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bayman killed: bayman killed near Freeport marina
Wow what a bummer, rip.
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A master bayman driving a boat back from a goose-hunting trip with two friends was killed yesterday when he slammed into a wooden piling near a Freeport marina, hit his head and then tumbled into channel waters.
Cory Weyant, 54, of Freeport, was pronounced dead at Nassau University Medical Center after the 1:30 p.m. crash, police said.
Another man with him, a 49-year-old Baldwin resident, was hospitalized at NUMC in stable condition with a back injury, a hospital spokeswoman said last night. The third man on the boat, a 58-year-old from Freeport, initially declined aid at the scene but later went to a hospital for treatment, police said. His condition was unknown, police said. The names of the two boat passengers were not released.
Weyant was the master educator for maritime festivals and education programs for Long Island Traditions.
Nancy Solomon, executive director of Long Island Traditions, said Weyant was a lifelong bayman dedicated to a life on the water and had been affiliated with the cultural preservation organization for more than 20 years.
"Cory was the first person to introduce me to the bay. He had a passion for educating people about the life of baymen," Solomon said.
The hunting party was returning to the Guy Lombardo Marina via Swift Creek when Weyant, who police said was distracted by a mechanical issue, apparently failed to see a 10-foot-tall wooden piling that serves as a marker in Woodcleft Channel.
That piling, marker 13, is about the diameter of a telephone pole, and is intended to serve as a location marker for boaters, police said.
Weyant's 19-foot-long motorboat rammed into the pole, and he struck his head against the piling, Nassau police said.
One passenger was ejected from the boat into the channel by the force of the collision, but was able to return to the boat and help the other two men, police said. He got them to shore about 1:45 p.m., called 911 and began CPR on Weyant, Smith said.
Emergency responders from the Freeport Fire Department took Weyant to NUMC in East Meadow, where he was pronounced dead at 2:15 p.m., officials said.
"He must have just looked down at the wrong moment," Solomon said of Weyant. "He was the one who taught others where and how to go" on Long Island waters.
