By Heather Michon, Correspondent
A scary scene played out on Lake Monticello last week when the wake from one boat capsized another, flipping it over and sending its two passengers into the water.
According to the Lake Monticello Owners Association website (lmoavoice.org), the incident occurred at around noon on Saturday (Aug. 25) about 200 yards off the Marina. Director Tom Braithwaite reported “a vee hull threw a wake big enough to capsize” the small fishing boat.
On the unofficial Lake Monticello/Central Virginia Facebook group, Lake resident Barbara Kughn said she and her husband saw the fishing boat sinking and pulled William Rossi and his passenger out of the water.
Only Rossi was wearing a life jacket, although there was a second jacket on the boat at the time. “Typically, fishermen do not wear it while fishing,” he said on the same Facebook thread. “Only when moving at speed with the gas motor.”
Rossi said on LMOA’s official Facebook group that he was not under power and just getting ready to start his gas engine when a passing boat created “a three-foot wave [that] hit us broadside,” causing his fishing boat to fill with water.
It tipped over in about 30 seconds.
The Kughns alerted the Water Safety Patrol, and WSP crew Steve Smith, Steve Wormington, and Bill Snow soon arrived on the scene. Braithwaite said the boat was towed to the Marina, flipped upright, and slowly de-watered.
Boaters on Lake Monticello are responsible to be mindful of their wake around others.
Mr Rossi could not be reached for comment before press time, but said on social media that he had been contacted by another boater who was concerned it might have been his vessel that caused the wake and offered to pay for any damages.
Rossi said it was a “very nice gesture” but nobody could say for sure whose boat had caused the problem, nor does he blame whomever was responsible. “It was an unfortunate chain of events.”
