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William Dow, president of the Lake George Steamship Co., says that the NTSB investigators determined that the Mohican was 1.5 miles away at the time of the Ethan Allen accident.

He said it was "hogwash" that the Mohican's wake could have caused the accident, but I wonder. I stood on the pier at Usher Park last May or June. I was watching my grandson, so I didn't have my eye on the lake. I heard the waves hitting the shore harder and I looked up and out over the lake to see what boat had caused the waves. There wasn't a boat in sight. I don't know if I missed seeing a fast-moving speed boat or if one of the larger cruise boats had come in while I wasn't paying attention. But that would suggest that a boat didn't necessarily have to be near or still within sight of the Ethan Allen to have caused the wake.

Anyone else have thoughts on this?

According to this morning's paper, the "sister ship" to the the Ethan Allen, the de Champlain, will be taken out on the lake today in an attempt to re-create the accident. The NTSB will perform several different tests, including shifting weights to various sides of the boat. 8000 lbs. of weights will be used to perform the experiments. This figure is based on an updated average weight of 160 lbs. per passenger.

The sister ship is not identical, but is very close in design to the Ethan Allen. It appears that the NTSB is also awaiting information on the actual weight of the passengers, although it would be difficult and perhaps not possible to determine where heavier individuals were sitting.

The Ethan Allen was taken to the Warren County Airport, where NTSB inspectors found no problems with the boat. They are hoping to take it back to the lake this afternoon to perform tests on it.

The Ethan Allen was built in 1966 and was owned by a Connecticut company before being sold to Shoreline Cruises in 1979. Officials are trying to track down records from the previous owners.