Neighbours say boat crash was foreseeable

Jeff Green | May 22, 2024

Clinton Hammond was drifting off to sleep just after 9:30 on Saturday Night (May 18).

It had been a long, wonderful day at the property he shares with other family members on Bobs Lake. Beautiful weather, water skiing, swimming, and Sunday was waiting on the other end of a restful sleep.

Then everything changed.

“I can’t even describe the bang. It was not a natural sound. It was not fireworks going off, it was much too loud. So I threw on my t-shirt and shorts and came out, and my brother Tony is at the door saying, "Call 911.”

Tony Hammond was on the porch overlooking the water, smoking a cigarette before heading to bed himself. The Hammond property overlooks a narrow strait that connects the main part of Bobs Lake with Buck Bay, just south of a bridge at Green Bay Road.

The strait is a no-wake zone because it is narrow, according to the Hammond brothers, but that rule is not always followed by speed boat owners on the lake. And the owner of one red speed boat, whose property is located on Buck Bay, often whizzed through the channel, they said.

On this particular night, Tony Hammond heard the sound of that boat revving its engines as it approached the strait. 

“I knew there was a fishing boat, filled with young kids just by the far shore. They had been there for quite a while, playing country music, partying, and just floating between two docks. I could see the lights of their phones, and maybe the light of a speaker. When I heard the engine rev up from the red boat, I thought that since it was dark, the boat would take the centre path through the strait,” he said.

But Tony worried that the red boat might hug the far shore, because that was something the boat owner had developed a habit of doing.

“He had been working on this for four years, since he started running the boat on the lake. Those speed boats can’t really turn, so he would like to come through as close to the shore as possible in order to cut a curving path at full speed and go all the way to his cottage after coming into Buck Bay. He kept starting to throttle up his engine earlier and earlier in order to come through at higher and higher speeds,” he said. 

On this night, when Tony Hammond realised that the red boat was at full throttle, travelling what he estimates was 60-70 miles per hour along the far shore, and that it was hugging the shore even though at 9:35 pm it was dark on the lake, he leaned over the edge of his porch, and waited, in pure dread.

“Everything was in slow motion. There was no point yelling a warning because I was not close enough, and there was the noise of the speedboat and the noise coming from the fishing boat where the music was pretty loud. I think it was only about 6 or 7 seconds, but it felt like a half an hour. I had put out my cigarette and I was leaning to put the filter into a jar and saying to myself, 'please don't hear the crunch, please don't hear the crunch. When it came it was horrifying but I could not say it was a surprise at all. I can say I had a feeling of resignation.  I ran to the door. My brother Tim was in the kitchen chopping vegetables for stew, and when I opened the door and Clint was coming to the door as well, andI said ‘911, mass casualties, multiple bodies in the water, send everyone.”

The three brothers headed to the water, and set out in their own boat. Withing a minute they had retrieved a woman from the water and took her to the dock across the bay, and began CPR. Time remained on the dock administering CPR for over 30 minutes until  a paramedic eventually arrived and made the declaration of death. The other two brothers kept searching the water.

The cottage owner across the bay, another person who was staying at an adjacent  Airbnb, and others, were working on other people, on a dock that was very close to the site of the collision and became a sort of triage station. It became apparent that among the dead and injured, there was at least one person missing, and Clint Hammond was among those searching the water with cell phone flashlights. Within twenty minutes, emergency services from Central Frontenac arrived, and they brought in lights and other equipment. The missing person was found in the water, deceased.

“In the midst of all the horror and chaos, I think all of those who were trying to help before Emergency Services arrived, were pretty coordinated, when I think about it,” said Clint Hammond.

According to an OPP report that was released on Sunday, May 19th, the deceased are a 21 year old woman from South Frontenac, a 22 year old woman from Elginburg, and a 23 year old man from South Frontenac.

“There were also five other people, ranging in age from 21 to 44, who were transported to a Kingston Hospital with a range of injuries. One was transported by Ornge Air due to the severity of their injuries. Others involved were checked out at the scene by paramedics,” the report said.

“Frontenac OPP continues to investigate the collision, with assistance from an OPP                                                                 Collision Reconstructionist and members of the Technical Collision Investigation Team, in conjunction with the Office of the Chief Coroner,” the report concludes.

Photos taken at the scene on Sunday and early Monday, before OPP crews arrived to remove the boats, show that the red speed boat struck the metal fishing boat from the rear, hitting the motor and then the body of the boat. The speed boat ended up lodged on the fishing boat.

On Monday Night, and OPP reconstruction team were at Bobs Lake working at the collision scene.

As of Tuesday, May 21, the OPP had not provided the names of any individuals involved in the incident. The Hammond brothers provided the News with the name of the speed boat's owner, and some more information about one or more passengers who were riding with the owner. Since the OPP has not released the names in the case, we will wait for them to confirm who was involved.

The News has received the screenshot from a Facebook post, dated May 12,  which includes several pictures, including one of the same boat pictured on page, with “Y Wouldn’t Ya” painted on the back right side. The Facebook post includes the picture of a man what look wraparound sunglasses, and says “New go fast goggles!!! … and it’s time to put the f….ing hammer down!!!!!!! Y Wouldn’t Ya”. The Facebook site where the post came from has been taken down.

Clint and Tony Hammond were clearly shaken by what had taken place when interviewed at their property on May 20.

“One image that sticks out for me was a small pink Croc, floating in the water, just bobbing up and down, near the crash scene,” said Clint Hammond.

“I can't help thinking about six parents, whose kids are not coming home, ever,” said Tony Hammond. “All for what?”

Tony and Clint Hammond both gave statements to the OPP on Monday afternoon.

(Update -  the names of the three victims in this incident have been released by the OPP. They are: Riley Orr, Juliette Cote and Kaila Bearman. No arrests have been made thus far)