___What did I do wrong?------

Nutsy,

You collided with the capsized boat. You caused the collision. You were
sailing at night, which is OK and you were on deck, which was proper.

What you didn't do was to avoid the Collision. I'm 3000 miles away and
only have your account of the collision BUT; it was your duty as a
skipper to avoid the collision. You admit you heard the call of
distress. The burden was on you and your boat to avoid further damage to
the overturned boat.

Good Luck!

P/S It doesn't sound like you to be sailing in the dark, so I truly
don't believe it happened to you as you described




http://community.webtv.net/tassail/ThomPage