Boating crashes dip locally while rising in Florida

Boating crashes in Palm Beach County County dipped dramatically last year, but the numbers statewide reached a 10-year high, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Palm Beach County ranked sixth overall in the state with 41 crashes, including two fatalities and 16 injuries.

In 2016, Palm Beach County ranked No. 3 with 62 crashes, including two fatalities.

There were 766 crashes statewide, the most since the FWC began keeping detailed statistics in 2008. The spike in crashes did not translate into more deaths. The FWC reports 67 deaths attributed to boating incidents last year, the same total as in 2016.

The FWC couldn’t immediately provide the names of the two people who died in Palm Beach County during 2017, but the victims are believed to be a West Palm Beach man killed in June and a Pompano Beach man who died in a Boynton Beach canal on Dec. 23.

Luis Alberto Gorgonio, 34, died June 27 while cleaning the hull of a yacht at Old Port Cove Marina in North Palm Beach.

Gorgonio, the father of two young girls, was sucked into the yacht’s starboard bow thruster, according to an FWC investigation.

Scott Keegan, 36, was killed after he hit his head on a low bridge in a canal at Miner Road and fell into the water, according to Boynton Beach police. Friends dove into the water but were unable to retrieve Keegan.

Since 2008, Palm Beach County has ranked no lower than sixth in boating crashes and as high as No. 3.

Monroe and Miami-Dade counties regularly are first and second in crashes.

Monroe was No. 1 in 2017 with 96 crashes and six deaths. Miami-Dade had 75 crashes and five deaths while Broward was third with 63 crashes and three deaths.

Martin County was 11th overall in Florida with 22 crashes, including one death and seven injuries. St. Lucie saw eight boating accidents last year, resulting in five injures and no fatalities.

People falling overboard has been the leading cause of fatal boating deaths for the past 15 years, according to the FWC. Of the 67 boating deaths in Florida last year, 25 took place after a person fell into the water and drowned. The FWC said that more than 80 percent of those victims were not wearing life jackets.

Nearly 70 percent of boat operators involved in fatal crashes during 2017 had no formal boating education, the FWC said.

Boating crashes are defined by the FWC as those incidents involving death, injury or at least $2,000 in property damage.