The boat was a Sunseeker. The storm they were out in was fairly rough but not unusual for Lake Michigan. The series of circumstances and decisions sealed the fate of the boat.
The storm came up late Saturday afternoon with a fair amount of warning. I was out 8 miles from my marina when the sky changed and I started watching the storm coming down the lake on my radar. We headed in and were in for about 20 mintues before the storm hit. The owner of this boat was a little later coming in and was approaching the mouth of 31st street harbor, a pretty narrow entrance, when the storm hit. The water kicked up and his jet ski was tossed off the swim platform. They circled back for the jet ski, the owner boarded the jet ski while his wife took the helm. They put the jet ski in tow and headed in. As they were heading in his wife was concerned she was too close to the rocks and backed down. In doing so she fouled the tow line for jet ski around the props. At this point they deployed but the anchor but it appears the bitter end of the rode wasn't secured to the boat. From there on out the fate was sealed and boat drifted south a little over a mile and into the rocks and concrete sea wall.
At some point during the incident the owner attempted to climb out of the boat via the sunroof as the rear sliding doors were jammed. He fell from the roof level landing on his head and required 15 stitches to close the wound.
All in all a bad day and proof it takes a series of circumstances to end up in such a predicament. The boat is nearly certainly a total constructive loss.
Ben
