Boating Accident/Death off Diamond Island

[Seaplane Pilot]

Originally Posted by Island Lover

Several years ago a friend and neighbor was killed in another needless tragedy on Winnipesaukee. At that time many of us came together in hopes of bringing about change and to prevent these types of accidents. Through years of name calling and hostility we have attempted to improve safety on the lake. Its good that at least one newspaper remembers Jack's name. How many years will it be before yesterdays accident is considered to long ago to be relevant?

We can't sweep another accident under the rug and wait until the next. Some good can come from even the worst tragedies. The best way to honor the dead and console the living is to work to keep it from happening again.

I cannot understand how anyone can possibly imply that excessive speed was a factor in this accident, without even seeing the official report from the investigation. Yes, the photos show what appears to be severe damage to the bow of the boat. However, if you think about it, hitting a solid granite wall at even 25mph will do severe damage to a boat that's just simply made of fiberglass and wood. What do people think - it's just going to bounce off the rocks? In my opinion (which is worthless), if the boat had been traveling much faster than 20-25mph, there would have been a lot more damage to the boat. Think about those front impact tests the insurance companies do on cars at 5mph? We're talking about a steel car suffering significant damage from a crash at a very low rate of speed. I think in the end that the investigation will determine that the boat's speed was a lot less than people believe it was. Reading some of these cruel comments on The Union Leader website is totally sickening and uncalled for.