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Boat smashes into stilt house

The driver, who lost control and was flung into the gulf, suffers minor injuries. The three people in the fishing outpost are not hurt.

By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET
Published April 2, 2006

	[Photo by Jeremy Fillie]
	Members of the Pasco County sheriff's marine unit inspect a boat that crashed into Stilt House No. 5 Saturday morning in the gulf near the mouth of the Pithlachascotee River in Port Richey. Driver Christopher Welker was ejected from the boat before it struck the house.

PORT RICHEY - A speeding power boat with no one on board hit a moored boat, went airborne and crashed into a stilt house in the Gulf of Mexico Saturday.

The people inside the fishing outpost off Port Richey were stunned but unhurt when the bow came though the wall.

Christopher Welker, 45, of New Port Richey, the boat driver, suffered minor injuries when he was thrown from the vessel.

"He just made a mistake," said Cpl. Don Deso of the Pasco County sheriff's marine unit.

About 10:15 a.m., Welker and a friend were heading to the popular Chasco Boat Parade in New Port Richey. As Welker turned his 23-foot Ranger from the gulf into the mouth of the Pithlachascotee River at more than 55 mph, the back of the boat popped out of the water and the craft spun around violently, "like a race car," Deso said.

Welker and his friend, who was not identified by officials, were flung from the boat.

The boat kept going another 400 or 500 feet, said Gary Morse, a spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

It was stopped by Don and Doug King's Stilt House No. 5, which sits about four feet above the water.

The Kings and a child, whose identity was not available, were in the house when the boat came crashing in, Morse said. They were stunned but unharmed.

"They didn't even know it was coming," Deso said. "They heard a motor. They heard an engine. They're so used to hearing them that they didn't pay attention until the boat crashed in there."

Neither Welker nor his passenger was wearing a life vest, Deso said, but they were fortunate enough to land in chest-deep water. Welker had a sore shoulder but no serious injuries, Deso said.

He was treated and released Saturday at Community Hospital in New Port Richey.

Wildlife officers charged Welker with unsafe speed, a second-degree misdemeanor that carries penalties of up to 60 days in jail and up to $500 in fines.

Many boats are equipped with kill switches that shut off the engine if the driver is ejected, but Welker didn't have one.

"I think people just take it for granted they'll never need one," Deso said.

People at the stilt house Saturday afternoon were busy patching the place up. They declined to comment.

It was unclear whether the Kings will face official problems making repairs to the stilt house, which went up decades ago before regulations prohibited them. Officials need to evaluate the extent of the damage, the building restrictions and other issues before granting permits, said Lee Millard, Pasco's acting zoning administrator.

[Last modified April 2, 2006, 01:23:12]