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Tarpons Springs Fla--Boating Accident Leaves 1 Injured & 1 Missing in Gulf
ST PETERSBURG TIMES--NORTH PINELLAS
Crash into marker leaves boater missing
The other man on the boat was knocked unconscious. When he came to, his shipmate was gone.
By RICHARD DANIELSON and KATHRYN WEXLER
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 1, 2003
TARPON SPRINGS - As dusk gave way to night Wednesday, Anthony Stevens called a friend to say he would be home soon.
It had been a good day on the water, but Stevens and Randall Peacock were motoring toward the mouth of the Anclote River. He estimated they would be at the dock in 20 minutes.
Soon after, in the dark, Peacock's 22-foot Mako boat struck channel marker No. 38 about a mile off shore. The marker, on a 10-foot steel post, ripped into the right side of the hull, leaving a gash 3 feet deep and a foot wide. It cut through the fiberglass.
Peacock, 42, of Tarpon Springs later told his wife that he was thrown into the front of the boat and knocked unconscious. He came to - he doesn't know how much later - to find himself covered in blood.
Stevens, 26, was gone.
Divers and pilots from local, state and federal agencies searched the area south of Anclote Key on Wednesday night and during the day Thursday without success. Thursday afternoon, four divers from the Pasco County Sheriff's Office covered an area 100 feet out all the way around the marker. They found nothing more than a few pieces of debris.
"If he'd have been there, we'd have found him," sheriff's Sgt. Charlie Ellison said. The U.S. Coast Guard, Customs Service and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission also took part in the search.
Along with searching for Stevens, officials were trying to piece together what happened Wednesday night. A friend said Stevens called him sometime after 9 p.m. Authorities learned of the emergency about 10 p.m.
"We're trying to corroborate physical evidence with witness statements," said Gary Morse, a conservation commission spokesman.
Peacock told officials he was not steering at the time of the accident, Morse said.
The boat was going more than 15 mph, "a high rate of speed," he said. There is no speed limit in the waterway where the accident occurred. The channel marker has reflector tape.
"These buoys are relatively easy to see if you're looking for them," Morse said.
He said the boat had a spotlight and radar onboard, and that both could have picked up the marker. But he did not know if they were working.
The men were not wearing life jackets, he said. The water around the marker is 11 to 14 feet deep, Ellison said.
The collision left Peacock with a concussion, whiplash, many bruises and a cut on his forehead that took 10 stitches to close. He was treated at Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital and released, said his wife, Shannon Peacock.
Mrs. Peacock said her husband has been distraught since the accident. He told her that after he awakened on the boat, he searched for Stevens, then dived overboard and swam around looking for him, returning to the boat when it started to drift away. He had to work on the damaged radio to call the Coast Guard and set off flares to help rescuers find the boat.
He called her from the hospital, saying, "He's missing. You have to find him."
The Peacocks own Peacock's Professional Cleaning, which cleans newly built houses, and Stevens has worked for the couple on and off for three years.
Stevens grew up in Palm Harbor and also has worked as an auto and boat detailer, said his friend and housemate, Danny Walling of Tarpon Springs. He was getting ready to apply for a job with a lawn treatment company.
"He's a good guy," said Walling, who also called him a big Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan and a lover of the outdoors.
As searchers returned to the dock at the Anclote River Park late Thursday afternoon, Walling said he was disturbed that they didn't stay out longer.
A few miles away, Mrs. Peacock said Stevens' friends were talking about organizing their own search in the hope that he survived. She hopes that he made it to one of the sandbars off shore where a boater could find him.
"You never know," she said. "You never think the worst. I'm just going to do what I can to try to find him. . . . He could have drifted into the mangroves and be hanging onto the wood and be hurt. I know he's a fighter."
- Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report. Richard Danielson can be reached at 727 771-4311 or [email protected]
Crash into marker leaves boater missing
The other man on the boat was knocked unconscious. When he came to, his shipmate was gone.
By RICHARD DANIELSON and KATHRYN WEXLER
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 1, 2003
TARPON SPRINGS - As dusk gave way to night Wednesday, Anthony Stevens called a friend to say he would be home soon.
It had been a good day on the water, but Stevens and Randall Peacock were motoring toward the mouth of the Anclote River. He estimated they would be at the dock in 20 minutes.
Soon after, in the dark, Peacock's 22-foot Mako boat struck channel marker No. 38 about a mile off shore. The marker, on a 10-foot steel post, ripped into the right side of the hull, leaving a gash 3 feet deep and a foot wide. It cut through the fiberglass.
Peacock, 42, of Tarpon Springs later told his wife that he was thrown into the front of the boat and knocked unconscious. He came to - he doesn't know how much later - to find himself covered in blood.
Stevens, 26, was gone.
Divers and pilots from local, state and federal agencies searched the area south of Anclote Key on Wednesday night and during the day Thursday without success. Thursday afternoon, four divers from the Pasco County Sheriff's Office covered an area 100 feet out all the way around the marker. They found nothing more than a few pieces of debris.
"If he'd have been there, we'd have found him," sheriff's Sgt. Charlie Ellison said. The U.S. Coast Guard, Customs Service and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission also took part in the search.
Along with searching for Stevens, officials were trying to piece together what happened Wednesday night. A friend said Stevens called him sometime after 9 p.m. Authorities learned of the emergency about 10 p.m.
"We're trying to corroborate physical evidence with witness statements," said Gary Morse, a conservation commission spokesman.
Peacock told officials he was not steering at the time of the accident, Morse said.
The boat was going more than 15 mph, "a high rate of speed," he said. There is no speed limit in the waterway where the accident occurred. The channel marker has reflector tape.
"These buoys are relatively easy to see if you're looking for them," Morse said.
He said the boat had a spotlight and radar onboard, and that both could have picked up the marker. But he did not know if they were working.
The men were not wearing life jackets, he said. The water around the marker is 11 to 14 feet deep, Ellison said.
The collision left Peacock with a concussion, whiplash, many bruises and a cut on his forehead that took 10 stitches to close. He was treated at Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital and released, said his wife, Shannon Peacock.
Mrs. Peacock said her husband has been distraught since the accident. He told her that after he awakened on the boat, he searched for Stevens, then dived overboard and swam around looking for him, returning to the boat when it started to drift away. He had to work on the damaged radio to call the Coast Guard and set off flares to help rescuers find the boat.
He called her from the hospital, saying, "He's missing. You have to find him."
The Peacocks own Peacock's Professional Cleaning, which cleans newly built houses, and Stevens has worked for the couple on and off for three years.
Stevens grew up in Palm Harbor and also has worked as an auto and boat detailer, said his friend and housemate, Danny Walling of Tarpon Springs. He was getting ready to apply for a job with a lawn treatment company.
"He's a good guy," said Walling, who also called him a big Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan and a lover of the outdoors.
As searchers returned to the dock at the Anclote River Park late Thursday afternoon, Walling said he was disturbed that they didn't stay out longer.
A few miles away, Mrs. Peacock said Stevens' friends were talking about organizing their own search in the hope that he survived. She hopes that he made it to one of the sandbars off shore where a boater could find him.
"You never know," she said. "You never think the worst. I'm just going to do what I can to try to find him. . . . He could have drifted into the mangroves and be hanging onto the wood and be hurt. I know he's a fighter."
- Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report. Richard Danielson can be reached at 727 771-4311 or [email protected]
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