Former Wayfarer Marine co-owner, general manager Sandy McGaw killed in Florida motorcycle accident Jan. 17

Mon, 01/18/2016 - 12:45pm

    COLLIER COUNTY, Fla., — A former part-owner of Wayfarer Marine, Chandler "Sandy" McGaw, was killed in a motorcycle-car accident in Florida Sunday afternoon, Jan. 17.

    McGaw, 58, of Camden, was in Florida with his wife visiting relatives when the accident occurred.

    According to Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Patrick J. Roberts, McGaw was alone traveling southbound on State Road 29 in Collier County around 1:15 p.m. when he encountered a northbound 2014 Ford Mustang.

    The Ford's driver, Ashley Nicole, 22, of Jerome, Fla., was turning left into a driveway when she turned in front of McGaw, who was driving a 1991 BMW R1000GS motorcycle.

    According to the accident report, McGaw was wearing a helmet and he attempted to slow and stop, which caused the motorcycle to overturn onto its right side prior to colliding with the car. McGaw then came off the motorcycle and slid into a grassy ditch.

    He was taken to Physicians Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 3:10p.m.

    Nicole was uninjured.

    McGaw was Wayfarer's general manager and a third shareholder in the private company until 2008, when it was sold in total to former MBNA executive Shane Flynn. McGaw stayed on as general manager under Flynn's ownership until Drew Lyman acquired the company in 2015 and renamed it Lyman-Morse at Wayfarer Marine, where McGaw remained a seasonal, full-time employee.

    “He was a really great guy,” said Parker Laite Sr., also a Wayfarer Marine co-owner with McGaw and Jack Sanford.

    “He was there for the 10 years we owned it and then some,” Laite. “We loved him, all the customers loved him. He was a tremendous person, who knew all the boat captains. He will be really missed.”