A boat owner and his delivery captain crashed a new 39-ft powerboat, valued at $300,000, off Sheffield Island in Norwalk, Connecticut, on Wednesday morning. The boat was newly purchased, and the owner and captain were taking it up the ICW from Stuart, Florida, to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, when they ran aground on a huge pile of rocks in an especially treacherous area known as Great Reef.
Both owner and captain are safe following a rescue from the Norwalk Police Department’s Marine Division. Sgt. Peter Lapak, head of the department, says, “In my whole career this was one of the worst ones, one of the most dangerous ones because of where we had to go, on top of the reef, and the sea conditions–the water was really cold.” The tide was rising when they ran aground, and the boat sank right after they were rescued. Sea Tow is working on recovering the vessel.
The boat owner and captain are experienced boaters, but the forecast unexpectedly took a turn while they were in Long Island Sound, and they ended up in 5- to 7-foot seas. They decided to head to Connecticut’s south shore to stay out of the waves, but they ran too close to Sheffield Island and did not see the rock formation on the electronic GPS screens through the wind and waves. More details about the wreck and rescue are available here.
