Dylan Gonzalez of Port Charlotte, Florida died in an early morning June 19th boating accident. Gonzalez was fishing with his friend Billy Pfannkuch on a 19′ Ranger flats boat. Near 4:20 AM, the two men heard another boat’s engine coming towards them. That boat was a 20′ Lake & Bay operated by Dalton Reas and carrying four passengers. Pfannkuck reported to law enforcement that the boat operated by Reas was on plane in a no wake zone portion of the Intracoastal Waterway near Eldred’s Marina and Placida Harbor. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission who is investigating the accident reports the larger Lake & Bay boat struck a channel marker before colliding into the smaller Ranger boat. As shown in the above photograph, it appears that the Lake & Bay struck the Ranger on the starboard (right) aft (rear) quadrant with significant force. Gonzalez was transported to a nearby hospital but died from his injuries. Pfannkuch, who was ejected into the water from the crash, suffered a fractured collarbone and pelvis. A GoFundMe page was created to help with Pfannkuch’s medical and family expenses as he is expected to be out of work for at least three months.
One man has died from injuries after a boating accident in St. Lucie County, Florida. According to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) report, 20-year-old Dominic Dragan was operating a 20 foot center console Pathfinder by “running in circles, jumping waves and showing off.” While running the vessel in circles, Dragan was thrown off into the water with his boat still circling around him.
Injuries caused by boat run overs occur with some regularity in Florida. Just in the past week, Logan Farquhar of St. Augustine lost his leg when he and four others in a fishing boat were run over in the Tolomato River by a ski boat.
St. Augustine, Florida Man, Logan Farquhar, was fishing with his fiancée Billie Inman and two others when a large ski boat ran them over near the Vilano Bridge on the Tolomato River on the night of June 25th. Inman told News4Jax reporter, “I woke up and I was inside the boat with another boat on top of me and water rushing in.” The ski boat fled the accident scene after the collision but was apprehended by Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The four victims were able to make it back to shore with their lives but Logan Farquhar lost his leg. Before first responders were able to arrive on scene, Inman placed a tourniquet on Farquhar’s leg which doctors commented that could have saved him from bleeding out.
Boating accidents in Florida mostly occur during the summer months. The bays and rivers along Florida 1,197 miles of coastline has many sand bars where people congregate to enjoy the warm weather. This vast coastline brings many boaters and boating accidents. Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reported that there were 737 boating accidents last year and nearly half involved collisions. This is 103 more accidents than in 2014. Out of the 737 accident, 55 boaters tragically lost their lives.
