RACINE COUNTY - County investigators Tuesday released more information about a two-boat collision on Lake Michigan Saturday that sank a 29-foot fishing boat and involved a man's cold-water rescue.
Racine County Water Patrol investigators also said they expect to recommend criminal charges.
The Saturday morning boat collision occurred about 3 miles offshore, just north of the Racine-Kenosha county border in about 60 feet of water. Investigators called the collision a ramming by the larger boat - although that boat's owner-operator told the story a bit differently.
According to water patrol officials: A 29-foot Tiara fishing boat owned by Timothy Powers of Harvard, Ill., was
trawling at 2 mph, heading northwest. At about 10:45 a.m. the occupants saw the larger boat heading toward them at an estimated 18-20 mph.
At first the Tiara's occupants thought the larger boat would turn; then they sounded their horn and tried to turn out of the way, officials said. They could not turn fast enough, and the bigger boat, a Predator Sunseeker, struck the Tiara's stern, or rear, and its bow slid up on top of the smaller boat, up to the cockpit.
That boxed in the driver, Powers' 20-year-old son Grant Powers, at the helm with the boat taking on water, officials said. So the elder Powers helped his son climb through the broken windshield, causing numerous cuts to his arms. The son later received three stitches in his right hand and five near his right elbow.
Account questioned
The Predator's owner and driver, Scott Gordon, 55, of Chicago called the incident not a ramming, but a collision and said, "I don't know who struck who." Gordon said he'd had his boat on autopilot on a due north course toward Milwaukee and Summerfest with his family. He said there was some fog on the lake and the Tiara did not appear on his radar, though two other boats in the area did.
Gordon questioned why the Tiara would not have turned away, if the Powers saw him coming.
At impact, he said, "All of a sudden my boat slowed down and the bow went up in the air." He first thought he'd struck a reef.
Then, said Gordon, a commercial real estate broker, "All of a sudden I see guys climbing up on the (left) side and yelling ... ?Our boat is sinking!'" He asked them to come aboard and put out a mayday call.
The Tiara sank within about four minutes, officials said.
Meanwhile, the Tiara's third occupant, Todd Schueneman, 36, had jumped into the water without a life jacket just before impact, officials said. When the Powers boarded his boat, Gordon turned it around to get Schueneman.
Officials said the life ring tossed in the water fell short of Schueneman who was starting to become lethargic in the 54-degree water. So Grant Powers jumped in, swam to him and helped rescue him.
Gordon disputed that Schueneman was starting to succumb to the cold water.
The Powers could not be reached for comment about their plans, if any, for the sunken boat. Gordon said he has a basketball-size hole in the bow of his boat.
A dive by investigators to photograph the sunken boat is planned for sometime this week.
Read more:
http://www.journaltimes.com/news/lo...773-11e0-b94b-001cc4c03286.html#ixzz1RlzkHWKp
