An aluminum jet boat left a Moab dock last summer for a sunset excursion down the Colorado River with a full load of 28 mostly older passengers, tourists on a Utah vacation.
Allen and Karen Konen were sitting in the front of the craft taking in views of the Spanish Valley framed by sheer walls of sandstone. As the river curved right near the confluence with Mill Creek at the Portal, Allen Konen sensed something was wrong.
The boat wasn’t turning on pace with the river’s bend as the left bank loomed closer and closer.
“The turn got wider and wider and the boat went straight.