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Boating Accidents Rise In Perilous Maryland Waters

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Derek Valcourt 370x278

Reporting Derek Valcourt

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BALTIMORE (WJZ)– Another dangerous weekend on Maryland waters after a series of boat accidents killed one man and left several more in the hospital.

Derek Valcourt explains police are now investigating three separate accidents, all of them in Anne Arundel County.

It’s shaping up to be one of the deadliest summers for Maryland boaters in years. Search crews pulled the body of Charles Ryder, 48, from the waters of Stony Creek near Riviera Beach. Police say Saturday night he was on a moving boat, when for some reason, he jumped into the creek and never resurfaced.

But the cause of two other boat accidents this weekend are still under investigation. Two people were rushed to Shock Trauma after their boat capsized in the South River. Hours later, and not too far away, a sailboat and a power boat collided. In all, three people were injured in that crash. 

They are the latest in a series of troubling accidents on Maryland waters this summer, including the death of 14-year-old Olivia Constants, killed when her small sailboat capsized and her harness became tangled in sailing lines. 

And earlier this month, a WJZ viewer captured video of a boat spinning in circles on the Magothy River minutes after ejecting its two passengers, killing James Robert Kane, 25, of Pasadena.

 Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Police blame the weather for an increase in fatalities.

“We didn’t have much of a spring,” said Sgt. Art Windemuth. ” It went right from winter to 80-90 degree days in May, and as soon as we hit those hot, dry days, people turned to the water for relief. And we’re seeing an increased number of accidents.”

In fact, so far this year, 15 people have already died in boating accidents on Maryland waters. That’s already higher than most previous years. DNR Police point out there’s still plenty of summer to go.

The cause of the weekend accidents are still under investigation. Police have not released information on the conditions of the five boaters taken to the hospital.

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  • DOCSRUS

    Could it have something to do with the coolers full of beer?

  • Peggy Beall

    Common sense is something no one has once they get behind the wheel of a speed boat. Plus the fact that it’s hard to patrol the whole bay and catch all of the intoxicated boaters on the bay.

  • Tom

    Lol perilous waters? The Chesapeake bay has some of the calmest water in the world.

  • JoeFromAACounty

    JUMPING INTO THE WATER AND NEVER RESURFACING IS NOT A BOATING ACCIDENT!!!!!!!!

    A BOATING ACCIDENT IS WHEN SOME SOCK-LESS, DRUNK BOATER CRASHES INTO ANOTHER BOAT OR SOME OTHER STRUCTURE AND SOMEONE IS INJURED OR KILLED!!!!!!!

    • Tom

      @Joe – Nobody takes people seriously who type in all capitals.

  • Dbrowersr

    You should not always blame drinking for ignorance. I have seen alot of people go buy a boat and just figure it out as they go. One short boaters course and they think they know everything and dont. I have been on and around the water all my life and see thing every time i go out that sickens me that poeple just dont care! They drive like in there car, Cut you off when ever get a chance take your “right a way” from you. In cars you have a fender bender, In boats poeple die.

    • Tom

      Well said. People are always so quick to judge. Always have to blame it on some substance. In reality, most people are just pretty stupid.

  • Randy3011

    I agree with DOCSRUS. I crewed on a two-masted schooner, was in the Navy and have been around the water for over 40 years. The 28 foot sailboat my friends and I were returning on Froig Mortar Creek were nearly cut in half by a cigarette boat driven by a drunk with one hand on the steering wheel and the other on a beer….the Chesapeake Bay is like a speedway. The idiots don’t understand “no wake” just like “55 mph”.

    • Tom

      It’s not ALWAYS involving alcohol. That was the point, which you obviously missed.

  • Lisa

    This was a good friend of mine and he will be truly missed. He was a good swimmer, I believe that he must have gotten hurt once he jumped into the water. Pray for his family who is very much affected by this terrible loss.

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