"Joe" wrote in message
oups.com...
Lessons From a Tragedy
Monday, February 27, 2006 - Bangor Daily News

It was a boat accident that shouldn't have happened - for several
reasons. Here's how things went wrong, as pieced together by the Coast
Guard in a final report issued recently:

A 55-year-old Stratham, N.H., man and his son, 20, started out from
Rockland last Oct. 15, a Saturday, on their 41-foot sailboat, Naobi,
for Rye, N.H., to have the boat hauled for the winter.

The forecast was for bad weather. They had trouble starting the engine
on their dinghy, and their diesel engine sputtered and died, but they
went ahead under sail. They had lifejackets and safety harnesses
onboard but never put them on. Safety flares were onboard but weren't
used.

Adequate gear and training, prudent preparation and a float plan can
save lives and prevent tragedy.

Which are the "lessons" of this tragedy. Everything you need to know about
what went wrong is in the second and third paragraphs of the post.

John Cairns