Will tragedy teach?

ApS · 10-10-2005, 08:43 AM

Other boating sites are citing "smooth fixed wood benches", so I don't know about the plastic chairs mentioned. Perhaps some were added to seat the "extra" passengers. (?)

Wheelchairs couldn't have helped the situation. The other sites say that the Ethan Allen listed to port when filled with passengers.

It sounds like a lot of factors entered here:

1) Lots of passengers.
2) Listing to port with passengers -- at the dock.
3) Altered superstructure.
4) New heavier engine, and ballast added forward.
5) Port-sliding passengers (upon a starboard turn).
6) Wheelchairs sliding to port
7) Possible wake.
8) One crew member short

What hasn't been mentioned -- as yet -- is the possibility that the captain "gunned" the engine to address some circumstance (like meeting a wake at 90°).

That would have torqued the hull to port.

BTW: I have a photo of the Judge Sewall sunk in four feet of water.
I don't know how the swamping came about, but the boat has a floating yellow ring/collar around it, and the shoreline it's resting on is too shallow to have been on his normal route.

GWC... · 10-10-2005, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acres per Second

BTW: I have a photo of the Judge Sewall sunk in four feet of water.
I don't know how the swamping came about, but the boat has a floating yellow ring/collar around it, and the shoreline it's resting on is too shallow to have been on his normal route.

Does it look like these photos posted by Sunset Bob in Photopost?

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...cat=512&page=3

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...sort=1&cat=512

ApS · 10-10-2005, 08:06 PM

Yup. That's the incident. (Except somebody photoshopped the yellow ring to the color white).

BTW: There's two new McMansions on that shore now -- both are for sale today. (For a total of five in-a-row for sale on that shore!)

GWC... · 02-05-2007, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MICHAEL HILL and Jeff Karoub, Associated Press Writers

Captain, Owner Charged in Ferry Accident

QUEENSBURY, N.Y. - The captain of a boat that capsized in 2005 in upstate New York, killing 20 elderly tourists, and the cruise line owner were indicted Monday on criminal misdemeanor charges.

The federal board concluded last summer that the boat was dangerously unstable and should have carried only a quarter of the passengers even though the Ethan Allen was certified to carry 48 passengers plus two crew. Weight limits have since been modified.

Passenger capacity for the boat was calculated when it was manufactured in 1966, but modifications over the years made it less stable and capacity should have been slashed to 14 people, the NTSB reported.

http://www.comcast.net/news/index.js...05/578983.html

10-10-2005, 08:43 AM	#1
ApS Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Florida (Sebring & Keys), Wolfeboro Posts: 5,943 Thanks: 2,218 Thanked 779 Times in 555 Posts	The Judge Sewall sank once. Other boating sites are citing "smooth fixed wood benches", so I don't know about the plastic chairs mentioned. Perhaps some were added to seat the "extra" passengers. (?) Wheelchairs couldn't have helped the situation. The other sites say that the Ethan Allen listed to port when filled with passengers. It sounds like a lot of factors entered here: 1) Lots of passengers. 2) Listing to port with passengers -- at the dock. 3) Altered superstructure. 4) New heavier engine, and ballast added forward. 5) Port-sliding passengers (upon a starboard turn). 6) Wheelchairs sliding to port 7) Possible wake. 8) One crew member short What hasn't been mentioned -- as yet -- is the possibility that the captain "gunned" the engine to address some circumstance (like meeting a wake at 90°). *That would have torqued the hull to port.* BTW: I have a photo of the Judge Sewall sunk in four feet of water. I don't know how the swamping came about, but the boat has a floating yellow ring/collar around it, and the shoreline it's resting on is too shallow to have been on his normal route.

10-10-2005, 08:06 PM	#3
ApS Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Florida (Sebring & Keys), Wolfeboro Posts: 5,943 Thanks: 2,218 Thanked 779 Times in 555 Posts	Yup. That's the incident. (Except somebody photoshopped the yellow ring to the color white). BTW: There's two new McMansions on that shore now -- both are for sale today. (For a total of five in-a-row for sale on that shore!)