Man Impaled by Mangrove Branches After Boat Crash in Keys

A Key Largo man is dead after crashing his boat and being impaled on the branches of mangrove trees this morning in the Florida Keys. The incident happened at about 4:40 a .m near the entrance of Jewfish Creek. According to The Florida Keys Keynoter, Steven Douglas Reynolds, 64, was driving his...

By Kyle Munzenrieder

May 6, 2015

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A Key Largo man is dead after his boat crashed and he was impaled on the branches of mangrove trees.

The incident happened around 4:40 a.m. today near the entrance of Jewfish Creek in the Keys. According to the Florida Keys Keynoter, Steven Douglas Reynolds, 64, was driving his 22-year-old, 17-foot Islander fishing boat from Blackwater Sound into the entrance of the creek when the boat crashed into the mangroves. Dennis Gobin, 62, was a passenger. Both men were ejected from the boat. A man on a nearby sailboat heard the crash and called authorities.

When Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers arrived, they found Reynolds dead, impaled on mangrove branches.

Gobin, who was in serious condition, was flown to Ryder Trauma Center in Miami-Dade.
It was later determined that the men had left a bar called the Caribbean Club minutes earlier and were headed to Gilbert's Resort. That's a relatively quick boat ride across Blackwater Sound.

Portions of the classic 1948 film Key Largo, starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, were filmed at the Caribbean Club, a fact the bar touts prominently on its website. Also, in a section of its website titled "What's it all about?" the bar answers, "Well, booze, for starters." The bar closes nightly at 4 a.m. and has a dock outside for boaters.

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