Bridge vs Boat; 65' Outer Reef gets crushed...

Bummer for all to say the least. Could be a job opportunity for someone. Either as a bridge tender or a captain...

http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/n...bridgeweb0308.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=7

Hi,

Maybe that yacht should be re named "Unlucky Linde"

We've all scooched under a bridge with a few inches to spare, but this guy has his antenaes up and he couldn't even clear the roof or radar. It's not even like you can hurry through the bridges in Palm Beach. Their openings are timed to have you moving at about 4 kts. between them. Please let that have been owner-operated.

i have been under a ton of bridges all around FL and the gulf coast, it seems most bridge tenders dont want to open the bridges all the way. They often tell you to get closer so you can hurry through. I have gone through many times when the tender started lowering the bridge. Had a bridge tender in New Orleans tell us that the bridge was up high enough, it was half way up, and fully raised we only had 5' of clearance on 85' mast if I recall correctly. Have had many only open one span on the bascule bridges. Ill put my money on it that the bridge tender malfunctioned, certainly wouldnt be the first.

If the bridge were dropped on the aft section of the roof those antenna and radar would have been damaged. That boat had to have been driven into a closed span. Yes, the tenders try to not disrupt traffic any more than necessary, and yes the bridge tenders will often open only part way toward that goal, and there are many reasons for them to only open one span, but the captain is on the boat. He makes the decision on how and when to approach and enter the bridge. My money would be on his catching an unanticipated wake as he was scootching under.

Or perhaps the boat was being run from below and at the point the operator lost sight of the span either the span was open and then went down or was opening and stopped. It may have just been one edge of the hard top that hit the low side of the span.

Lots of people try to hussle through the bridge to help keep the opening time to a minimum. I know I've been guilty of it.

Good lesson here, don't rush it and keep the spans in eye sight till you're 100% sure you have clearance and then some. That way if they do drop it before you're clear, at least you may have the extra time needed to fully clear out before the span hits you.

Bridges don't drop like a rock, and you don't enter anticipating that it will be open enough when you get there. And keep in mind, this wasn't even close. He was 3 to 4 feet off at least. (radar, antenna up). This was an operator whoops in the 1st degree. Only possible excuse could be a stall or other mechanical malfunction while running with the tide and it doesn't look like that.