Boat accident victim now preaches safety
Gulf Breeze man lucky to be alive after boat hits buoy on Thanksgiving day
BY FRANKLIN HAYES Gulf Breeze News franklin@gulfbreezenews.com

Lee

Learning about boat safety is one thing, but actually applying those lessons is another.

Just ask Bill Lee, an experienced boater and the recent survivor of a near-fatal boating accident.

On Thanksgiving Day, 2006, Lee was enjoying a beautiful day on the water, fishing from his 23-foot Pathfinder Bay Boat in Pensacola Bay. Around 4:30 p.m., Lee and his passengers took a westward course into the near blinding rays of the setting sun. They were also on a collision course with a mid-bay buoy.

The next thing Lee remembers is waking up in a hospital room the next day, his boat totaled and his jaws wired shut as they would remain for the next six weeks.

"I lost approximately 30 pounds," Lee said with a surprisingly chipper attitude. "There's only so much you can do to with chicken broth. You can eat it with salt, or no salt, pepper, or no pepper, or both!"

Lee said he wanted to share his experiences with the public to show that this type of accident could happen to anyone and what steps people can take to prevent fatal accidents.

"After all this has happened, I'm changing," he said. "If you don't look after yourself the situation may not look after you."

Bill Lee's 23-foot Pathfinder was a total loss after crashing into a buoy in Pensacola Bay on Thanksgiving day. Lee, an experienced boater, said he was unable to see the obstruction because the setting sun was in his eyes. His son and another companion were able to gain control of the vessel after the accident, which slammed Lee into the instrument panel and knocked him unconscious. Now, Lee is speaking out about boat safety and advocates wearing a life vest

Lee, 53, considers himself lucky after recovering from a dislocated and broken jaw, a broken nose and multiple facial fractures. Lee compared his injuries to placing an egg on a table forcibly rolling it half way over.

The lifelong boater maintains that if he'd been by himself that day, things could have been a lot worse.

"I usually fish by myself," he said, adding that he did not usually wear a life jacket or use an automatic cutoff switch. "If I'd been by myself that day there's no telling what would have happened."

Chances are that Lee would have become yet another grisly statistic.

Lee's vessel before the accident.

According to numbers compiled by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, there were 80 boating fatalities in 2005. An alarming 77 percent of those who died were not wearing a lifejacket, although they reported being able to swim.

Fortunately, Lee's son Randy and his friend Adam Duce, both 20, were with him that day and were not injured in the accident. Lee said despite their awareness of the situation the two young men were not able to turn the boat's engines off before it chaotically traveled another quarter of a mile.

Lee now healthily promotes the use of automatic kill switches and lifejackets, no matter how experienced a boater may be.

"I'd like people to look at the idea of self inflating life vests," he said. "If I would have been knocked overboard, I would have drowned. You have to wear them and you have to use them."

Lee maintains that he is ready to get back on the water and is looking to purchase a new boat.

"I love fishing and being out on the water," he said. "No matter what problem you have, if you have a lot on your mind, you can get out on the water and all those things go away. Then you can come back and think a little more clearly."