3 groomsmen among 4 killed in Wis. boat collision

[appsyscons]

"Six people — including groom-to-be Leo Pohl of Buffalo, Minn., and his groomsmen — were on a pontoon-like Princecraft boat when it collided with a speedboat carrying two people about 9:45 p.m. Friday, Gutsch said. Pohl, who was to have been married Saturday, remained hospitalized Sunday. One of those killed was believed to be his brother."

Here is the link to the article

http://news.yahoo.com/3-groomsmen-among-4-killed-wis-boat-collision-004740594.html

Seems like we hear about more deaths, just about every weekend.

Condolences to family and freinds.

 

[JJ Apache]

This is just HEARTBREAKING!!!!
My Condolences, too..

 

[Slandrew]

Very sad looks like a lot of damage!

 

[Slandrew]

RIP

 

[rschap1]

rip

 

[600sci]

AGAIN..im all for drivers liscense and no ALCOHOL at all on a boat !!!!

no matter which size or speed !!!!

also a no boating between 9 pm and 7 am unless radar equiped !

CALL ME STUPID, but it just never stops !


MY PRAYERS !!!!! RIP

 

[fund razor]

AGAIN..im all for drivers liscense and no ALCOHOL at all on a boat !!!!

no matter which size or speed !!!!

also a no boating between 9 pm and 7 am unless radar equiped !

CALL ME STUPID, but it just never stops !


MY PRAYERS !!!!! RIP

Perhaps existing laws were broken and we don't need to legislate more. It will be interesting to find out. It was in an area of bars and was a wedding party. This could mean alcohol or it may not. I have a feeling that the deceased skipper of the Larson may have struck the Princecraft. We don't know about nav lights yet either.

As much as these stories are tragic, and this one is particularly tragic... I don't think that we can legislate away all potential danger without losing too many rights. This is why it is so important for all boaters, skippers and passengers alike to know their responsibilities and to proactively attempt to live up to these responsibilities.

I agree that night boating is more dangerous than the already dangerous day boating, but I feel that those who are prepared to accept the risks of boating at night should be allowed to. As somebody who has had to step up to the helm with a boat full of passengers to replace a drunk skipper in the pitch black and try to navigate using "the force" I am keenly aware of the inherent danger. Dam scary at times. But for some... they don't slip away from the dock until sunset.

In the last two weeks, many sailboats have taken part in overnight races on Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Night seamanship is a special set of skills, no doubt. But I disagree that we can save everyone by criminalizing an activity that for many is part of who they are.

 

[fund razor]

Initial Release from Chippewa Sheriff:

On Friday 07/22/2011 at 9:44 PM the Chippewa County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call of a boat crash on the Chippewa River downstream from Two Waters bar, the area of the river is the Town of Wheaton on the west side and the Village of Lake Hallie on the east side.

The initial report was up to 10 people involved with fatalities and multiple injured persons. Fire and EMS units from the Chippewa Fire District, Township Fire Department, Eau Claire Fire and Rescue and Chippewa Falls Fire Department all responded to the incident and were utilized in the search and rescue operations.

Law enforcement from the Chippewa County Sheriff's Office, Chippewa County Water Safety Patrol, the Village of Lake Hallie Police and wardens from the DNR responded to the scene.

Dive teams from the Chippewa County Sheriff's Office, Eau Claire Fire and Rescue, Township Fire and Chetek Fire Department responded to the incident and were utilized in the search and rescue operation.

The initial on-scene investigation indicates a Prince Craft boat similar to a pontoon was operating on the water with six people on board. A Larson speed boat, operating on the water with two people on board collided causing severe damage to both units.

The operator of the Larson boat was killed on impact and the boat circled out of control at a high-speed until it ran aground against the shore. The passenger in the Larson boat was severely injured and transported from the scene.

The operator and (4) people on the Prince Craft boat were thrown from the boat on impact. The operator and two of the four people thrown in the water were able to swim to shore. The two other people from the Prince Craft remain missing and are the focus of the current search and recovery efforts.

The Prince Craft boat could not be located at or near the crash site when the first units arrived on the scene. With the help of the Mayo helicopter, which was dispatched to the scene, the boat was located downstream approximately .5 a mile. When deputies and fire personnel boarded the Prince Craft they located one male subject who was deceased.

The operator of the Prince Craft was arrested and transported from the scene by DNR wardens.

Deceased:

Prince Craft Boat: Matthew Overhauser, 27-years-old

Larson Boat Operator: Mark Michels, 50-years-old, of Eau Claire



Injured:

Prince Craft: Leo Pohl, Minn., initially hospitalized at Mayo Eau Claire but released

Greg Voight, Minn., hospitalized at Mayo Eau Claire

Larson Boat: Carol Oller, 49-years-old, of Hayward, hospitalized at Mayo Eau Claire



Missing:

Prince Craft boat, Luke Pohl, 25-years-old

Matthew Simonson, 28-years-old

Arrested:

Prince Craft boat, Robert Romanshek, 56 of Eau Claire

It is noted that the people on the Prince Craft boat were all part of a wedding party that was to take place Saturday.

The crash remains under investigation jointly by the Chippewa County Sheriff's Office and the Department of Natural Resources.

 

[fund razor]

Some video here.
http://www.wkow.com/story/15135081/2-dead-4-missing-after-boats-crash-on-wisconsin-river

 

[clayinaustin]

I have a feeling that the deceased skipper of the Larson may have struck the Princecraft. We don't know about nav lights yet either.

It is bad for all boaters when a boating accident occurs with injuries and deaths. I am sure that all of the facts will will be discovered, but it won't bring back the dead.

When I go boating at night, I always have a plan before it gets dark. While driving on the lake at night, I make sure I know exactly where I am and where I am going. I am constantly looking all around for BOATS WITH NO LIGHTS! I can't tell you how many times I would have hit a boat with no lights if I was not looking for exactly that!

If I were to guess on the root cause of this tragedy, I would say that the pontoon boat was running slowly with no lights and the Larson was running fast and never saw the pontoon boat.

Be extra careful when boating at night. The life you save my be your own!

 

[Ratickle]

Wow, that's sad.


My mom was born and raised in Chippewa Falls until she was 14. I still have a lot of relatives there.....

RIP,

 

[appsyscons]

"LAKE HALLIE (WKOW) -- Autopsies are under way for three of the four people killed in a violent weekend boat collision in Chippewa County.

County coroner Ronald Patten said Monday an autopsy wasn't needed on the fourth because severe head trauma was the obvious cause of death.

Patten says the autopsy reports could take about two months to complete as authorities wait for the results of toxicology tests.

The boat collision late Friday killed three groomsmen celebrating an upcoming wedding. Two were from Eau Claire and the other two were from Elk River and Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.

According to Chippewa County Undersheriff Eugene Gutsch, the extent of damage suggests both boats were traveling at high rates of speed late at night."

 

[rschap1]

I really hate to hear these things
It is sad enough when tragedy happens.

I see A LOT of folks running way too fast in the dark on my lil' lake.
Often fisherman w/o any lites on. I don't like mosquito bites either, but...too big of a chance. I got within about 35-50 feet of a fisherman last summer. I was idle-ing along with the wife after midnight. I had all my navigation lights on and stereo was CRANKED. Why the 2 fisherman let me get so close w/o saying anything, doing anything, or even turning a light on is beyond me. I saw ripples in the otherwise glassy water and started to look ahead closer. Even at no wake as slow as my boat would go speed, WAY too close for me.

I do not think that there is any way to dictate common sense. I am sure that these guys watched us, and could hear us 1/2 hour before we got right on top of them. Why? ? ? NO SENSE. Pass an infinite amount of laws and it will still happen. You cannot dictate common sense ! They were already breaking existing laws along with displaying STUPIDITY. If I had been traveling at any greater speed at all there would have been a collision. My wife saw their boat and yelled to me just as I turned away. Any faster and it would have been too late. I have lived on my lake for 20 years next summer, there is ALWAYS stupid $hi+ happening. ALWAYS. Riding on the bow rails, riding on the windsheilds, standing in the cuddy through the bow hatch AT SPEED, wrong way around the lake, towing tubbers and wakeboarders 20 feet away from another boat...all things that are already ILLEGAL. But they happen everyday when it is boating season.
I really wish I could feel better knowing that everyone at the controls had at least been through an elementary boaters safety class, but that is not mandatory in Michigan
My son is 12 now and he has completed 2 given by our county sheriff's department. I trust him TEN TIMES more than most folks I see running around my lake and that includes MANY neighbors



VERY SORRY to hear about this specific tragedy and wish there was a way to avoid such, but I do not think MORE laws would do much other than add to the long list of violations compiled AFTER it is too late.

 

[Wrinkleface]

Sincere thoughts 4 all.