Woman dies when boat rams another

The passenger in an 8-foot boat is killed when the vessel crashed hit another boat Friday night off Dunedin.

DUNEDIN - A Palm Harbor woman was killed Friday when the boat she was traveling in slammed into another vessel carrying five people in the Gulf of Mexico near Dunedin, authorities said.

Tammy Schmidt, 41, of 1149 Spanish Oaks Drive, died at the scene of the crash, which occurred shortly after 10 p.m. near the Dunedin Causeway, said Gary Morse, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Schmidt was a passenger in an 8-foot boat, which was operated by Brian Rumble, 40, of 8449 Eastman Drive in Tampa, Morse said.

Rumble suffered cuts to his head and neck. He was transported to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, where he was in intensive care Saturday.

No one was injured on the larger vessel, which was operated by Henry K. Cavalier, 40, of 1236 Kapok Cove Circle, Clearwater.

Authorities said the small boat was traveling at a high speed in a northeasterly direction near the causeway. The boat had no lights on, authorities said.

At the same time, an 18-foot boat carrying Cavalier, his wife and three children was traveling southeast at an "idle speed." The vessel's lights were on, Morse said.

The two boats collided, ejecting Schmidt and Rumble.

"Alcohol may have been a factor," Morse said, though he declined to elaborate.

The accident is still under investigation.

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