The following is a description of a boating accident that occurred on June 14, 2009, at approximately 1900 hours.

The operator of Vessel 1 was driving in a northerly direction parallel to shore in order to drain some water that had accumulated in the stern of the vessel.  Once he had completed this, he made a turn toward the left and was hit by a wave.  The wave knocked the seated passenger over the starboard side of the vessel and into the water.  The operator took his hand off the tiller to attempt to grab the passenger and was also thrown overboard.  The passenger became frantic in the water and insisted upon removing his sweatshirt before he could begin to swim toward shore.   The operator attempted to assist the passenger, but the passenger began hyperventilating and pulled the operator under water several times.

A man fishing on a nearby jetty noticed Vessel 1 circling around with no passengers, and saw the two occupants of the boat in the water.  The witness called 911 and flagged down a passing boat.  The boat drove toward the men in the water and the occupants began throwing PFDs, lines, and life preservers to the men.  They observed that the passenger of Vessel 1 was under water and the operator was struggling to pull him up while keeping his head above water.  He was unable to reach any of the flotation devices that were thrown to him and began to sink underwater, so the operator of the passing boat drove up to him and the passenger of the passing boat used a boat hook to pull the operator of vessel one up by the hood of his sweatshirt.  The pulled the man into their vessel until the Hampton Fire Department arrived and transferred the operator of Vessel 1 onto the rescue boat.  The body of the passenger was found approximately one hour later by a witness on shore, who swam out to retrieve the body from the waves.
Hampton                       