A 14-year-old boy lost his arm on Sunday after a Dory boat struck him while surfing. Other surfers were able to recover his arm and administer aid. The boy was air lifted to Emanuel Hospital in Portland where he underwent surgery to reattach his arm. No word yet on the outcome of the surgery.
Witnesses say the Dory boat approached the beach at a high speed with no warnings even though its mandated to blare the boat’s horn within 100 yards of the beach. The incident may lead to more ordinances from the city, with possible restrictions within the convergence zone. A sad and unfortunately easily preventable accident.
I was staying at The Inn at Cape Kiwanda this weekend. This morning around 10 am I was relaxing on the deck. I was watching the surfers and noticed there were more today than the past two days. I also noticed that the surfers were very much in the Dory traffic lanes. There were at least a couple dozen surfers out there. I was thinking to myself that this was an accident waiting to happen. I was watching the Dory boats come into shore. They appear to be near full throttle as they approach the beach so as to get up on the sand as far as possible. I saw one Dory boat with men in the boat waving there arms at surfers. It appeared as if the Dory boat members were yelling at the surfers to get out of the way next time. Soon after, I noticed a group of surfers heading towards shore. I saw one board that did not have a surfer on it. I figured there was trouble. I was about to call 911, but saw other surfers had sped to shore and calls were made. I saw the surfers reach the beach. I saw the injured surfer. He appeared to be standing. I saw he was missing his left arm. His wetsuit was ripped to pieces at the shoulder and the area was red with blood. I assumed it was a boat accident from what I saw. Soon after, a female surfer was running up to the RV Park behind the Inn. I asked her, “Was there a boating accident?” She replied, “No, shark”. Later I asked the front desk about the accident. They confirmed it was a Dory boat collision with a surfer. The front desk added that surfers are to stay to the left of the boat ramp. This makes good sense to me. I take no sides with surfers or Dory boats. I think they all have rights to the sea. However, a Dory boat is always going to win that battle. I have windsurfed in the Gorge since the late 1980’s and am always conscious of barges up and down the river. I think surfers should pay attention to the Dory boats and mind the rules to avoid these types of needless accidents in the future. My thoughts are with the young surfer. My 10 and 8 year children are also thinking about this young surfer and wishing him well.
Thanks for the eye witness account Eddie. It was an inevitable clash and I’m not to say who’s to blame but in 8 - 10 foot swells, a small boy would have had far less visibility and not to mention maneuverability than the approaching boat. Regardless of who was out of place in the convergence zone, the dory boat would had a greater ability to respond/adjust his course if he had indeed seen the surfers, which I believe he had.
Very sad incident indeed. We’ll be following this closely and hope that future incidents like this can be avoided. Surfrider Foundation chapters in Oregon have strong ties with the both the Pacific City Doryman and the surfers, and we hope this incident will not compromise the use of the area for either user group. We all take risks when entering the ocean, in some places the risks are much greater than others. Hopefully we can all work within this community to better educate all users so something like this never happens again.
I feel nothing but sympathy for this young man. he was new to surfing the area from his fathers accounts. as a father of three I can only imagine this mans anguish. in the pictures viewed, there other adult surfers in the water and the boy was just following their lead. My question is, why wasnt he made aware of the boat landings taking place at this port by the other more experenced (adult) surfers?? I wonder if this would have happened if only someone would have pointed out to this young fellow that he was in the danger zone. From the newsreal accounts from the man who took the pictures of this accident, I believe his name was Paul Snodgrass, Mr Snodgrass stated (I saw the boat coming all the way from the rock and just new he was going to hit the surfers), yet he never stated he tried to warn them, he just kept taking pictures!! I have enjoyed surfing this area many times, and it was blatantly obvious to me that this was a commercial/ recreational boat landing and the boats do come in at a high rate of speed. Going to/from shore in this area appears to be dangerous enough for the dorys without having to turn around between wave sets to avoid me. these boats look to be around 20 to 25 feet in lenth and i dont believe this would facilitate an easy manuver, let alone a safe one. I tend to stay to the southwest of the pelican pub where i find taller sets to enjoy. I have noted that alot of my fellow (boardheads) that are in the boat traffic lanes Appear to be novice surfers that dont really do much other than set on their boards and bob up and down and throw profanitys to the boats that do come close. It is unfortunate and inevitable that this in all likelyhood will be repeated in the future unless we use are heads and avoid this situation. I love to sidewalk surf also, but you would never find me boarding on a runway with aircraft,,i would equate this to the (toadstools) around the boatlanding in pacificcity! I also love competitive surfing so for the safety of all fellow surfers,,come on down and lets catch a wave together. Godspeed to this young man and to his full recovery,,,John
Let me start by saying Hi.. I Am Paul Snodgrass, I witnessed and photographed both incidents that occurred that day at Cape Kiwanda And no I never said or thought the boat would hit anyone and from where I was taking pictures from I could not of communicated with them.
I am a father of 3 and have been married now for 28 years.
I love Cape Kiwanda, it’s great local people and for the most part easy going lifestyle, make it a very comfortable place to enjoy one of the greatest pleasure’s of life, the ocean.
My family & I have been very frequent visitors to the Cape and surrounding businesses for about the last 15 years.
My wife & I were born & raised in Kailua on the island of Oahu where some of our family and relatives still live. Two of my family members are commercial “dory boat” style boat operators. I grew up in the ocean, an avid surfer, and operating many types of “flat bottomed Dori styled” boats.
Hawaii is full of surfers and boaters and they don’t have a problem running over each other. Nowhere is it acceptable to recklessly drive faster than you can safely see and stop. Boaters in Hawaii use the boat ramps and must abide by the state laws. Common sense must always prevail when it gets too dangerous and skippers need to know when to use caution and alternate landings should be exercised.
I hear a lot about how bad the conditions were to safely land “fly threw the shallows including surfers, swimmers, boogie boarders, children, and beachcombers” and wonder why these dory men didn’t know the surf was coming up.. all the surfers knew, and in todays information society I am sure the dory men knew as well. I still can’t find any good reason why a skipper of a boat would need to out run the swells to land a boat onto the beach. It does take judgment and timing between the sets. There doesn’t seems to be point at which some skippers “just say no” as some of us surfers did.
To have two incidents in a matter of 20 minutes, is very apparent to me that the dory fleet in general feel they can do no wrong in that area no mater what the cost is to people and sea life. Could it be the thrill of the “E- Ticket” ride that may cause’ this behavior, I think so as it certainly doesn’t help the boat or the safety of the landing at all.
It was very interesting to me to see how many of the remaining dory fleet landed that day so slowly and safely after hearing of the accident and knowing everyone would be watching them come in. I hope they continue to land as safely in the future.
These are not really “dory boats” at all.. and the excuse that it is tradition is so far from the truth. If they were doing it for the “tradition” they would be rowing just like the Hawaiians do with the outrigger canoes, now there is tradition. The Hawaiians could also have put motors on board but chose the Traditional way.
In conclusion I would say after researching the laws on record this is negligence by the boat operator and by the State of Oregon for neglecting to enforce safe boating practices that are currently in our Oregon statues “seeing where you are driving a vessel that is powerful enough cut others apart is essential to being safe” how this can be anything but neglect I can not understand, and how it is not enforced by ticketing when there are clearly officers on the beach already just shows even the officers side with the boaters. It is only accountability that will prevent this in the future. In reading the posts and the news stories it is clear the attitude of the majority withing the dory “fleet” is that they can not control how they come in, when in fact its obviously to me watching that day, can come in much safer, especially having seen the before and after landings that day.
It is up to the state to make sure all beach goers are safe from a few crazy people that have such little regard for the safety of others. I’m not sure how safe I will feel out there in the future as this is quite the heated debate. I know I will be watching the boats much more closely than ever before.
Heres hoping for the return of the Kiwanda Tranquility.
Paul,,it,s obvious to me by the candor in your message that you hold a great real of resentment towards these doryman. I went to the dorymans asso. website and found out that this area has served as a port for over one and a quarter centurys,,and that very much quantifies it as a tradition. I am not tring to take sides in this issue, but we will all need to work together to resolve this. Safety, and (tranquility), will return to this area if we all can find a common goal, and that should be the education and safety for all parties using this site. And this would include Us Knowing that the Ocean had turned rough,,although this type of water is attractive at that time, a glance at the empty boat trailors on the beach would be a good indicator that the dorys may very well be coming to shore, and common sence would dictate that this area should be given a wide berth untill it was cleared of boat traffic. I have been here when this type of situation has occured and it usaually takes less than an hour for all boats to safely make landings. At that time the water again belongs to us! I spoke to a good friend of mine who was surfing the area at the time, and he stated to me that he wittnesed one dory that had to commit to a hard enough turn to avoid one fellow, that one person in the boat fell overboard and had to hold on to the side of the boat untill it made its landing. this also could have turned out disasterous. Possibly, Paul, since you stated that you live in the area, you could rise above the din and become an educator, and work with the the two local surf shops and the dorymans association to help bring to the forefront the concerns of all involved. I feel that if we dont,,if all we do is raise an accusing finger and point in contempt and distain at each other,then we will all loose. we also have a measure of responsability here and it incumbant on all of us to conduct ourselfs accordingly.
John
I guess what don’t understand is why going faster than the swell so as to jump the waves from the back is necessary, maybe someone can explain this.
As far as the local dorymans assn. page please note the dory shown on their home page is a double ended 4 oared row boat. this is the traditional “dory”. What I see in PC are just modified fishing boats that have no resemblance to the “dory” - times have changed and so apparently have the dories. perhaps it’s time for this “defacto port” to be reviewed by the coast guard.
I do hope all can work together to some kind of peaceful resolve, I just feel things can be done safer that day.
I know the dorymen watch out for us surfers out there. I have never had a close call and think I surf there a lot (for my age). I don’t think the dorymen are bad or hurtful group (I even worked on a couple charter boats out of San Diego when I was 21 for about 1 year as well as my brother is a commercial fisherman in Hawaii) and thru out my years of going to Cape Kiwanda I never had a clue to the friction between the groups (so no I don’t hate dorymen) but it sure was apparent after the accident.
As I stated I love Cape Kiwanda, it’s great local people (including the fisherman) as I did grow up in the ocean .. with boats. I also understand shutting down parts of the beach / ocean for only certain use is really not the best solution (although I think the safest) as this is a “nice summer day” problem and is not the normal 9 months out of the year. Again I just keep wondering why jumping in over the top of the waves when coming in is safer than getting between them.
I’m so glad to see Cole recovering so well, and I hope the months to come are not too hard on him and his family.
I also feel for the Skipper who I am sure suffers as well.
heres hoping for peace and tranquility in the sea.
I have spent time with many Dorymen and surfers and this is a sad misfortunate catastrophe. I understand both sides of the ocean goers. I am an avid boater and surfer. However i know the Dorymen are angry and don’t like their beach approach lanes blocked in any manner. I have never heard any compassion for the surfers when the Dorymen speak of the lane blockage. I have heard the Dorymen refer to the surfers not as people sharing the ocean, but as targets and that they have no right being in that area. That is very disturbing. I believe we all have rights to the ocean. I also believe some Dorymen buzz (drive close) to surfers to get them out of the approach lanes. I pray this was not the case with the young boy. If you can not see where your boat is going you should not be accelerating, you should be chopping throttle. Yes, i understand the need to ride the back of the wave and than accelerate over the top to skim up on to the sand so that the boat can be easily trailered and people can get out safely, with out the boat being rocked by waves against the sand. It is not entirely necessary but does make loading and unloading much easier when you are up on the beach away from the waves. Yes, this means picking your line very careful, having a spotter possibly with binoculars, an air horn and being prepared for evasive maneuvers in case there is something impeding your approach landing. It would also mean possibly circling your approach lane before getting too close to the breaking waves where it is hard to change course. Dorymen appear to be able to avoid people on the beach and objects along the edge of the water, if they can see them(weather permitting). Weather visibility did not seem to be a factor in this accident. If this had happened on a river the driver would have been cited for reckless boating or worse. I don’t know what the answer is but driving a boat fast to the beach and not being able to see where you are going is probably asking for another disaster. What happens if another Dorymen stalls his boat coming or going from the beach, or if a person is thrown from another boat? If the Dorymen cannot see it will be another tragic accident just as it would be with anything that is under power and has no visibility or evasive maneuverability. Not being able to see and/or take evasive action from obstacles in the water will only result in another accident. Maybe the only solution is to keep people, and animals out of the water and away from the oceans edge at Pacific City Launch site so the Doryman can continue their tradition somewhat safely. I know in many parts the world boaters beach their boats softly on the beach. Riding the back of the wave all the way inn, then letting the waves hold them up on the sand. Their boats are usually semi-v hull so skimming up on the sand would destroy the boat. Lets remember that swimmers, surfers and objects not under power are at the mercy of currents, winds, and other forces of nature. One ocean one love.
This is NOT a river! and to state that weather visability wasnt a factor appears to be way off base,, according to all reports. Ever been the trough, working hard to get back up and have someone cut you off and take your line??? I,ve had collisions with other boarders, and I”m very greatfull they didnt weigh a couple of tons. It still comes down to safety and awareness. And this is the only place that I’ve surfed where there are motor driven boats makeing regular landings and launchs. the closest place that I’ve seen like it was down in Mexico. It was cool though, we all knew thats what it was, and stayed clear when they were working. When I go surfing,,I”m kinda glad we dont have lifeguards or others telling me when to surf or not,,I think that would take alot out of the reason I”m there. One has to take responsibilty for thier own actions, and thats the way it is. we choose to be on mountains, jumping out of planes, diving into caves, yep, ya gotta love it. And if you asked Cole, I’d bet he would feel the same way.
This section of the beach at the Cape
Should be kept clear of surfers and swimmers for at least a half mile of the caps.
Until the late 60’s and early 70’s there were nothing but dorys that used this beach for the last hundred years.
It is one of the very few places that it is reasonably safe to launch a dory and for all intent and purpose needs to be kept for them to use unrestricted or having to worry about some surfer want to push their dominance attitude onto them.
It is just plain and simple courtesy.
Also if you had seen the size and number of sharks that shelter in the reach behind haystack rock you would not put your big toe in the water.
I have been there many many times over the years and some of them are as large as the dorys that are used there. To push yourself into a traditional boat launch site such as this is not only RUDE, it is just plain ignorant !
Gary,,well said. I for one have talked to other surfers and have tried to convince them of the fact that this section of the beach should be avoided. If you know anything about surfers, they are like any other make up of people, you have some with commonsence, some that have very little, and some who like to pound thier chest. tough guys if you know what i mean. they are the trouble makers you will have to contend with. Such ignorance is indeed indicative of the mentality that I have wittnesed at times in this area. These are mostly younger, inexperinced men who like to surf here due to the smaller waves, so they can look good to the young ladies watching from the pelican pup. If they really had the brass ones they think do, they would swing south and jump on the really good waves that I have almost to myself, but alas, it is what it is. The best thing that can happed here, would be for the coast guard to step up and make a boundary that both side will have to adhere to. In closing. I can make this promise,,you will not see me in the way, and I will still try to talk to the chest pounders. Good luck to all involved.
i just want to say that Paul Snodgrass is a Prick. I am a dory man and i can promise you if i ever see your ass down on my fuck beach i am going to kick the shit outta you. How stipid can you be when a section of beach is marked for the boats i dont care if the come in 100 miles an hour that is there spot and that is final. thats like playing in the street kids still do it but the dont belong there. I really hope there is a chance that i can speak to you Paul you fucking ignorangt SOB. my email is MAF_0730@hotmail.com email me any time
I also have great essay written by an oregon coast economics major that has quest from papers from the 1920s that dories used small motors so how is that for tradition the were just expensive and not as cost effective as they are now
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hi
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good luck