Quote:
| Originally Posted by MikeElliston what he could have done was either run south of the hurricane belt, run north out of reach, or take to the Med, |
Ever heard of hurricane Mitch? Look it up. I won't say that everything these guys did was perfect, but it was a big, resurgent hurricane. It came from the SOUTHWEST and the NHC kept predicting it would "get on the fast conveyor of the jet stream" and race northeast, but as a diminished Cat 1 or weak Cat 2 storm. My wife and I stayed at home in Key West, never considered evacuation, and had the Atlantic Ocean in our house at 4:00am, then the Gulf of Mexico made a visit at about 10:30am. As good as the NHC is, we still get surprised sometimes.
If you're going to blame his predicament on his poor judgement, then let's talk about decisions made by owners of the THOUSANDS of boats--commercial and private--along the Gulf coast that were destroyed or dropped inside Interstate 10. Oil rigs, as well. Let's talk about casino barges, or a coastal city sitting 15 feet below sea level. Relatively speaking, I don't see any arrogance or negligence in his decisions. I hope, if he's able to get repairs made, they resolve the issue with taking on so much water through vents in rough seas. That sounds like possible negligence on the part of the designer and/or builder, not the owner or captain.
Armchair quarterbacks and backseat drivers, I'd label a few in this thread. It's a semi-anonymous internet where perhaps all you've ever piloted is a nine-year-old Camaro with bald tires, but somehow you're "qualified" to berate the seasoned skipper of such a vessel. Who was the smug character in "Risky Business" who said, "I don't have to pay for it" and then went home to his video games while everyone else got laid?
This is a spectacular boat and I truly hope they're able to salvage it successfully. This hurricane, unbeknownst to many, did an awful lot of damage to already stressed corals in our area--damage that had nothing to do with boats aground or sunk. Legacy's situation looks fairly bad on the aerial photos but I congratulate the Sanctuary and Reef Relief for having the good sense to not fine Legacy's owner for being put aground by such a storm. Perhaps the reason no other boats went aground in the Sanctuary during Wilma is that Dennis, Katrina, and Rita had already sunk so many of them.
I wish them luck, though I do think they'll succeed.