Fisherman Files
Lawsuit From '87 Boat Accident
A Hoke County niait whose boat cap
sized in a 1987 fishing tournament at
Southport is suing the salesman and compa
ny who sold him the boat and a Shallotte
man who helped tow the boat to shore.
Thomas Jerry Ryan's 22-foot Harbor
Craft boat began taking on water and cap
sized off the coast of Southport just three
days after he bought it. Ryan is suing Earl
William Black and Rockhill Auto Marine of
Harnett County, claiming the boat wasn't
new as he was told when he bought it Also
named as a defendant is Harry Thomas
Wilkes of Brierwood Estates, Shallotte, for
damages to the boat allegedly caused when
Wilkes towed the boat to Holden Beach.
The lawsuit was originally filed in
Cumberland County Superior Court in
September, but was transferred to
Brunswick County Superior Court on
March 7.
Ryan is asking for 528,483 in damages to
the boat, court costs, interest at 8 percent
and $4,272 in attorney fees.
According to the complaint, Ryan was
participating in the U.S. Open King
Mackerel Tournament in South port on Oct.
1, 1987, when around 8 a.m. his VHF radio
and chart recorder stopped working. The
boat began taking on water and the batteries
and engine wouldn't run.
The boat capsized, throwing Ryan and a
passenger into the ocean, the lawsuit states.
The U.S. Coast Guard made an effort to re
cover the boat, but due to mechanical prob
lems of its own. was forced to temporarily
leave tlie capsized boat.
After the Coast Guard left, Wilkes, who
was also participating in the tournament,
hooked a line to the boat and attempted to
low it back to shore. The lawsuit states that
the Coast Guard approached Wilkes later that
afternoon and asked him to turn the capsized
boat back over to them, but he refused.
Ryan claims Wilkes asked a shrimp
trawler to tow the boat into the mouth of the
inlet during low tide. Wilkes then is alleged
to have towed the boat to the Holden Beach
Bridge around 11 p.m.
The next morning around 7:35 a.m? the
Coast Guard arrived and found the boat
pinned to the bridge. The lawsuit claims that
when Wilkes refused to release the boat to
the Coast Guard, the sheriff's department dis
patched someone to the scene.
When the Coast Guard uprighted the
boat, it was noticed that the center console
had been torn off, the suit states. Ryan al
leges that Wilkes was negligent in his tow
ing of the boat causing a loss of equipment,
holes in the bow and loss of the console and
attached hardware.
Ryan also claims when he purchased the
boat from Black, he was told the boat was
new. The lawsuit claims the engines had
wear and tear not consistent with a new
boat and that the boat did not operate as
new when in the water.
In his answer to the lawsuit, Wilkes
claims Ryan and his fishing crew was oper
ating the boat in a negligent and rccklcss
manner when it capsized. The boat was left
unattended to float in the ocean, causing a
"potentially serious and harmful condition
to other marine craft in the vicinity and
Fishing" in the tournament, the answer
states.
Wilkes claims he was acting within the
law to relieve a potentially dangerous and
harmful condition from the water. In his
counterclaim filed by Holdcn Beach
Attorney Benedict J. Del Rc' Jr., Wilkes
said he used fuel and time to tow the vessel
to shore and that he should be paid for his
services.
north Carolina newspapers
The average
newspaper reader
tias certain distinct
When you come right down to it, the average
newspaper reader bears a striking resemblence to
someone you know very well: your customer.
That's because people who read the newspaper
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almost 70% of newspaper readers earn over
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them.
But there may be an even more basic reason
why newspapers are so successful at reaching your
customers: People read newspapeis.
Over 44% of newspaper readers have advanced
their education beyond high school.
And when they sit down with a newspaper, it's be
cause they take time to read, for enjoyment and for
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It all comes down to this: Better educated read
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That's exactly why we can safely say, even the av
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THE BRUN5WICK#fEAC0N
Source: NC Press Services, Inc. State Survey of 1017 people, November 1989.