I chose to write about this incident in response to a request from a friend of mine. The subject matter is one we all know; and a few have experienced; but specifically, I was asked to write about it due to the usual misinformation that comes out of social media when events like this occur.
This past weekend, a marina patrons’ worst nightmare came to past. Anyone who has rented (or owned) a marina wet slip has thought about this scenario; and for my readers, there are several videos of this accident. The one I chose to give the best account from start to finish.
So first, let’s look at the video; then let’s set the record straight.
***As always with videos I do not host myself, we run the risk that the video may not be posted sometime in the distant future. The events of this video took place on October 17, 2020.
At this point I am assuming you watched the video in its entirety. What prompted the cameraperson to start recording remains a mystery to me. One guess would be the numerous individuals yelling at the Captain to stop and turn off his engines. I will assume the yelling started sooner than what we see from the video.
From the beginning of the video until 00:11 you see the Captain in reverse at an unusual high rate of speed. What is difficult to determine from the camera’s perspective is the vessel’s heading in relation to the presumed wet slip (his final destination); and whether his heading was impacted by prop cavitation.
Regarding cavitation…while I am happy to dedicate an entire article to cavitation, my comments are merely meant to point out that cavitation is bad; bad for performance and bad for the structural integrity of the prop material.
Cavitation is the formation of air bubbles on the propeller. Cavitation will come from a damaged prop blade (typically the blade edge in the form of nicks) or running your props in reverse. Ventilation, which is something like cavitation can occur on outboards and stern drives running in reverse at high speed by sucking in air; but on inboards; it’s more likely cavitation. Additionally, you will know that your props are causing cavitation by way of feeling the vibrations through the vessel. Cavitation is bad for several reasons. Cavitation can damage or further damage your props. Cavitation equates to props not working at maximum efficiency. Last, when cavitation occurs from forward movement (damaged prop) the vibrations can make the ride uncomfortable.
Back to the video:
The boat in the video is a Carver yacht. I am not an expert with Carver, so I am unable to accurately identify the year and model; although I know its a 42 footer. However, the point I am trying to make is that this motor yacht has twin inboards. Therefore, and for those readers that might not be familiar with inboards, the thrust produced from an inboard motor is not directional like an outboard or stern-drive motor. In the simplest terms, an inboard motor’s thrust is applied on the rudder; and it is the rudder’s position and the thrust’s applied force (on the rudder) that turns the boat. Imaging holding your hand out (vertically) from a car window doing 70 miles per hour. Now twist your palm on the “y” axis (left and right); you can feel how the wind thrust impacts your hand and arm.
When an inboard motor is running in reverse, the thrust that is generated is minimal (as props are not designed to produce significant thrust in reverse) and is omnidirectional; meaning, the thrust’s direction is amidship (centerline of the boat) towards the bow of the boat. Therefore, inboards have zero to extremely limited directional response from rudders; and thus, turning the helm. The point I am trying to make here is… Attempting to drive an inboard in reverse like an outboard or sterndrive is futile; and a rookie dumb-dumb mistake. Remember the rookie dumb dumb mistake remark. I am going to make a reference to it later on.
Okay, for real this time… Back to the video.
So in the first 11 seconds we see this captain in full reverse heading towards what I presume is his slip. At 00:12 of the video, we can clearly here a female voice yell “STOP!” Whether it was coincidence, or he actually heard the woman, as soon as “STOP” is heard, the Captain puts the engines forward and stops the reverse momentum with an obvious jolt and creeps forward. Immediately afterwards, we can hear a man’s voice yelling; “shut it off! Turn it off!” Followed by some continuous muffled comments from the yelling man. If you observe the Captain, you can tell he is overwhelmed. He continues to look down at his console; for what, I have no idea; perhaps to regroup. At this point we can’t assume anything other than this Captain clearly does not have the skills to keep his vessel under control.
By this time, the Captain has produced an audience; from spectators on shore to anxious boat owners who have come from down below to watch the show or perhaps pray. No sooner than we see the audience, the Captain hits the engines in reverse at near or full throttle. What is difficult to see in the video is the Captain looking back while turning the helm. As we have learned, this will not produce the desired effect. However, the issue he's placed himself in now is that he is forced to max power in reverse to get the vessel to turn sharply, which creates a new set of controllability issues. At this point, we can safely assume that he is confused and appears to be dazed; so much in fact, I think he forgets that he left the engines forward with the throttle on. Obviously, his judgement is impaired, and his skills are lacking; and unfortunately, at 01:08 of the video, we see the worst of a bad situation unfold.
The rest of the video speaks for itself.
In doing some additional research, I found some additional information; some official and some not. I'll start with the official.
According to Sarasota Court Records, Branden Sheridan was arrested on four (4) counts of DUI/BUI Unlawful Blood Alcohol: BUI Damage to Property or Person of Another. This is a first-degree misdemeanor, an offence that is punishable by up to (12) twelve months in jail and a $1,000 fine due to the “damage of property or person of another” enhancement; otherwise it would be up to six (6) months in jail and a $500.00 fine.
According to the police report Mr. Sheridan stated that the issue he had with his boat was a result of poor weather conditions and being blown into other boats. Additionally, Mr. Sheridan stated that he had over 100 hours of experience on this boat… Okay readers...Say “it” with me… “Bull S#$%!” Nope, this was a rookie dumb-dumb mistake.
On a side note… Nowadays, when your “f-up” is longer than a few seconds, you can bet all the tea in China, someone has video of the incident.
While at the scene, Mr. Sheridan refused field sobriety tests; think touching the nose, walk and turn, eye test etc. When he was booked, the Sarasota County Sherriff’s office managed to conduct two breathalyzer tests that produce 0.185 and 0.180; which is 2.3 times the legal limit.
So why were their four counts? The reason for the four counts was due to the enhancement designation. This was not a simple single BUI. This was a BUI that included damage; and therefore, a separate BUI for each party that experienced damage; the marina, the Carver MY (Motor Yacht) owner, and 2 additional boat owners.
Okay, now for the unsubstantiated bullshit information and one of the main reasons I blog; and blog about topics I read on social media.
Mr. Sheridan stole a charter boat ISLAND DIVA II – FALSE; Had he stolen the vessel he would have been booked for grand larceny.
Mr. Sheridan worked for the boat owner who charter’s the boat - PARTIALLY TRUE; Mr. Sheridan was performing boat detailing on the day of the event. In what capacity (contracted or employee) is not known; and therefore presumed to have permission to be on board the vessel. What is not clear is whether or not he had permission to use the boat.
Mr. Sheridan was under the influence of illegal substances. FALSE; had he been under the influence of illegal drugs, he would have been charged.
Mr. Sheridan hit four (4) boats. FALSE; the video only shows striking one; however due to the charges we can infer that one of the charges is for an additional boat as the marina and the Carver MY that he was operating would be the other two counts.
Another false rumor I read was the liability of the boat owner. Once again, people who think they are in the know; actually don't know what they are talking about. The owner (in this case) would not be liable. This is a clear-cut case of a Captain that did not provide safe operation or navigation of the vessel; and not a deficiency of the boat’s operational capability which would fall under owner liability. However, people love to incorrectly speculate and give their video or post more hype with incorrect information.
At this point I really don’t have anything more to add; mostly due to a common understanding that boating under the influence is always a bad idea; especially when you are operating a boat that you are extremely unfamiliar with, out of your class or experience, and perhaps in an unfamiliar area.
I am going to predict that Mr. Sheridan will most likely be offered deferred adjudication with acceptance into a drug and alcohol program or probation, will serve no jail time, be levied a boat load of fees (pardon the pun); totaling at least $4,800.00 that includes fines, court and investigative costs and a judgement of tens, if not 100's of thousands of dollars for the all the property damaged. And on that note, this is why you have boat insurance.
On an interesting side-note: After writing this article, I remembered that I contacted the owner of this vessel to charter it back in September 2020 for a client of mine; and, the owner was a real prick to me. Now, I would never wish anything like this on anyone; but, could karma be at work here?
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