A 38-foot pleasure craft caught fire off East Chop late Monday afternoon, sending a massive plume of black smoke high above Vineyard Sound and prompting a mass mutual aid response. All passengers were safely evacuated.
A three-man sail from Vineyard waters earlier this month ended in tragedy; a loss of a sailor’s life, a dismasting of a two-masted sailboat which was later abandoned, and a dramatic rescue of two in the high seas.
Captain Dennis White, 63, of the 41-foot ketch Emma Goldman, had left the Vineyard on Saturday, Nov. 6 with a crew of two: the captain’s longtime friend William (Willie) Thorns, 64, of Mashpee and his 25-year-old daughter, Amanda Thorns.
Five Coast Guardsmen were rescued from a submerged 25-foot response boat on Wednesday during a training exercise 10 miles south of Noman’s Land. The Coast Guard said one of the men suffered an ankle injury while another was treated for hypothermia. They were transported quickly to Menemsha where they were met by paramedics, according to Coast Guard spokesman James Rhodes.
The accident occurred at 11:31 a.m. Seas were three to four feet high. A number of boats were involved in the training exercise.
Menemsha Coast Guardsmen played a large role in a rescue attempt following a collision between a sailboat and power boat in Buzzards Bay on Friday that left an experienced sailor dead.
Coast Guard personnel aboard the Menemsha-based 25-foot rescue boat responded to a mayday call for help shortly after 1:45 p.m.
Senior chief Stephen Barr of the Menemsha Coast Guard station said the boat crew arrived on scene in less than 35 minutes and found another patrol boat already there.
Oak Bluffs police last Friday charged a Needham man with boating under the influence of alcohol after he reportedly ran his boat aground along Seaview avenue near Sengekontacket Pond. Andrew Tappe, 47, was charged with boating while under the influence of alcohol, negligent operation of a boat and operating an unregistered boat.
A power boat exiting Lake Tashmoo Sunday afternoon sustained heavy damage after it collided with a sailboat also exiting the narrow channel. Nobody was injured in the collision and both vessels were brought safely back into the harbor, although the power boat sustained extensive damage to its hull above the water line.
Tisbury harbor master Jay Wilbur said the 30-foot motor boat Sally Forth was exiting the harbor when it ran head-first into the 22-foot sailboat Beer Nuts. The sailboat was under full sail at the time of collision and had the right of way.
A fatal accident aboard the schooner Alabama during a day sail out of Vineyard Haven in the summer of 2006 involved no violation of U.S. Coast Guard regulations, a report by Coast Guard investigators has found.
