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Developer blames self for crash

The boater, who has worked on many Clearwater Beach condo projects , was hurt when his craf t ran into a rock jetty in the early - morning hours of Oct. 23.

By ROBERT FARLEY
Published October 31, 2006

CLEARWATER BEACH - It was one of those moonless Florida nights, clear and warm with a gentle breeze that left the Gulf of Mexico glassy and inviting.

Around midnight, Roland Rogers fired up Big Daddy and motored about 6 miles offshore. Then he cut the engine and let the 22-foot boat drift, a speck offshore.

"It's like I often tell people, it's paradise here, even after the sun goes down," said Rogers, 44, sounding like he's pitching one of his condo projects that have transformed parts of Clearwater Beach.

The drama started on his trip back home.

On the second-floor balcony of his waterfront condo, where Rogers now recuperates, he looked out over Clearwater Harbor on Monday and recalled the boating accident that nearly killed him last week.

He was heading east at around 1:45 a.m. on Oct. 23 toward Clearwater Pass, the opening between Clearwater Beach and Sand Key that allows boats into Clearwater Harbor.

On the south side of the pass, a rock jetty extends about three-quarters of a mile west from Sand Key and curves slightly to the south at the end.

When he approached the jetty at high tide, the rocks were just a couple feet above the water line. He mistook it for a patch of rough water, the ripple of transitioning tides.

He had just reached down to throttle back on his 175-horsepower engine, he said, when he hit the first rock. The sound of crumpling fiberglass shattered the quiet night.

Shirtless, Rogers was thrown into the boat's center console, which ripped free. He hurtled 35 feet through the air and bounced onto the rocks.

He never lost consciousness.

Lying on the rocks, Rogers fished his hand into his pocket for his cell phone and dialed 911.

Two Clearwater Fire Department rescue workers climbed the length of the jetty to fetch him - a dangerous assignment even in daylight. They helped load him onto an inflatable Coast Guard boat, which ferried him to shore, and he was driven to the Morton Plant Hospital emergency room.

Rogers got 15 stitches on his forehead and another 30 on his knee. He suffered bruises to his side and abdomen, and his pride.

By Rogers' account, he made three key errors:

Mistake No. 1: As he approached the pass, he was going too fast, about 25 mph.

Mistake No. 2: He left his Global Positioning System in the garage. He usually uses it to help him navigate.

Mistake No. 3: He left his spotlight in the glove compartment of the boat.

Rogers spoke last week to his friend Bill Morris, the city of Clearwater's harbormaster, who was later questioned about the jetty, and whether the city ought to add a string of lights to it.

Rogers waved off such talk. There's no need, he said. The accident was his fault. He was not drinking, he said, and he noted that fact was backed by a blood test at the hospital.

"I've done it a thousand times and never had a problem," said Rogers, who grew up in Seminole. "It's not like I didn't know they were there."

As a kid, he used to fish off those rocks. So mostly, he's embarrassed.

"It was my own stupidity," he said.

In the past five years, Rogers has built or partnered in about 20 developments on Clearwater Beach, most on Brightwater Drive. He also has acquired land in the beach's east shore neighborhood and across Coronado Drive from two planned four-star hotels.

After four days in the hospital, Rogers was back at home on Friday, with a bulky brace attached to his knee to keep the stitches in place.

On Monday, he looked out off the deck at the empty slip where his boat used to be. It's totaled. He'll get another. Probably the same kind.

"It did its job," he said. "I'm here. I'm very lucky."

[Last modified October 30, 2006, 23:45:57]