TAMPA, Fla. — The trip to Clearwater Beach that Marcos Pacheco and Brenda Alvarez made April 27 was supposed to leave happy memories of their children’s first boat ride.

The Sarasota family took the Clearwater Ferry to the beach that Sunday to marvel at the sand sculptures on display at the Pier 60 Sugar Sand Festival. On the way back, they were sitting near the front of the ferry, a pontoon boat called Maddie’s Crossing, when a crew member shouted a warning.

“Everybody get down!”

A violent crash and chaos followed. Their 3-year-old daughter has since asked repeatedly: “Why did the boat hit our boat?”

It’s a question that authorities are investigating after a 37-foot powerboat slammed into the back of the ferry shortly before 9 p.m., killing a Palm Harbor man and injuring 10 others including Alvarez, who was nearly eight months pregnant.

Alvarez and Pacheco say they know one thing: The crash didn’t happen because the captain or any of the more than 40 passengers aboard were looking at dolphins, as a lawyer for the man who was behind the wheel of the other boat suggested in a recent letter to investigators.

“You can say that we were distracted by dolphins, but you couldn’t see our ferry?” Pacheco said. “It’s almost insulting the blame is being put on us — the passengers — when we were the ones who were hit, we were the ones who were hurt. There was somebody who died on the ferry because of this accident, and there’s no apologies, just blame being thrown at us.”

Local businessman Jeff Knight, 62, said he was piloting the Statement center console boat when he crashed into the back of the ferry in the Intracoastal Waterway near the Clearwater Causeway. Knight has not been cited or criminally charged. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating the cause of the crash and the question of whether Knight stayed on the scene long enough to avoid a hit-and-run charge.

In letters to the wildlife commission, Knight’s attorney, J. Kevin Hayslett, wrote that his client directed his passengers to dial 911, offered to assist ferry passengers and stayed until first responders arrived. The letters say there is “credible concern” that the ferry did not have lights, especially at the stern, as required by law.

The first letter, dated two days after the crash, said that witnesses had reported “that in the moments before the collision, the captain and many passengers were distracted by dolphins in the area, diminishing navigational awareness.”

A second letter to investigators Thursday included sworn statements from some of Knight’s passengers who wrote that he shouted after the crash that he didn’t see any lights on the ferry.

One passenger described hearing Knight yelling, “They had no lights, where the f—k were their lights!”

In the third letter, dated Sunday, Hayslett wrote that it did not appear that the ferry crew gave a warning signal as Knight’s boat approached.

“When a vessel is in sight of another and there is doubt as to the other vessel’s intentions, the proper and immediate response is five short and rapid blasts on the vessel’s whistle or horn,” Hayslett wrote. “This signal is critical to prevent collisions and is considered the standard response to imminent danger.”

The wildlife commission and the Pinellas County Suncoast Transit Authority, which operates the ferry, have declined to comment about the ferry’s lights and other issues, citing the ongoing investigation.

The ferry’s captain, Dennis Kimerer, broke his silence Tuesday, issuing a prepared statement saying he considers himself “fortunate to be alive” and is “deeply thankful to the heroic passengers, first responders, good Samaritans and medical professionals whose quick actions saved lives during and after the collision.”

Kimerer said his thoughts were with those injured and the family of “a beloved father” who was killed, Jose Luis Castro.

“Out of respect for them and everyone affected, I will not be engaging in a public back-and-forth regarding the causes of this tragedy,” Kimerer said. “I trust the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and other authorities to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation, and I will continue to cooperate fully with them.”

Alvarez, Pacheco and one of their attorneys, Scot Seplowe, say Hayslett is victim blaming while his client fails to accept responsibility.

“It’s up to (the wildlife commission) to figure out who is at fault and for what, and if there’s shared fault, that’s fine, too,” Seplowe said. “But the idea that the passengers would somehow be at fault is, I don’t know, ludicrous is probably the best word to use for it.”

Alvarez and Pacheco, who are both in their early 30s, and their children — their son is 1 — rode the ferry to the beach earlier in the day. It was the same captain and crew during the return trip. The couple said the captain and crew went over safety procedures and noted the location of life jackets for adults and kids.

“They did everything to make us feel safe,“ Pacheco said. ”And while we were on the boat, I had no reason to point fingers and say the captain wasn’t doing his job, or the first mate wasn’t doing her job.”

On the return trip, the family faced forward and pointed out bridges and passing boats to their kids.

There were no dolphins, they said.

“There was literally nothing going on in the water besides the boats around us going back to their ports, and there was literally no distraction,” Alvarez said.

The Tampa Bay Times asked what they recall about the ferry’s lights.

“As a passenger, the last thing you feel like you need to do is keep track of whether the lights are on or not,” Alvarez said. “We’re just there to enjoy the ride and hope that everybody else around us is being careful and considerate, because we all deserve a fun time.”

Alvarez said a ferry crew member saw Knight’s powerboat bearing down on them and shouted to the passengers to get down. Alvarez was trying to do that when the boat hit the ferry, and the force of the crash knocked her to the floor.

The powerboat plowed so far into the ferry that the captain’s console near the front of the vessel “folded over” and pinned the captain, Pacheco said.

Passengers screamed. Pacheco recalls tending to his wife while trying to reassure his children until first responders arrived.

Footage captured by a city camera at Coachman Park shows the crash happening at 8:40 p.m. and Knight pulling away from the scene 10 minutes later. By then, a bystander video shows, some first responders had arrived on the shore near the causeway. Pinellas deputies intercepted Knight and towed him back to the Belleair Boat ramp. He volunteered a breath sample, which showed no alcohol, but did not take a blood test to determine if he had drugs in his system.

Seplowe said it’s clear from the video that Knight left before authorities could begin their investigation. He questioned one of the reasons given by Knight’s lawyer to explain him leaving for Belleair: that the boat appeared to be taking on water.

“He drove a sinking boat miles away?” Seplowe said. “He left. That is the only fact that matters. If you’re in a crash, you stay until the police can investigate.”

Asked if they plan to file a lawsuit, Seplowe said, “We’re going to avail ourselves of any tool or asset that we have to make sure that those who did this are held accountable for their actions.”

Hayslett did not respond to two messages seeking comment Tuesday.

Alvarez said she still has pain on her right side.

“We’re praying and we’re hoping that everything is OK and that the baby will come to us healthy, but there’s no guarantee until the birth,” she said.

They’re talking to psychologists about helping their daughter work through the trauma. They hope she’ll be willing to go near the water and get on a boat again eventually.

“We tell her that it was an accident and that the police and the officers are going to do their best to try to help figure out what happened,” Alvarez said. “We just try to comfort her, because at her age, she doesn’t know anything about what’s right and what’s wrong.”

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(Times staff writer Teghan Simonton contributed to this report.)

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