Two private water craft capsized in the North Sound Sunday as brisk offshore winds whipped up the waves.
A capsized boat in the North Sound Sunday. |
According to officials with the Cayman Islands Port Authority and the Royal Cayman Islands Police, the two vessels capsized within about 10 minutes of one another. One was in Stingray City, the second craft turned over just to the south of there.
In all, 25 people had to be rescued from the two capsized crafts. RCIPS marine unit officers said one vessel was 18 feet long and had 11 people aboard. The other craft was a 21-22-foot boat which carried 14 people.
Resident Greg Fiedler saw one of the watercraft just before it capsized.
‘We saw a boat back off to our right and it was going along at a pretty good clip…it had a lot of people for a (21) footer,’ Mr. Fiedler said. ‘Then it occurred to me that I never saw them coming up our left-hand side. Sure enough, when I looked back…the boat was upside down and all the guys were on top of the boat.’
Mr. Fiedler said he stopped his boat and radioed in a mayday call. He said it took police marine officers and the Department of Environment just about five minutes to respond.
‘I pulled up and made sure everybody was OK. They had some cuts and scrapes but they were minor injuries if anything,’ he said.
RCIPS officers said there were also no serious injuries in the other capsize incident.
The passengers and the 21-foot-boat were towed to Kaibo with the help of some private craft. The 18-footer and its 11 passengers were also taken to shore by Department of Environment officers.
Chairman of the Cayman Islands Tourism Association Watersports Committee Stephen Broadbelt said both boats had too many people on them.
Mr. Broadbelt said the committee doesn’t believe this type of overcrowding happens often on private boats, but he said it does happen.
‘A bunch of friends come over; say ‘let’s go to the Sandbar’. You can’t leave anyone behind, so they all jump in the boat and go,’ he said.
Mr. Broadbelt said the two incidents on Sunday highlight the need for the Cayman Islands government to more strictly regulate privately owned boats, as well as commercial craft that travel in the North Sound.
‘It would be a terrible oversight not to include private vessels in any new regulations that come out to govern vessels in the Cayman Islands.’
Police urge boaters to always know the carrying capacity of their craft, to have lifejackets and working radios aboard, and to make sure the weather is suitable for boating before heading out.
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