One Seriously Hurt When Boat Strikes Buoy

CHATHAM – A recreational fisherman suffered a serious head wound when the boat he was on collided with a buoy off Monomoy Point late Monday night.

The Coast Guard in Woods Hole received a radio call from the boat shortly after 10 p.m., reporting that the 29-foot center console boat had collided with the Pollock Rip Channel lighted buoy number 9, with three people on board. The three unnamed men, all ages 18 to 20, had put their boat in the water at Bass River. They told the Coast Guard that their boat was taking on water and one man was badly hurt.

“My understanding is, there was a fishing gaff on deck and he had sliced his head open on that gaff,” said Senior Chief Petty Officer Ross Comstock of Coast Guard Station Chatham, which responded from Stage Harbor within 10 minutes of the call. The rescue boat arrived 25 minutes later and found that the three men had been picked up by the crew of the Virginia-based commercial fishing boat Tricia Lynn. Conditions at the scene were good, with two-foot waves and good visibility.

The three men were transferred to the Coast Guard boat and rushed to Stage Harbor, under escort from a Chatham Harbormaster patrol boat. The seriously injured man was taken by Chatham ambulance to the Chatham Airport, where a Boston MedFlight helicopter was waiting to shuttle him to a Boston hospital. A Harwich ambulance brought the other two boaters to Cape Cod Hospital for treatment. Their identities and conditions are unknown.

The boat sustained major damage to its bow and was towed back to Bass River by a commercial salvage boat.

“It was probably someone who was unfamiliar with the area, traveling at a high rate of speed at night with no radar,” Comstock said. Boaters should always have life jackets available, “and if you’re not familiar with the area, maintain a safe speed,” he said.

“We’re still looking into the cause,” Chatham Harbormaster Jason Holm said. The various agencies involved in the rescue coordinated well with one another, he said. “It was the best outcome for an unfortunate situation.”