A husband and wife are both being charged with operating their boat recklessly after a drunken day and night of sailing in Narragansett Bay, when they hit the Newport Bridge, she fell overboard and was lost for half a day, and the boat ran aground off the Warwick shore.

The couple are William Shakespeare and his wife, Delyse Shakespeare, both of Johnston. The set sail from their home berth at East Greenwich Yacht Club on Thursday night, Aug. 16, and anchored for the night off Goddard State Park.

On Friday morning, Aug. 17, they sailed south to a spot between Fort Adams State Park and Rose Island to watch the start of their son’s sailboat race. At some point in the morning, they began having cocktails, and from there, the story gets hazy.

According to a Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) report, there are conflicting statements about what happened. DEM Sgt. Michael Schipritt investigated the case and issued a report on Monday afternoon.

Sgt. Schipritt reported that their 38-foot boat, Alegria, struck the Newport Bridge while they were sailing north out of Newport Harbor. Mr. Shakespeare said he was asleep and woke up when the boat struck the bridge. He does not know what time it was, but said the sun was out.

Mrs. Shakespeare said she does not know who was driving the boat and does not remember striking the bridge.

A track of the boat’s movements provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows the boat striking the Newport Bridge a little after 2 p.m.

Mr. Shakespeare said he woke up and saw a scrape along the side of the boat but does not remember anything else until midnight. Mrs. Shakespeare told investigators she fell off the boat sometime around 4 p.m. and swam to shore in Potters Cove in the northeast corner of Prudence Island. She said it took 15 to 20 minutes to swim to shore. She said she then began walking the shoreline to look for help.

Mrs. Shakespeare then told investigators that she heard people onboard a moored boat at about 4 a.m. and that she swam to their boat to be rescued. Pamela Brown, who was onboard that boat, told police they had been on their mooring since 4 p.m. the previous day, and that they woke up at 4 a.m. to close a hatch because it was raining, and they heard Mrs. Shakespeare yelling for help. Mrs. Brown said they were going to take a dingy to get her, but Mrs. Shakespeare swam to them before they could respond.

Mrs. Brown told Sgt. Schipritt that they had not seen or head anything unusual during their time in Potters Cove, until they heard Mrs. Shakespeare at 4 a.m.

They called 911 and a Bristol Fire Department rescue boat arrived shortly after. Rescuers reported that Mrs. Shakespeare was shaking and appeared exhausted, but she refused medical treatment.

Meanwhile, earlier that night, according to Mr. Shakespeare’s account, he woke up at around midnight and found the boat was adrift somewhere off Rocky Point. He said he looked in the cabin, saw a quilt, and assumed his wife was asleep under it. He then drove the boat back to their slip in East Greenwich and docked it at about 1 a.m.

Mr. Shakespeare said that sometime between 1 a.m. and 1:30 a.m., he discovered his wife was not on board, and he called 911. He told Warwick Police that the last time he remembered seeing his wife was at about 1 p.m. the previous day, when she had handed him a drink.

Sgt. Schipritt wrote in his report that the Shakespeares’ lawyer, Paul Dimaio, notified him that the couple will not be making any further statements about the incident. He concluded: 

“It is my conclusion, based on the written statement that Mr. Shakespeare gave Warwick PD and the verbal statements that they both gave me, that alcohol was a factor in this incident. It is my determination that both William and Delyse Shakespeare be issued RITT tickets for the following violations: Operating an unregistered boat, improper or no look-out, and failing to take appropriate action to avoid collision. These tickets will be mailed to their residence. Nothing further to report.”