Perhaps rather than compare a ship to a school bus full of kids, we could compare it to a tour bus full of seniors heading for the casino. In either instance the Bus and the peoples lives are at the mercy of the driver, or in this case, the Captain.
Reading the FB website as well as the Ships website, The Captain commanded Bounty from Boothbay Harbor on Thursday the 25, intent to sail straight to St Petersburg, head on into Sandy, who's position he (as well as everyone in the world) was fully aware of, as well as Sandy's forecast track and her strength. Regardless of concerns raised by many on the FB page as the trip progressed toward Sandy, and as Sandy grew in strength and her track was further assessed, he remained on course, adamant that he was making the best decision. Over those four days Bounty covered over 800 nautical miles of eastern shore, passing up Long Island Sound and the entire Chesapeake bay, with all their hundreds of harbors and safe anchorages they offered, and could have at any time sought refuge.
This tragedy did not come about from a situation where they got caught in a freak storm that blew up out of nothing. It was not caused by a faulty generator or inability to pump water, those were secondary. Its primary cause of loss was its position. It simply should NOT have been there under any circumstances. This Captain had four days to avoid that storm, but spent those four days charting a course headlong into it. There is nothing at all fascinating about what transpired, and were probably very lucky there was not greater loss of life. It certainly wasnt for lack of trying.
Reading the FB website as well as the Ships website, The Captain commanded Bounty from Boothbay Harbor on Thursday the 25, intent to sail straight to St Petersburg, head on into Sandy, who's position he (as well as everyone in the world) was fully aware of, as well as Sandy's forecast track and her strength. Regardless of concerns raised by many on the FB page as the trip progressed toward Sandy, and as Sandy grew in strength and her track was further assessed, he remained on course, adamant that he was making the best decision. Over those four days Bounty covered over 800 nautical miles of eastern shore, passing up Long Island Sound and the entire Chesapeake bay, with all their hundreds of harbors and safe anchorages they offered, and could have at any time sought refuge.
This tragedy did not come about from a situation where they got caught in a freak storm that blew up out of nothing. It was not caused by a faulty generator or inability to pump water, those were secondary. Its primary cause of loss was its position. It simply should NOT have been there under any circumstances. This Captain had four days to avoid that storm, but spent those four days charting a course headlong into it. There is nothing at all fascinating about what transpired, and were probably very lucky there was not greater loss of life. It certainly wasnt for lack of trying.