ranger tug hits tree. ??

man, son of a beach, that's the pits. he must have had some kind of medical issue...or was sleeping
 
A whole new concept on "open bow". I suspect that the boat will be totaled. Ranger 23, described as a "fishing boat" by one account. Before 7 AM--asleep, or impaired by drug, alcohol or medical issue. Near the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Injuries described as minor.
 
I would guess that there was some sort of medical event or running on auto pilot as there is no fishing open in the area at this time. This was the area i fished for many years and am familiar with the shoreline. The banks in the area are quite steep and trees are constantly loosing their footing and toppeling into the water or not quite making it all the way to the water creating a navigational hazzard. I can see if the auto pilot was activated and the pilot was not tending the helmstation that this could happen. By the looks of the photo it appears that a very large branch or tree collapsed on to the boat probably after having been dislodged by the crash. At any rate a bad day on the water.
 
Either the tide was at about 3' higher when the boat hit the tree or something else was going on to drive a boat that high up on the beach. In the second case, hitting the tree was incidental.
 
I suspect that the boat was traveling at a very high rate of speed, to cause the tree to peel the entire foredeck and cabin off the hull and almost to the pilot house. The bank was severely underwashed, and other trees looked as if they had fallen. From the position of the tree, and damage done to the boat, it looks to me like the tree was at a constant angle.

It appears as if the boat was comming in directly at 90* to the beach.
 
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