Boating accident on Long Lake, Harrison Maine

Accident waiting to happen all around.
What a senseless accident.

Yes, time for Marine Safetly to enforce speeding rules ong the lake.

The cigarette boats speeding up and down Long Lake is extremely dangerous. This goes on day and night. These boats are clearly too big for the lake. Ban those boats from the lake and it will be a whole lot safer.

Some boaters do speed on the lake but before you blam anyone about a crash you should know the facts
You do see boats flying but most boaters are in control

Boats drive too fast on the weekends. My children are not safe swimming by our dock. Boating rules need to be enforced!

Frank Land.... It's not my intent to 'blame' anyone, but every year someone gets seriously injured or killed on Long Lake, and as a resident, I'm sick of it. Those boats are TOO BIG. PERIOD. END OF DISCUSSION.
Should we wait until a nice little family of 5 from MA. is killed before the out of staters take notice??????????

As my family and I swam at the sand bar on the western shore of Long Lake yesterday we could see the search and rescue teams hard at work. This is a human tragedy no matter what the cause. My family and I live in MA and own a home and boat in Naples; we pay our taxes and obey the laws on land and water. No matter where someone lives understanding and obeying the local laws is a personal responsibility. I believe the best way to avoid future tragedies are to establish laws that require boater education and licenses, along with funding for patrols and tough enforcement. Saying all MA boaters are reckless is equivalent to saying all Mainers wear flannel and have no teeth. It’s simple not true. My family prays for all involved.

Spice, just curious.... what is funny?

Kat wrote:

Frank Land.... It's not my intent to 'blame' anyone, but every year someone gets seriously injured or killed on Long Lake, and as a resident, I'm sick of it. Those boats are TOO BIG. PERIOD. END OF DISCUSSION.
Should we wait until a nice little family of 5 from MA. is killed before the out of staters take notice??????????

This is such a bullshit response. I am a MA resident who owns a house on Long Lake and regardless of what state you are from it is a tragic situation and there needs to be some rules/laws inforced. In the last 2 years the serious injuries on OUR lake (any tax payer from ANY state can actually own a house there by the way) have been due to speeding cigarette boats.

LMF... "Bullshit response?"
THAT is the response from those 'enlightened' MASS. bretheren who claim to be here leading the Maine folk out of oblivion??????????
I moved here from New Jersey 10 years ago and I am HORRIFIED at the BLATANT DISREGARD these out of staters have for the laws of this state, AS WELL AS THE LAWS OF COMMON SENSE that should not be a "state" thing.
SHAME on you, SIR.
As I stated, those boats are TOO BIG.
SHAME ON YOU.
For SHAME!!!!!!!!!!
I STAND by what I posted. taxtaxtaxtax is what I see as the battle cry..... SHAME on you ALL!!!! TAXES have NOTHING to do with this!!!!!!!!!! SAFETY of our CHILDREN matters!!!! Safety of the beautiful lakes of Maine!!!!!!!!!!
SHAME on you!!!!!!!!!!

Here is my election 'Platform.'
NO boats over 25 horsepower allowed on ANY lakes within Naples, Bridgton, or Harrison town lines.
HA.
I wouldn't get elected. The out of staters (as I conceed I belong to!) would NEVER allow that!
Despicable.
More important to get our $60,000.00 boats up to 50 knots on the little Maine lake than to be RESPONSIBLE.
This is crazy, and it needs to STOP, or WORSE (if one can imagine 'WORSE' than two innocent lives lost,) will happen!!!!

Frank Land owner wrote:

Some boaters do speed on the lake but before you blam anyone about a crash you should know the facts
You do see boats flying but most boaters are in control

Well, Frank, I can't say I agree that most boaters are in control. The majority of boaters in this area are not in control (inexperience) and many are just plain reckless. There's a certain boys/girls camp in Harrison that takes the kids out water skiing. You should see this guy drive the ski boat...30+MPH only 25 feet from the shore. A ski instructor from a camp (he’s from Missouri)! A friend of mine from Casco (Maine) was on his pontoon boat Sunday and this guy almost hit him. Not conforming to boating rules is either ignorant or reckless. This guy is reckless and doesn’t give a crap. When an accident happens, these people should be held responsible. Speeding down a lake at 60+MPH, at night, no moon light, and in a boat that has a bow so long you can’t see what’s in front of you anyway, at any speed, is clearly unintelligent!
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As far as the facts are concerned about the accident, the warden released a statement that the cigarette boat was traveling at a high rate of speed, which is a fact. If the driver of the boat also had his safety lanyard on, the engines would have cut out, not causing further potential injury or damage. Fact. Imagine if that boat slammed into one of those cottages at 70MPH with a family of 5 in it?
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These speedboats are just too big for these lakes. Period. I hear the 2 guys in the boat that got hit are locals. I also heard that the speedboat was just bought from a local and sold to the guy who hit the other boat. We can’t blame people just because they are from another state. Accidents will happen everywhere. But this one could have been prevented on many levels. It’s so sad that these big ‘Miami Vice’ boats are allowed on our inland waterways.

My family has been spending summers on Long Lake for generations. In the past few years several cigarette boats have been introduced into the lake. These boats are completely out of place on a relatively small, narrow lake. Up until now, they have been simply annoying (large wakes, drowning out your conversation as they pass by at high speeds), but now the danger they represent is readily apparent. I hope that some restrictions on these types of boats on lakes such as this will result from this terrible tragedy.

yes Jon - a responsible boater would have had their break away strap on. That cigarette boat was clearly at fault - no boat should ever end so far on land after ejecting is passengers. Last year a kayak was cut in half. Now, two people with great ties to the local community are dead because of some thrill seeking non attentive driver. Come on - wake up and smell the coffee!

Who ever's in charge out there needs to step up and start enforcing some marine safety rules after 5 PM!

PUNISH ACCORDINGLY!!!

Don't just focus on speed as the problem, but analyze the WHOLE picture. I feel horrible for the victims but has anyone questioned the thought that the victims were breaking the law? Doesn't sound like they had any lights on their boat to indicate their location. They had NO right to be out on the water after sunset on a moon-less night no less and especially so far from shore without lights. So its ironic that it was a ciggarette boat who ran them over but it could have very easily been any other size boat on that lake for that matter. All the rules must be obeyed, the unfortunate victims are just as much to blame for the accident, if they had a light on their boat, the situation could have been completely avoided.

Naples Boater wrote:

Don't just focus on speed as the problem, but analyze the WHOLE picture. I feel horrible for the victims but has anyone questioned the thought that the victims were breaking the law? Doesn't sound like they had any lights on their boat to indicate their location. They had NO right to be out on the water after sunset on a moon-less night no less and especially so far from shore without lights. So its ironic that it was a ciggarette boat who ran them over but it could have very easily been any other size boat on that lake for that matter. All the rules must be obeyed, the unfortunate victims are just as much to blame for the accident, if they had a light on their boat, the situation could have been completely avoided.

Just curious...where did you get your information that the second boat had no lights on? I heard the same rumour, but how can anyone know at this point? The boat is in a thousand pieces, literally. Even if he didn't have nav lights, if the cigarette boat was doing 20MPH, I would think the survival rate would be a whole lot higher...and they wouldn't be looking for bodies for 3 days.

It is so hard to read these comments about punishment and fault of the driver. I am a relative of the driver of the cigarette boat and I can tell you that he is absolutely devastated. He has to live with the fact that these two people lost their lives in an accident involving himself and he can't get through it. He's been boating all his life and is a responsible family man. I don't know that he will ever be able to drive again. This is a terrible,horrific, tragic ACCIDENT. A small black boat in the middle of the lake at 9PM with absolutely no lights. He didn't intend to hurt anyone and wasn't acting recklessly or irresponsibly. He didn't even see the boat. This is a tragedy and one that no family should have to endure. Please pray for the families of the victims who lost their lives and for the eventual peace and healing of those who lived through it. Try not to place blame and see this for what it really is...a terrible, tragic, accident.

I am so sick of hearing everyone complaining about how the accident involved a speedboat. It could have been any boat hitting another one no matter how fast it was going. The other boat did not have it's lights on, which is why the other one did not see it. Very simple! And this could happen to anyone out there on a boat at night. It's called an accident for a reason. So stop pointing out the fact that it was a speedboat and get over yourselves!

Naples Boater wrote:

Don't just focus on speed as the problem, but analyze the WHOLE picture. I feel horrible for the victims but has anyone questioned the thought that the victims were breaking the law? Doesn't sound like they had any lights on their boat to indicate their location. They had NO right to be out on the water after sunset on a moon-less night no less and especially so far from shore without lights. So its ironic that it was a ciggarette boat who ran them over but it could have very easily been any other size boat on that lake for that matter. All the rules must be obeyed, the unfortunate victims are just as much to blame for the accident, if they had a light on their boat, the situation could have been completely avoided.

I have a cottage in naples and I completely agree!!!

My heart truly goes out to you and your family, and all that were involved in this horrific accident...