A sleek 68′ “Scully” sportfisherman the “Silver Fox” slammed into the main dock of the Prestigious Sailfish Marina on Singer Island, Florida this week and sunk after the horrific impact. According to reports, while backing down on the slip, one motor shut down, and the other motor went into full throttle reverse at the same time. The boat slammed first into a piling, then took down a finger pier, and wedged underneath the main dock with the out of control motor still screaming in reverse. The tremendous impact stove in the entire transom, and starboard corner of the cockpit of the boat. It sunk wedged under the dock.
Thankfully no was was injured, and no other boats were involved.
The experienced captain, who was unable to control the boat while shifting levers, and hitting kill switches, was helpless to avoid the crash.
Initial reports indicate that the electronic controls on the bridge may have failed. Fully electronic controls are common on most large modern boats, and have replaced the outdated manual controls with cables. The electronic controls usually work
well, but when they fail, often it is not a pretty scene.
The collision took down a piling, the finger pier, and did some minor damage to the main dock. Seatow was able to raise the boat later the same day, with inflatable airbags, and towed it to the Viking Yacht Marina and Boat Yard in Riviera Beach to be hauled out.