Power line accident

See http://www.cbs19.tv/news/local/2-dead-1 ... /462244247

Two dead Boy Scouts, one seriously injured, and a power line.

Jim Clark-Dawe

Was just coming to share this.

Absolutely tragic. Thoughts going out to all the families.

That's just awful. I looked up the spot on Google Maps and there is a power line next to the 155 bridge at the northwestern end of the lake. It doesn't seem that a Hobie could get under that bridge so the only way to hit that line is to just go too close. Still, a power line under 30' seems pretty low to me.

Unless someone not on the boat saw it, no one might ever know exactly why it happened.

_________________
'00 H16 #104691
'78 H16 #32692 ex-rental [gone]
Old Holsclaw trailer
My Hobie 16 pages

Better job of reporting -- https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/mor ... 0af4bde2a3

Third boy has now died.

It looks like two older boys were teaching a younger boy to sail. Both of the older boys were Eagles.

The event was witnessed and rescue was almost immediate.

Jim Clark-Dawe

Oh my gosh, that is horrible! Never sail or set up a boat near power lines. Prayers for the families of the boys. So sad that this happened.

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Marty
1984 H16 Yellow Nationals Redline, "Yellow Fever"
Lake Martin, 'Bama.

For those that are curious about the circumstances, it happened around Alley Creek Cove. If you look at the map of Lake O' The Pines, Alley Creek is one of three fingers extending northward at the southern end of the lake. There is a bridge isolating the creek from the river, and there is a powerline across the lower section of that cove from Woodland Lane to the western side. There is no intermediate support for those wires (about a 1/4 mile span) so they may just hang low in hot weather. I'm assuming that's where the accident happened, but it's hard to picture a sailboat even being in there; it looks pretty inaccessible. Another article mentions it happened by the marina (outside the bridge) but I don't see powerlines down there.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/32°48'18.4"N+94°35'07.3"W

It's a pretty big lake, so I can understand them sailing with a beginner in a more sheltered area.

So ironic that it happened with a Hobie, though, as HC (and only HC?) took a step against this sort of thing 30+ years ago.

It's just something that should never happen. What a tragedy.

_________________
'00 H16 #104691
'78 H16 #32692 ex-rental [gone]
Old Holsclaw trailer
My Hobie 16 pages

We are devastated that this has happened. Truly awful. We have yet to see all of the facts about the boat in question, but you are correct that Hobie Cat under the ownership of the Coleman Company took action in the mid 80's to make our boats safer. We came up with the CompTip to help prevent accidents like these. For nearly 25 years we campaigned to retrofit older boats with the CompTip. I can only assume this boat is pre-1986 and not retrofitted. We also fought to get powerlines removed or raised in marinas, lakes and waterways. So sad...

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

I never realized the comp tip made such a big difference in this situation. Makes me want to get a new mast.

When I bought my '78, used, from a dealer in about 1991 they installed the comptip before they would sell it. Now, I don't know (but maybe Matt does) what voltages it was designed to protect against. There is a limit somewhere and I haven't seen mention of the voltage of these particular lines.

One of the news articles has a picture of powerlines over water but they are another set to the east of the ones I mentioned. They are over a very small dead-end cove, whereas the main ones are truly over 1000' of open water.

https://www.news-journal.com/news/2017/ ... cout-dies/

_________________
'00 H16 #104691
'78 H16 #32692 ex-rental [gone]
Old Holsclaw trailer
My Hobie 16 pages

very tragic, especially with young men.

unfortunately that lake had seen that same type of accident before:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2017/ ... -reservoir

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Chris
'88 H18SE Arís