boat capsized in SF Bay

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getakey

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I am repeatedly astonished that people continue to board high numbers of passengers on boats.

Yes, in some instances, the boat is designed for such loads, but "modern" planing and semi-planing hulls do not handle such loads very well. ( ie: easy for the to become "top heavy". ) Further, the load imbalance should be fairly obvious to the "operator" before the boat was put into motion.

It is a sad event, but very likely also quite avoidable.

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/loca...-San-Francisco-Fire-Department-396422161.html
 
I find the news reporting to be, um, curious.

They are reporting ( favorably ) on the actions of Good Samaritans, And the rapidity of copious response.

They are not even mentioning that the "captain" of the boat is responsible for the safety of all persons aboard, and that a his decisions may very well be the sole cause of this situation.

They act as if this was an "Act of God", rather than and avoidable situation.
 
I saw the film clip on the news this morning. It showed other boaters throwing life jackets to the people in the water. Once again stupidity on the part of the 'captain' and the passengers is evident. My wife asked me what size boat would be needed to hold that many people and I answered, 'At least 50 feet.' That was no 50' boat. It looked to be about 35' at the most. Pure negligence. Luckily, everyone was rescued. Hy
 
Wow, 34' sailboat with 30 people on board? YGTBSM!
 
How does someone not know of the fatal capsize in NY a few years ago? Are they living under the proverbial rock? If you own a boat, know people with boats, occasionally are a passenger on a boat, have a kid someone might invite on a boat, how do you not file that away - that when the number of bodies approaches the length in feet, bad things happen.

If everyone recovers, I guess there is nothing to prosecute, but someone really needs to be made an example of for this level of stupidity.
 
While the "captain" is still responsible, I can't help but wonder:
What was going through the minds of passengers 25, 26, 27, 28 29 and 30?

Didn't they notice that it was "a bit crowded"?
 
I believe that the overloaded boat that tipped over in NY at the fireworks show was also a 34' silver ton.
Jim
 
My 40 ft boat (fairly standard type fly bridge cruiser) has a plate on it stating it can carry a maximum of 14 people
Brad
 
I doubt the 'captain' had 30 life jackets on board. I wonder how many drinks some of the passengers had before the boat even left the dock. Supposedly, there were some kids on board; they MUST be wearing proper life jackets when out the cabin. The owners of that must should be charged with gross negligence and endangering the welfare of evryone on board and all those who came to their rescue. Hats off to those who did help. Hy
 
It is ironical that I have been boarded twice in the last few years by the Coast Guard when on board on my 40' with just me and my wife and making sure we had the proper number of life jackets. With so many Coast Guard boats out because of fleet week, nobody noticed a 34' boat with 30 people on board all seating on one side to watch the air show. I guess that they were all busy controlling the famous "off limits box".
 
the original stories said saliboat.
Makes more sense that it was a Silverton. Those models have a lot of top heavy structure for their size.
I think I may have seen that Silverton in years past during fleetweek with a lot of people on deck. I remember calling it out to my wife.
I've never had more than 20 people (if that) on my 45' if away from the dock
 
It is official: it is a 1984 34' Silverton fly-bridge. It was raised from the floor of San Francisco Bay yesterday.
 
Arnold appears to be spot on. My SFO sources confirm. As of now all appear to be alive. One child will bear careful watching.
 
If one assumes the average weight of the 30 passengers is 150 lb, the passenger load would be 3400 lb, which sounds like a lot for a 12000 +lb boat. Also how much fuel was in the tanks? I have a 43 ft Silverton and don't like more than 10 on the boat assuming there are quite a few small kids.

Silverton sold a ton of the 34' models, they are very roomy for a 34 and are apparently well made since there are still a lot of them around.
Still so I don't know where one would put 30 people?
 
30 x 150 = 4500. Sounds like the same model boat in two similar capsizing incidents.
Jim
 
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