Boater dies after apparent heart attack, crash into Cape May dock
Image courtesy of the Lower Township Police Department.
Police say a Florida man died last week after he had an apparent heart attack and crashed a 58-foot boat into a dock at a southern New Jersey marina.
The Press of Atlantic City reports Lower Township police said Tuesday 67-year-old Gilbert Justin turned his boat back to port just after he departed the docks at Canyon Club Marina in Cape May on Friday.
Justin attempted to turn the steering wheel in order to bring the vessel into two empty slips, entering at an angle and striking a bow piling, police say.
The vessel then continued its forward motion and the bow struck the main section of the dock, pushing the boat on top of the dock with the stern sitting low in the water, police added.
Police say boaters at the marina jumped into the Sea Ray vessel named “U N I” to turn off the engine and found Justin unconscious after his wife began yelling for help. Bystanders performed CPR on the Cortez, Florida, man until police and paramedics arrived.
He was taken to Cape Regional Medical Center in Cape May Court House, where he later died.
No one else was injured. The incident remains under investigation by the New Jersey State Police Marine Services Bureau.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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