TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Dingy accident at Saba

I saw a FB post last night about an accident involving a larger boat and a dingy carrying 8 passengers in the Saba Rock mooring field. Initial reports said injuries, but no deaths. Unfortunately, BVINEWS is reporting this morning that there was a death.
https://bvinews.com/

Scary indeed..according to one comment it was a smaller dinghy without lights hit by a larger superyacht tender in the morring field....as said that's just one comment..Be careful out there folks..

It happened before at the same location and a couple of teenagers were killed. You should be at idle in a mooring field.

The incident @GeorgeC1 is referring to was a collision with terrain, not with another vessel. This is a terrible and preventable problem that causes fatalities in anchorages every year! An all-around white light is required for dinghies at night and just one person with a flashlight that shines all around (and behind) can prevent a collision with an immovable object such as a mooring ball, anchor chain or boat; and prevent a collision by a fast-moving object as well. I hope that the bvi news report on the actual circumstances soon.

The incident I was referring to was when the Virgin Flyer from necker blew through the gap between the Moorings and Saba. The ran over a dinghy killing two teenagers.

I remember, that was in 2020. Last year was the tender running aground.

The person killed was Stephen Cross. He was our captain when we sailed in 2019. This is very sad news for us. He and his fiancé, Caitie gave us the greatest vacation we have ever had. My heart is broken.

Very sorry to hear Bill...

we were in your happy place last week and thought of you and M. Have a great Thanksgiving my brother

Thank you Rob. I reached out to his fiancée last night. She is understandably devastated.

We are hoping to get back to Anegada in ‘25. We sorely miss our island friends. Happy Thanksgiving Rob!

Truly so sad. A completely avoidable situation and accident.

Please, please, please, please, please make sure you are using lights at night when operating boats. For charter guests, bring down a couple headlamps with you for your trip and make sure you have at minimum one person on your dinghy operating it at night. This can literally save your life!!!!


I heard the story from a couple different people who were at Saba or nearby when the accident happened. Here is what I have been able to gather:

-Dinghy with 8pax leaving Saba Rock, was heading back to their charter boat which was on a ball at BEYC. Unclear if the dinghy had lights on our not.
-20ft RIB being operated by the First Mate of an ~130ft super yacht was coming from the yacht (anchored over by Little Bay in the North Sound) and was headed to Necker to pick up guests which were staying on the yacht for the Necker Cup
-Superyacht RIB was moving at extremely high speeds for the location and situation.
-Superyacht RIB essentially t-boned the dinghy in the channel between Saba Rock and BEYC, just downwind of Saba.
-The captain of the dinghy sustained lacerations to his leg and side from a propeller strike, as well a severe shoulder injury.
-The captain of the dinghy was retrieved from the water, and transported by boat to Gun Creek, where he was then taken by ambulance to the Virgin Gorda clinic.
-Initial reports were that he was okay, so it was a surprise to all of us here when we learned the next morning that he had passed away. Unclear of what actually was the cause of death.


Really sorry for the morbid post. But again, please, please, please make sure you are always using lights at night!

It is very easy to get careless when the boat is close, you've had a few cocktails, and are returning back to your boat after a great dinner.

Have to share the concern about dinghies operating at night without lights. From our patio, we see this every evening. Small dinghies, often heavily loaded, traversing in the dark without lights between Marina Cay and Scrub. Sometimes they are moving against heavy seas, virtually invisible to larger boats and ferries in the area. Even a simple battery-operated light suction-cupped to the outboard helps.