Here’s the final chapter of a tragic story we’ve been covering since Sept. 22, 2015. A U.S. District Court Judge has just put the captain of a Princess 60 that ran over and killed an 81-year-old man on his 23-foot Steiger Craft center console off Westerly, Rhode Island, on two years’ probation. The judge also ordered the captain, Cooper “Chick” Bacon 80, to pay $1,800 restitution for the removal of the ruined center console and said he could not operate any boat larger than 26 feet.
At the time of the accident, Bacon, who had a Coast Guard license, was delivering a new $1.75 million Princess from the Newport boat show to the upcoming Norwalk boat show. William Noe, also from Cape May, New Jersey, the only other person on board, was acting as his mate.
A 36-page sentencing memo from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Providence said that at the time of the collision Noe had just emerged from the head and was reaching for an apple in the galley. Bacon was at the helm and the boat, on autopilot, had increased its speed from 21 to 31 knots. It was 9:56 a.m., and the conditions were clear.
Noe said he heard an object pass under the Princess’ hull, scraping as it went along. He yelled to Bacon, “We hit a boat. We ran over a boat.” The Princess had hit the Peggy K, driven by Walter Krupinski, who was returning home to Stonington, Connecticut, after a morning’s fishing. The boat was named after his wife.
The memo criticized Bacon for trying to use his cell phone instead of the boat’s VHF to call the Coast Guard. It says he and Noe tried to right the Peggy K, which had capsized. Bacon then searched for the phone number for the local Coast Guard station and called the wrong number before finally dialing 911.
The sentencing memo said that Bacon made 11 errors before the collision, “including operating at high speed on autopilot in a narrow channel close to shore.” Krupinski’s body was found 1,000 feet from the collision.
Bacon subsequently pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of seaman’s manslaughter. Read more:
https://www.apnews.com/e675d847843e4340beb6d2b14b0e48da
http://fisherynation.com/archives/78467
