Fatal boat capsize MAIB report
A report into a family boating day trip which turned into a tragedy has been published by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB).
Norma G, a 5.48m Norman 18 Mk2 motor cruiser was capsized by a large wave close to the Doom Bar in the Camel Estuary near Padstow, Cornwall, on 25 May 2020.
The owner’s daughter, Gillian Davey, 17, became trapped in the cabin due to her lifejacket, which had automatically inflated, and sadly drowned.
The MAIB report has raised several safety issues. It states that Norma G’s owner’s limited boating experience meant he did not fully appreciate the dangers of being close to the Doom Bar around low water; and Gillian’s inflated lifejacket prevented her from swimming down and out of the submerged cabin door. The report says Gillian and her mother had been doing crafting in the cabin, as the father and son were fishing. While returning to the River Camel for lunch, a large, steep wave picked up Norma G’s stern, broke onto the deck, and capsized the boat. The owner and his son were thrown clear but the women became trapped in the cabin. As successive waves struck, Gillian and her mother were tossed about and their lifejackets inflated.
The mother managed to remove her lifejacket and swim down and out the door, surfacing next to the boat. Gillian remained trapped in the air pocket towards the bow; she was being kept afloat by her inflated lifejacket and was banging on the boat’s hull. The father repeatedly tried to dive down to rescue her; but, with the boat inverted and sunk by the stern, the swell made this difficult and his attempts were unsuccessful. The report makes recommendations to Padstow Harbour Commissioners to consider placing a navigation mark at the Doom Bar’s north-east extremity; and to Wadebridge Boating Club to amend the navigation information available to Camel Estuary users.
■ Gov.uk/maib-reports