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Editor: Rod Sullivan
Profession: Maritime Attorney

Category: Boating Accidents

When the Sydney Mae II as one mile from the Umpqua River entrance salmon fisherman Patrick Sullivan, screamed on the radio to her Captain "Don't cross the bar. It's very bad. Do not cross the bar."

The Sydney Mae II, was a 38 foot boat on a 15 hour tuna fishing excursion which capsized recently while entering the Umpqua River in Oregon throwing the Captain and four others into the dark waters. The Captain and one of the passengers, who was in the wheelhouse at the time that a 15 foot wave crashed onto the boat, were the only survivors.

Where the Umpqua River enters the ocean a bar has formed. During low tides and inclement weather high foot waves can build up, forcing boats to go South and return to port at Winchester Bay.

When the boat capsized one of the passengers, a 64 year old women who worked as an office manager for Pacific Pioneer Charters, was asleep below deck. Another, who was wearing a floatation coat but not a life vest, is believed to have broken his ribs when the boat capsized, and drowned. A third is thought to have been caught in the rigging.

The vessel's lifeboat also got caught in the rigging and failed to open. When it finally did open, heavy winds pushed it away from the Captain and passengers. The Coast Guard eventually recovered the two survivors who were trying to swim to the shore.