Salisbury woman charged with OUI after boat runs aground
Sep. 20—NEWBURY — What started out as an evening cruising the mouth of the Merrimack River on Friday ended with a boat running aground in the Sandy Point area of Plum Island and a Salisbury woman charged with piloting the craft under the influence of alcohol.
In addition to drunken driving, Kathryn Orben, 57, of Ferry Lots Lane was charged with negligent operation of a boat. Following her arrest, she posted $2,500 cash bail and was released.
Orben was arraigned Monday morning in Newburyport District Court and ordered to return to court Nov. 3 for a pretrial hearing. The bail she posted following her arrest remained in effect, meaning if she is charged with another offense or pilots a boat while awaiting trial, she risks losing the money and being thrown in jail until her case is resolved.
Newbury police responded to a report of a beached boat near the Ipswich portion of Plum Island about 9:25 p.m. Because it can take Ipswich police up to 45 minutes to respond to Sandy Point, Newbury police are authorized, through a mutual aid pact, to respond to that area.
When Sgt. Stephen Jenkins and Officer Stephen Smith arrived, they found five people either on the white 23-foot-long Sea Ray power boat or on the nearby beach.
A passenger told officers that Orben was drunk while piloting the boat onto the beach. An ambulance was called because it appeared at least one of the five was injured. It was unclear if any injuries occurred as a result of the crash or during the attempt to secure the boat in heavy surf.
The injuries were not serious and everyone refused medical treatment, according to Newbury police.
Smith said Orben, who smelled of alcohol, admitted she was behind the wheel when the boat ran aground. Orben told the officer she and her passengers had been boating near the mouth of the Merrimack when they decided to head south parallel to Plum Island.
But as fog and darkness rolled in, she lost her bearings and tried to follow another boat back toward the mouth.
"She stated because of the lack of visibility or navigation, she ended up running aground on the beach," Smith wrote in his report. "I informed her it was pretty dangerous to be out in the fog after dark with no compass, map or GPS. She stated, 'yeah I know.' I asked Orben how much she had to drink and she stated she had two glasses of champagne."
But Orben later admitted to having three-quarters of a bottle of champagne along with a shot of whisky.
Once in the nearest parking lot, Orben took and failed a series of field sobriety tests. She also blew a 0.11 blood-alcohol level — more than the 0.08 limit for drunken driving. Orben was handcuffed and taken to the police station,
The boat was expected to be towed by a TowBoatUS crew Saturday morning, according to Newbury police.
Dave Rogers is a reporter with the Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: drogers@newburyportnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @drogers41008.
Dave Rogers is a reporter with the Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: drogers@newburyportnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @drogers41008.
