Mark Gentile, 56, of Mount Jackson, Va., was struck in the legs by a white and champagne-colored Donzi-type speedboat at about 2:30 p.m. while retrieving a minnow bucket that had floated away from his sailboat.
A balding white man and a younger-looking white female aboard the boat did not stop after striking Gentile, who dived under water in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid the boat.
Gentile was taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, where he was kept for 10 days. Upon his release, he was sent to Envoy Health, a long-term care facility in Alexandria, Va.
He will likely stay at the facility, recovering, for a few months, said Sgt. Art Windemuth, a Maryland Natural Resources Police spokesman.
Lying in a hospital bed with both legs bandaged in casts yesterday, Gentile begged for anyone with information to come forward.
"We are offering this reward in hopes of catching the person responsible for stealing my life away," he said.
Since being struck, Gentile has been unable to run his family business, Folder Factory Inc., based in Mount Jackson.
Gentile started the business with his three brothers when he was just 16. The company makes paper folder products for colleges, law offices, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and even the Baseball Hall of Fame.
"I'm having a hard time keeping my business going" since the accident, Gentile said. "I miss it."
Gentile also is unable to care for his girlfriend, Anita Nicholson, 57. Nicholson, a long-time aerobics instructor and avid runner and bicyclist, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease three years ago.
"I was the one taking care of her," Gentile said. "And now I cannot take care of my girl."
Nicholson is staying with Gentile at Envoy Health while he recovers.
Day enjoying life
Gentile said June 5 - a beautiful, sunny Saturday - was supposed to be a day relaxing with Nicholson and enjoying life.
His family has a vacation home in Mayo and he decided to visit for a quick getaway.
"I decided it would be a good idea to take my girl out on a little sail ride," he said. "I'm worried she won't be able to do it very soon."
Gentile also invited a friend from Pennsylvania, Russ Schwanke, who joined the couple with his 12-year-old son, Tim.
The group got into a sailboat moored at Gentile's Mayo home and went to the Thomas Point Lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay near the mouth of the South River.
"The intention was to go to Thomas Point and move out of the channel, off on the side, and out of the way from where all the boats were traveling," Gentile said. "We were going to go fishing. I had just bought a minnow bucket. I'd caught a bunch of minnows and (was) … going to use them for bait."
Gentile and Schwanke threw out the anchor and took the sails down. Gentile was sitting on the boat deck when he noticed his minnow bucket floating about 100 feet away from the sailboat.
"I saw it floating, so I dove in," Gentile said. "I was swimming toward it. I was almost there when I heard a loud noise."
Gentile looked up and saw a boat coming straight at him.
"I said out loud, 'I'm going to die,' " he said. "I went straight underwater to avoid it and tried to go to the side. I counted 'One one-thousand, two one-thousand' in my mind and bang, I was hit."
The boat broke both of Gentile's legs in half, he said.
"I didn't get very far in those two seconds," he said. "But it just missed my head and my stomach and torso. I'm thankful for that."
When Gentile came up for air the boat that struck him was out of sight. He grabbed a floating cushion he had in his hands before he was struck. Schwanke threw him a rope and called 911 while Tim kept Gentile still in the water.
He said the collision "happened fast."
"They came and they were gone," he said. "It all happened in just a couple of seconds."
'Take responsibility'
He said he's had a lot of time to think about the crash, and whether whoever hit him realized what they had done.
"At first I was saying, 'I don't know,' " he said. "But I have a powerboat that is a similar size and I would have to think that if I was driving my powerboat that fast and I hit something, I'd think it would be virtually impossible to not have felt a huge bump. And I would have said, 'What did I just hit? Did I hit a log?' You would have known you hit something."
He wants whoever struck him to come forward.
"My message to them is take responsibility for your actions," he said. "Those people shouldn't have been anywhere near our boat that was anchored out. They should have been a good 500 feet away. It's very common for sailboats to throw out their anchor and have people swimming or fishing nearby.
"They shouldn't have been there at all. They have ruined my life. Those guys had their fun for a couple minutes, and they've ruined someone else's life."
Natural Resources Police are asking anyone with information to contact Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7LOCKUP. Those with information also can send tips through the Metro Crime Stoppers website at www.metrocrimestoppers.org.
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Oh hey Sal - 2010-07-01 14:59:31
I was wondering if you were still around.
Ohhh, so THAT'S why there was a line wrapped around the stabilizer! I'd offer to give it back, but I have long-since used it to prop foul another boat.
And before people start with the comments, no, I didn't do that and it wasn't Salvatore's anchor line. This incident happened over a decade ago in the inland waterways of the southern NJ shore.
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Stephen Yats - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Terrible
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Stephen - 2010-07-01 14:49:33
I wasn't riding your wake...you had caught my anchor line.
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Salvatorre Bagatelli - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Good
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Let me get this straight... - 2010-07-01 13:42:01
A guy goes diving off his sailboat to save a bait bucket..in the middle of a channel crowded with powerboats. Then he expects a powerboater to see him bobbing around in the water and blames said powerboaters for hitting him after he dives underwater?
Apparently he's not the sharpest tool in the shed. A boater, powerboat or not, isn't going to know to look for someone in the water unless there are dive buoys around where the swimmer is.
Here's a stupid question: Instead of diving underwater, why didn't this Einstein start swimming back towards his boat when he saw the powerboat coming?
I have zero tolerance for blatant stupidity. This incident reminds me of the 12' aluminum flat-bottom that rode my small wake for a 1/2 mile because he wanted to go faster. Who then screamed bloody murder when I sped up a little and capsized him...losing all of his fishing gear. Well, duh! Did you honestly expect me to run idle all the way back to the marina just so you could go a 1 mph faster?
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Stephen Yats - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Terrible
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It Was His Fault - 2010-07-01 01:34:20
I cannot believe this guy. First of all, why would you JUMP into a boating area to go after an $18 bucket when you KNOW that speed boats come through the area all the time? Second, why is he whining about how his life is over when his legs are going to heal? There are people who have lost their eyesight and can't get it back who have a better outlook on life than this guy. There are soldiers who have lost their limbs too. What does he really have to complain about? He lived! What is wrong with him? Third, why would he assume that the driver of the boat saw him when he was in the water? If he didn't see his bucket until it drifted over 100 feet away, isn't it possible that the driver didn't see him? That is like driving a Mini beside a tanker. Yeah you can say that the tanker should be looking out for you, but if you cut in front of the tanker you run the risk of getting hit. You can scream about the right and wrong of it all you want, but at the end of the day you have to protect yourself. I hope he heals and uses his brain in the future. A bucket is NOT worth your life! Period!
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Hate To Register - , - Karma: Neutral
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Powerboaters.... - 2010-06-30 16:23:53
I've gone to the South River Overlook at Quiet Waters Park a few times and have personally witnessed powerboaters going so fast you would think they were in competition.
I also thought that DNR had Marker Buoys in the water to indicate where boaters were restricted.
In this case I think it was just poor judegment on Mr Gentiles part but I do hope he recovers in good shape.
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Steve Gundersen - Annapolis, Md - Karma: Terrible
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Comment removed by HometownAnnapolis staff. - 2010-06-29 22:06:47
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Also, may I suggest..... - 2010-06-29 09:54:52
That Mr. Gentile visit a VA Hospital and talk to a 20-year old soldier who had both legs amputated. Or talk to a 23-year old Iraq veteran who is missing an arm. Or perhaps a 28-year old who just returned home from active duty and is now blind from an I.E.D. explosion. Maybe then he will realize that his bones will eventually heal, his life will go on, and most certainly his life is not "ruined."
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Brian Armstrong - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Good
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Just an observation - 2010-06-28 18:22:15
Gentile said he saw the boat coming and dove underwater. Apparently not far enough, so it is quite possible that the boater did not see him or even feel him.
I know the panic that sets in when all of a sudden there is something unexpected in your course. One would not be on the lookout for or expect to see a swimmer near the Thomas Point shoal. They just did a Chesapeake Bay Swim and you saw all the protection they had!
I remember once coming up the Severn and taking the corner around the Indian Landing Boat Club and all of a sudden there were a bunch of people in the water doing some sort of wildlife survival class. No one got hit, but they were not near the shore and not in a no wake zone.
It is a horrible accident and I feel bad for Gentile, but it seems to have been just that--an accident.
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John Frenaye - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent
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There's 2 Ways of Saying the Same T - 2010-06-28 14:31:48
The right way and Laura's way.
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Mark Smith - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent
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100 feet??? - 2010-06-28 12:22:56
C'mon, even if a power driven vessel is supposed to give way, apparently there was at least 100 feet between this swimmer and the sail boat he dove off of? (The article says he swam after a minnow bucket that was about 100 feet away from his boat at the time he jumped in - given that the current would continue to carry the bucket away even as he swam to it, he probably swam at least that much).
How is 100 feet not enough right-away? I see boats of all types pass each other much closer than that all the time. And who would swim - mostly concealed - that far in a busy area of boat traffic?
And, like many of the other posters, I have been on boats that hit large waves, etc. that sound like you just hit the Titanic - it would be easy for someone to go over something submerged and not know it was a person.
Sorry he got hurt, but he's at least partially responsible and it seems like he is 'fishing' for a settlement now that the minnow got away.
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laura elion - annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent
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Water Quality - 2010-06-27 22:27:22
I hope Mr Gentile has a speedy recovery but if I was in his shoes I would be short one minnow bucket before I would jump into any body of water around here.
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Steve Gundersen - Annapolis, Md - Karma: Terrible
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Fred Davis ... - 2010-06-27 17:56:16
"...I should have more specifically stated 'vessel under sail'..."
OK, good - because I do not remember ever seeing a reference to "blow boats" in COLREGS before and it appeared you were referring to a fan driven craft which of course would be considered a power driven vessel.
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Fred Davis - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent
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Fred Davis - 2010-06-27 16:37:08
I should have more specifically stated 'vessel under sail':
From the USCG Navigation Rules, incorporated by reference under Code of Maryland Regulation 08.18.01.04. 04 Rules of the Road.
RULE 18
RESPONSIBILITIES BETWEEN VESSELS
Except where Rules 9, 10, and 13 otherwise require:
(a) A power-driven vessel underway shall keep out of the way of:
1. a vessel not under command;
2. a vessel restricted in her ability to maneuver;
3. a vessel engaged in fishing;
4. a sailing vessel.
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Tyler Durden - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent
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two things are for sure - 2010-06-27 13:50:10
1. The person operating the power boat has not come forward to say he may have hit something on that day in that area.If he is a local he is scum. 2. The person that went swimming to retrieve a minnow bucket will think twice before he jumps in the water in this area again. Power boaters and sail boaters are alike in this area they all think that they have the right of way and expect all others to get out of there way. That's just the way people are in and around Annapolis. Self centered. Too bad this had to happen to this person but it is not the first time something like this has happened and I am sure it will not be the last.
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A Jones - Not naptown but Annapolis, md - Karma: Good
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Simply an accident. - 2010-06-27 13:43:47
Nothing more. Sure, it sucks Mr. Gentile is hurt, but he was the one that chose to swim away from his boat into a channel. So if I park my car and walk out into the freeway, whose fault would it be if I got hit? He's obviously out for a lawsuit, and it sucks that we live in a world where people make a bad decision which results in injury, then blame someone else for that injury. There is no way in hell to know if the other boaters even saw him or not. I've been on boats and have hit waves that felt like we hit a concrete speed bump, so there is no way to determine if those boaters even knew they hit something. I hope Mr. Gentile heals well and soon, but also hope he realizes he too was at fault, and that trying to turn his own bad judgement into a lawsuit isn't necessarily the way to move on either.
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Brian Armstrong - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Good
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Jim Pearson ... - 2010-06-26 16:31:45
It has just occurred to me that we may have been discussing two different types of watercraft. If by the term blow boats you were talking about sailboats, I agree with your post. When I originally read your post, I was thinking of a fan propelled boat or a WIG craft both of which go by that name and would be considered another form of a power driven vessel. Sorry for the confusion.
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Fred Davis - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent
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Jim Pearson ... - 2010-06-26 16:18:59
"...Blow boats have right of way under most circumstances..."
What reference do you have for this statement?
Not that I in any way wish to appear to be defending Mr. Pearson - as I believe he has consistantly changed his story to suite his latest version of truth on a number of these articles, but I do not think there is precendent for a "blow boat" to have "right of way" as a general rule.
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Fred Davis - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent
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Jim Pearson - 2010-06-26 11:09:22
Your comment about blow boats would indicate that you DON'T know how to drive. Blow boats have right of way under most circumstances.
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Tyler Durden - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent
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boat accident - 2010-06-26 08:44:50
Herbert Spencer,I have a 100mph speed boat and know how to use it, I have had plenty blow boats come across the channel on me and it appears most do not know how to sail. the big problen is w/ all boats you buy a boat and go boating and do not know how to operate it, if it's a trailer boat most can't even back it down the ramp,I think it is only if you were born after 1972 you have to take the coast guard course.
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jim pearson - seaford, de - Karma: Terrible
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Comment removed by HometownAnnapolis staff. - 2010-06-25 20:27:08
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"Breaking News" - 2010-06-25 18:23:19
More fuel for the anti-powerboat bias: A powerboat and a PWC collided today in the West River. One person seriously injured.
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Pondo Sinatra - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral
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Unbiased - 2010-06-25 07:27:45
While I'm not condoning the driver's actions, I can understand that if he felt a bumb, that doesn't mean he knew he hit a person. I've hit objects before and dismissed it as a branch or other debris. He's still liable, but that doesn't mean he intentionally left the scene of an accident.
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Mike Morgan - annapolis, md - Karma: Excellent
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Answer - 2010-06-25 00:17:54
The article incorrectly uses the term channel, as there is no designated channel in the immediate vicinity of Thomas Point Light. But even if there was a channel, the presence of that channel does not relieve the operator of the powerboat of their obligation to maintain a proper lookout. As for the man in the water, if his sailboat was at anchor, then the only fault I could find with his actions would be that he most likely was not displaying the proper day shape for a vessel at anchor (a black ball). That being said, 99% of the people on the water wouldn't know what that shape meant if they saw it. Was swimming at that location the safest thing he could do? Clearly not, he got run over after all. But was he at fault? Nothing I've read indicates that.
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Pondo Sinatra - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral
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Mmmm... - 2010-06-25 00:15:30
This is a tough one. First off, I sympathize with the guy. He looks like he is in pain, the injuries were severe, it sucks. On the other hand, he is using all of the correct terminology for someone who is about to file suit. And it is a thick layer. He may be right, but I question his motives. I live on that creek and go in and out most days. In fact, I passed that scene that day without knowing what was going on. I saw the helicopter land at the Coast Guard station. That is a relatively narrow channel at the mouth of the creek, and it is fairly well-traveled. I think that I would have to question the wisdom of diving in that channel. The Coast Guard go roaring in and out of that channel all of the time...so there is no speed limit. Owning a small boat, I watch the channel carefully as I go in and out. I certainly wouldn't swim there, especially without a buoy marking my actions. If they find this boater (and he almost certainly resides in this small creek), I would bet that he was oblivious to his actions. At least I would hope that he was. Either way, it is fairly obvious that he is going to get super-sued.
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Salvatorre Bagatelli - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Good
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To Pondo - 2010-06-24 23:54:24
I am truly not trying to be argumentative, this is just an innocent question...but is leaving the helm of your boat and jumping in to the channel considered operating your vessel in a safe manner?
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sidney janoski - edgewater, md - Karma: Good
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The conditions that day - 2010-06-24 23:48:39
The NOAA weather station on Thomas Pt Light was not functioning properly that day. However, the nearby Annapolis buoy reported 6-10kts of wind out of the west at 2:30pm. At Thomas Point, those conditions would have produced waves of 1 ft. or less.
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Pondo Sinatra - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral
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8
Sail vs. Power - 2010-06-24 23:33:12
First off: the victims "they've ruined my life" claim is clearly laying the foundation for a lawsuit if the powerboat driver is ever found. As for hair-brained boaters, stupid sailboaters rarely kill people, stupid powerboaters are responsible for several deaths each year on the Chesapeake. Bottom line: If you're at the helm you are obligated to operate your vessel at a safe speed and maintain a proper lookout. No excuses.
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Pondo Sinatra - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral
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6
Why hate power boats? - 2010-06-24 22:35:19
As a powerboater I can tell you just as many stories about hairbrained sailors as you can give me about crazy powerboaters. It is all just anecdotal crapola. No one can be happy about this unfortunate incident...end of story. But it possible they didn't know that they hit something.If they did, throw the book at them. If they didn't, then his judgment about jumping in the bay in a busy channel should at least be considered. Not exactly worth the risk of retrieving a minnow bucket and not exactly clear thinking on his part, wouldn't you say?
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sidney janoski - edgewater, md - Karma: Good
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4
You look fine - 2010-06-24 21:27:38
It appears you have no serious nerve damage and no injury to your head. If so, congratulations. Your life is not over. Bones knit stronger than they were before, and therefore, so long as you do not succumb to self-pity, once you recuperate you can use your strengthened body to track these people down and introduce youself.
You're not in a wheelchair. There is plenty of beer in your future.
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Brandon Gates - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Terrible
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2
what a shame - 2010-06-24 19:59:46
Poor guy. Just trying to enjoy his life when those damn speedboaters came by. Hate them as much as I hate motorcyclists. Speed kills. Slow down on the road and slow down on the water. Too bad the county police are too busy arresting botanists to find the bastard who hit this fellow.
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Herbert Spencer - St. Margaret's, MD - Karma: Terrible
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