Posted on 07/05/2012 5:53:19 AM PDT by Doogle
Think fly-bridge....
My neigbor a couple of slips down has a 37 Silverton (well it was recently struck by a whale and sank, a different story lol) but jeez I cannot even imagine 27 people on that boat! We have a 40 ft sailboat and with 10 it feels really crowded to me.
You’re right. I don’t know the details. It’s just that it’s common in New York to charge people for fireworks cruises etc., and it sounded like someone trying to make some money on the side. I have no doubt that most yacht captains and commercial boat captains are highly professional. That’s kind of what set me off here, as this person clearly was overloaded and operating outside of the rules. It’s very sad, especially given that it appears it was children who died.
Hehe. We had a 36’ Sea Ray Aft Cabin tied up on River Street in Savannah, GA on St. Patricks Day years ago. At first a few people we knew wanted to board and have a drink or use the head. Then they started inviting people walking by they knew. Before long the aft deck was full of people, there were people on the flybridge and in the salon. I realized things were completely out of hand when I looked over the stern and the swim platform was submerged. I don’t know how many people we had on board but 20 or so seems likely. I started running people off and explained to the people we let stay they were not authorized to invite people onboard. I don’t remember how many life jacktets we had but it was probably no more than 10.
I do remember going back to the flybridge with a fresh drink (hey, it was the ‘70s and we weren’t under way) to find someone I didn’t know in the helmsman’s seat. When I asked him if I could have my seat back he said, “What makes it your seat?” When I said, “Because it’s my boat?”, he jumped up right away with a, “Sorry man”.
A 34 foot Silverton. 27 people on a boat this size?
Yeah 10 is about the norm for life jackets on board. I think we have about 10 but would have to find them. When we are underway I really don’t like more than 5 or 6 people on board. They just get in your way.
I am sitting on board right now with an injured back, my sciatic is killing me and I can barely walk. Definitely can’t make it up the stairs and out the hatch. Took me about 20 minutes just to crawl out of the berth this morning. Jeez!!!!
The owner is going to be facing multiple Manslaughter indictments. It was his responsbility to not overload that boat beyond official Coast Guard capacity.
Look at the picture at post #26. How many of those 27 people were probably in that upper deck, leaning over to one side. You bet he is going to be liable — 10 life vests for 27 people.
I spent many years aboard a 36’ Chris Craft ... slept 6 comfortably, maybe another 4 for a daytrip. I can’t imagine twenty-seven people - they’d be no room to move. I read elsewhere that the boat was moving fast, making a sharp turn when it went capsized.
..there has to be so much more to this,...I’m starting to think any responsible “captain” wouldn’t allow 27...I’m thinking someone else either borrowed or leased the vessel with the intent of making easy $$$$$
“there has to be so much more to this”
Maybe. Maybe not. A lot of people are surprised to learn you can operate fairly large boats with no qualifications at all if you own the boat and aren’t carrying passengers for hire. Silvertons aren’t exactly top of the line boats and you can get one that size used for under $100k or even under $50k if it’s older.
I agree there has to be more. People easily assume they know what happened and speak. Unfortunately, I know exactly how quick something like this can happen. My son, my husband’s daughter and another young boy all drowned when a 21’ boat flipped, capsizing and trapping them in the cabin. There was a fast moving storm and a wake from another boat that caused the boat our children were in to turn over. They drowned during negligent rescue attempts by the US Coast Guard, so it wasn’t actually the capsizing that caused their death, this has taken 3 years for this information to be released, as this happened in 2009. So yes, there could be more, but no matter what, the families of those young children should be the concern as I too was subjected to blogs like this with many people pointing fingers and making speculations as if they knew what exactly happened and how to prevent it.
With some knowledge, I would say that about one out of five “captains” are responsible. Owning and operating a vessel does not mean one is a captain. Twenty seven people on a 34’ boat is criminal and deadly. They had to have been very low in the water because of weight creating no room for error, the water better be flat as a pancake, weight evenly distributed, no need for rapid course deviation, daytime operation, uncrowded water, 27 pfds and lots of prayers. We had a 40 footer, have no idea where we would have put 27 people.
As an afterthought, let’s say the 27 people on board averaged 150lbs, that is two tons of people. Absolute reckless disregard for life in this disaster.
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