Topic: Humminbird SI helps in finding missing boat

[RGecy]

Here are some news articles and video links to the Sandy Island Boat Story.  DNR had been looking for a boat that killed 3 people when it sank on Feb 18, 2009.  We came in with the Humminbird 997 and found the boat in the first 30 minutes.

Sandy Island Boat Found - WMBF Phone Interview

[RGecy]

Sandy Island Boat found - The Sun News Video Interview.

Posted on Thu, Mar. 19, 2009 TheSunNews.com
Wrecked boat seen near dock at Sandy Island
Underwater vessel's number matches Sandy Island craft

By Aliana Ramos
aramos@thesunnews.com

About 100 yards from the Sandy Island boat dock, diver Robert Gecy made a discovery Wednesday that could lead to answers about a boat accident that killed three family members on Feb. 18.

After a 27-foot dive in the Waccamaw River, Gecy came up with a registration number and an engine brand that match the missing 15-foot fiberglass vessel that was involved in the accident. The boat is a 1973 Marquis.

The S.C. Department of Natural Resources expects to send divers this morning to retrieve the vessel and determine whether it's the correct boat, said Lt. Robert McCullough with the DNR.

McCullough confirmed that the numbers match the missing boat's registration and the engine brand also matches.

"That would make you think it's the boat," McCullough said.

A three-man crew began searching for the boat about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, about 30 yards from the dock, where DNR believed the accident occurred.

The men, who refer themselves as the Search Exploration Recovery Team, are trained to recover and record artifacts and treasure.

David Toller of Myrtle Beach called his teammates Bob McCray and Gecy after reading an article on The Sun News' Web site about DNR's unsuccessful attempt to find the missing boat last Thursday.

"I thought, let's put some equipment out there and see if we can't find it," said Toller, a law enforcement officer, whose hobby is finding and recovering artifacts on land and water.

"I thought it would be good closure for the family," he said.

In less than an hour the crew, using the side-scan sonar on Gecy's boat, located a dark blip on the screen that matched the description of the boat.

The men mapped the coordinates of the boat and contacted DNR with their find.

The sonar sends signals out below the water to detect obstructions and is able to map the object underwater as an image on the monitor.

DNR, which conducted a search March 12, does not have side-scan sonar equipment. McCullough said it is expensive and there is a lack of funding.

While the crew suspected they found the missing boat, they dove in the afternoon to search for any identification numbers or other useful clues from the boat. Gecy found the boat on his second dive attempt.

He memorized the numbers during his dive: S00147HM. Gecy also noted the brand of the engine: an Evinrude.

Gecy said he also detected damage to the hull of the boat. The vessel is on its side on the bottom of the Waccamaw River, with a hole about a foot long on part of the hull.

"The hole could be a result of the accident or it could help to explain how the boat took in so much water," said Gecy, who came from Beaufort to help in the search.

He said he did not touch the boat. He only looked for any identification numbers and features.

Six people were aboard a boat about 30 yards from the shore of Sandy Island about 9:45 p.m Feb. 18, when it started to take in too much water.

Shaquatia Robinson, 19; her mother, Lou Ann Robinson, 47; and cousin Rishard Pyatt, 18, drowned.

The pilot of the boat and her 5-year-old daughter were able to make it to shore. Shaquatia Robinson's baby boy, Zyair Smalls, was rescued and remains hospitalized at the Medical University of South Carolina in fair condition.

"At least it will allow DNR to find out what happened in order to prevent it in the future," Gecy said.

[RGecy]

Sandy Island Boat Found - WPDE Video

Diver may have found boat from Sandy Island accident

By Joel Allen
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.

A diver from Beaufort has apparently found what the Department of Natural Resources could not. He discovered the boat that sank last month off Sandy Island, killing three people.

The boat was beneath 28 feet of murky water in the Waccamaw River, about 30 yards off shore from Sandy Island, the 15-foot boat that caused so much tragedy last month.

Robert Gecy calls himself a semi-professional diver, usually searching for treasure in ancient ships that have been under water for centuries.

Now, he had a very different task, trying to locate the boat that went down one month ago, claiming three lives.

Gecy and his crew thought they spotted the boat Wednesday morning, using his side-scan sonar unit but he needed to be sure.

So he went back to the spot later in the afternoon and dived down to see in person.

His first search, in water where he could see barely a foot in front of him, yielded only an old but valuable liquor bottle.

With his second dive - success.

He spotted the boat and a quick check of the hull number seemed to confirm it.

Gecy says he decided to do the search on his own because he has the time, expertise, and equipment that the D.N.R. does not.

"It's definitely something you want to bring some closure to, and at least find out what happened and maybe prevent it in the future and certainly avoid accidents like this from now on," said Gecy.

Gecy took note of the coordinates for that spot.

He'll turn that information over to the D.N.R. and let them do the investigation into why the boat went down.

The D.N.R. tried to locate the sunken boat in the days following the accident, but they couldn't find it.

Gecy, with his expertise and sonar unit spotted it in only about a half hour.

Three people survived that accident, including a one-year old baby who spent several weeks in the hospital.