecutors still insist that the person with his hand on the tiller of a drifting sailboat was at fault for being hit by a speeding powerboat in the dead of night.
The preliminary hearing on vehicular manslaughter charges against Bismarck Dinius, 39, of Carmichael, was held yesterday and will continue today in Lakeport in Lake County. The charges were filed as a result of the death of Lynn Thornton, 51, who was killed on the O'Day 28 Beats Workin' II on the windless night of April 29, 2006, on Clear Lake. Dinius happened to be sitting at the helmsman's position of the sailboat at the time Thornton suffered the injuries that would kill her.
We think that Dinius to defend himself on these charges is a travesty of justice, as what really caused Thornton's death is Russell Perdock of Lake County slamming his appropriately named Baja Outlaw 24-ft powerboat into Beats Workin' II at 40 mph or more. Why hasn't Perdock been charged? There can only be one explanation in our mind — he's the number two man at the Lake County Sheriff's Department, and law enforcement up there, based on this case, appears to be corrupt as hell.
(Excerpt) Read more at latitude38.com ...
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“Here’s an example of an article written in Babelfish.”
LOL - exactly!
Greeting papasmurf:
Thanks for clarifying the location.
In addition to your overtaking citation, add this: inadequate lookout, failure to maintain safe speed, did not use all available means to avoid collision, irresponsible vessel navigation, and did not exercise due regard for restricted visibility maneuvering situations.
Rule 5 Look-out
Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look-out by sight as well as by hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision.
Rule 6 Safe Speed
Every vessel shall at all times proceed at a safe speed so that she can take proper and effective action to avoid collision and be stopped within a distance appropriate to the prevailing circumstances and conditions.
In determining a safe speed the following factors shall be among those taken into account:
(a)By all vessels:
(i)The state of visibility;
(ii) The traffic density including concentrations of fishing vessels or any other vessels;
(iii) The manageability of the vessel with special reference to stopping distance and turning ability in the prevailing conditions;
(iv) At night the presence of background light such as from shore lights or from back scatter from her own lights;
(v) The state of wind, sea and current, and the proximity of navigational hazards;
(vi) The draft in relation to the available depth of water.
Rule 7 Risk of Collision
(a) Every vessel shall use all available means appropriate to the prevailing circumstances and conditions to determine if risk of collision exists. If there is any doubt such risk shall be deemed to exist.
Rule 8 Action to Avoid Collision
(a)Any action taken to avoid collision shall, if the circumstances of the case admit, be positive, made in ample time and with due regard to the observance of good seamanship.
(e) If necessary to avoid collision or allow more time to asses the situation, a vessel may slacken her speed or take all way off by stopping or reversing her means of propulsion.
Rule 18 Responsibilities Between Vessels
Except where rule 9, 10, and 13 otherwise require:
(a)A power driven vessel underway shall keep out of the way of:
(iv)a sailing vessel;
Rule 19 Conduct of Vessels in Restricted Visibility
(a) This rule applies to vessels not in sight of one another when navigating in or near an area of restricted visibility.
(b) Every vessel shall proceed at a safe speed adapted to the prevailing circumstances and condition of restricted visibility. A power-driven vessel shall have her engines ready for immediate maneuver.
(c) Every vessel shall have due regard to the prevailing circumstances and conditions of restricted visibility when complying with the Rules of Section I of this Part.
Cheers,
OLA
And I forgot to add, when the overtaking vessel is traveling at 40 mph under perfect conditions: no more than three minutes reaction time.
60D/S=T
60x2 miles stern light/40 mph=3 minutes
Cheers,
OLA
<”...wed run dark off South Carolina , Georgia and northern FLA because of piracy...”>
Wow!! Where’d the pirates come from - Georgia?
Not if you are a big wig on in the sheriffs office.
Under normal conditions a sail boat has the right of way. Unless of course it gets in the way of say a super tanker which takes a mile or 5 to stop and a half mile to turn.
Then maybe the sailboat has the right of way but it also will sink.
Reminds me of the old Cajun saying “I threw a cow over the fence, some hay.”
Lake County never heard of the Inland Rules of the Road?
Rules of the Road.
Straight form Chapmans Piloting- Seamanship and Small Boat Handling
1] The applicable rules are the Inland Rules.
2] The powerboat was traveling too fast, obviously, to maneuver away from a collision within it’s stopping distance.
3] The seating position on the sailboat is irrelevant to determining whom was at the helm. The cockpit is a rectangle, with the tiller in the middle. The lady that was killed was sitting on the starboard side, the guy charged was on the port side, the tiller was equidistant between the two. Had there been enough wind to be moving the sailboat, the person sitting on the side from which the wind had been coming would have likely had the tiller, but that can’t be established if the sailboat was drifting.
The Rules seem complicated, but they are really very simple: if you hit something, by definition you failed to maneuver to avoid collision and broke the most basic Rule of all. This is true regardless of whether the sailboat was lit or any other issue. The other vessel may also have contributed, (e.g., if it had been unlit), but that would only mean additional charges and would not absolve the operator of the powerboat.
I still have my Chapmans - a great book for the recreational boater.
Could be worse ,, it could have been the Orange County Sheriff that was involved...
You beat me to it.......
...and we have to see it over and over and over on the thread list.
Damn!
The sheriff’s boat was going 40 MPH in the dark of night! Period... End of Paragraph!
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