BLUE WATER YACHT INSURANCE Blue Water Yacht Insurance covers more active cruising boats than any other marine agency in the Western Hemisphere, and is the leading innovator of insurance products for the offshore sailor.
Our Insurance Programs Provide: • Crew of two anywhere • Worldwide Navigation • Hawaii • Caribbean • South Pacific • Mexico • Charter Boats • Multihulls • Liveaboards • Racing Boats
Quality Rated Insurance Companies
Boats aged 1 to 40 years • "Agreed Value" "All Risks" • "New for Old" replacement partial losses Hulls valued $50,000 to $25,000,000
Worldwide Health Insurance
International and USA health insurance plans at affordable prices.
Call Toll Free (866) 463-0167 Fax: (866) 795-3707 sales@bluewaterinsurance.com Quote requests Visit our website www.bluewaterinsurance.com Page 54 •
Latitude 38
• August, 2011
LETTERS Latitude. Frankly, we're baffled by several aspects of the terrible Erik tragedy. First of all, we're talking about a 115-ft vessel that had been safely plying these waters for many years, and with an experienced crew aboard. Second, although hit by a "furious and brief" storm that reportedly produced 50-knot winds and 15-ft seas, such storms, whether they be elefantes or chubascos, are common as dirt in the Sea in the summer. Every summer cruiser in the Sea has been through a bunch of these "furious and brief" storms, and no doubt Erik and her crew had been through scores of them. So it seems to us that the weather couldn't have been that much of a problem — unless something about the extreme tides in that part of the Sea made the seas much worse than they otherwise would have been. Third, what in the hell was the captain of the Erik doing steering the vessel beam to the seas? This was reported by one Novato survivor, who had been up in the wheelhouse with the captain until just before the fatal wave hit. No matter if you graduate from Annapolis or are a seat-of-the-pants Mexican mariner, you know that being abeam to big seas is something you want to avoid at all costs. It's just not clear to us what went wrong — catastrophic boat failure, drunk captain, 'roguish wave'. We'd sure like to know more. Government oversight of passenger vessels varies tremendously around the world, and can vary even more within a country based on local corruption. Look what just happened in Russia, where 129 people died. And while in Vietnam and Cambodia two years ago, we travelled and/or slept on several dicey vessels we wouldn't have gotten on if we hadn't been confident that our daughter and de Mallorca could have easily swum to shore or to another boat. Indeed, when we heard that one of the overnight tourist boats at Halong Bay, Vietnam had suddenly sunk on February 15, claiming the lives of 12 tourists, it came as no surprise. And if we get a report tomorrow that a river ferry in Ho Anh sank with the loss of 200 lives and 100 motorbikes and 100 bicycles, it wouldn't be a shock either. While Mexico may not have as high standards as do the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia or the rest of the first world, they do make an effort. It's important also to realize that we in the States don't have a perfect record either. For example, on March 6, 2004, the Coast Guard-inspected vessel Lady D, with two crew and 23 passengers aboard, flipped while on a water taxi route from Fort McHenry to Fells Point, Maryland. Five passengers died, and four suffered serious injuries after the boat went over in moderately rough conditions. A little more than a year later, the Ethan Allen, a 40-ft, glass-enclosed tour boat flipped with 47 passengers — mostly senior citizens — in calm conditions on New York's Lake George. Twenty passengers died. Despite the fact the Ethan Allen was certified by the Coast Guard to carry 47 passengers, the National Transportation and Safety Board later concluded that she shouldn't have been certified to carry more than 14 passengers. Weather was determined not to have been a factor. Then there was the famous case of the 310-ft Staten Island ferry Andrew J. Barberi, which crashed full-speed into a concrete pier at the St. George, New York, ferry terminal on August 15 '03. Eleven of the 1,500 passengers were killed and 71 injured, some critically. The law, reasonably enough, required that two pilots be in the wheelhouse when the ferry was about to dock. Alas, most of the pilots thought this policy was too much of a bother to follow, so only pilot Richard Smith, who had been observed slumped over the controls, was in the wheelhouse.