On Oct 16, 1:30*pm, "Wilbur Hubbard"
wrote:
....
All your guesses mean NOTHING. Both boats were at fault as neither boat took
action to avoid a close quarters situation. Both captains were asleep at the
wheel and negligent. ...

That both were at fault is almost axiomatic. It took poor judgment by
both parties to get into the situation where we first see them in the
photographs. It is important and useful to point that out. I thought
I had made that clear before, but if not it is good of you to point it
out. However, the evidence we have is the series of photographs and a
short statement from the owner of MF both of them concerning the
minute or two before collision. By that time both had sinned by
getting into a dangerous situation. A post mortem of the evidence
that we have could help determine what actually happened and what
mistakes were made. From that one might apportion blame and credit
(if there is any) and learn something about what better options the
skippers might have had given the situation as it existed. I hope
there is more to be learned here than that "both captains were ...
negligent".

--Tom.