Boating – May 2018

“

Service awards for their ef orts to stop the

boat. Had they not done such a stellar job,

who knows what would have happened?

COLLISION COURSE

W

eekends of the coast of south-

east Florida are always busy,

and on the morning of June 19,

2016, Sea Tow Capt. Joe Leonardo of Fort

Lauderdale, Florida, was already keeping

an eye on a boat struggling near a reef just

outside of Hillsboro Inlet when a couple

on a personal watercraft approached

his vessel.

“They were frantic,” recalls Leonardo.

“They told me they’d collided with an-

other PWC.” Leonardo followed them

back to the other watercraft, where a

woman was bleeding profusely from

injuries on her leg.

“She looked like she’d been bitten by

a shark,” says Leonardo.

Apparently, the two couples had

been joyriding with each other when one

PWC stalled out. The other PWC, still

going at a fast speed, collided with the

stalled one, its bow running right into

the female passenger’s leg.

With the help of the stalled PWC’s

driver, Leonardo pulled her over the

transom of his boat and brought her

to the bow, and used his shirt to wrap

her leg and stem the bleeding. Acting

quickly, Leonardo fi rst called for an am-

bulance to meet

him at the fi shing

docks at a ma-

rina just inside

the inlet. Next,

he alerted the

local port authorities that he would be

violating the no-wake zones to bring the

injured woman back to the dock.

Due to Leonardo’s fast response and

quick thinking, they were able to get her

PHOTOS: COURTESY BOATU.S., SHUTTERSTOCK (GAS NOZZLE)

PHOTOS: COURTESY SEA TOW (5), SHUTTERSTOCK (HAND)

THEY TOLD ME THEY’D COLLIDED WITH ANOTHER PWC.

SHE LOOKED LIKE SHE’D BEEN BITTEN BY A SHARK.”

SEAMANSHIP LESSON

Always be aware of your

surroundings and keep a safe

distance from other boats.

Capt. Clay Hughes

Capt. Garrett Moore

Capt. Joe Leonardo

Capt. Bill Barker

BOATINGMAG.COM | MAY 2018 | 91