It’s been nearly a month since Marlins star Jose Fernandez and two friends died when their boat smashed into a Miami Beach jetty. Now, the U.S. Coast Guard is analyzing whether there is sufficient lighting in the area of that jetty.
Coast Guard Rear Admiral Paul Thomas sent a letter to Florida Senator Marco Rubio, this week, saying in part, “The Coast Guard is commissioning a new analysis focusing specifically on the north and south jetties at the entrance to the government cut channel, which will include verification of appropriate illumination for these structures.”
An initial investigation didn’t find any danger with the jetty, but one fisherman said lighting can be an issue.
“You don’t even see the difference between the sky and the water sometimes,” Edmund Lucarelli said. “I have a big white light on top of my tee-top.”
Lucarelli isn’t alone. In 2014, a boat had to be towed away after hitting the rocks. A few years earlier, a small boat carrying several people ran into the rocks at the same jetty.
Lucarelli said he was at the jetty hours before Fernandez’s accident.
“If we would have stayed there with our light on, he would have saw our light,” he said.
Meanwhile, Fernandez’s mother has thanked the community for several public farewells.
In a letter to the Miami Herald, she wrote, “I’ve been sustained by your love for my son. As his mother, thank you for that blessing. Live out the legacy of my son, Jose Fernandez. laugh like he did. Live joyfully the way he did. And I ask every little and major leaguer alike, to enjoy the game the way he did. And thank you for loving him, not forgetting him, and keeping his legacy alive.”
The investigation into the accident continues.
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