LETTERS

⇑⇓ LOOK, WE'VE BEEN COMING HERE FOR YEARS

Early last summer, a boat came to the same anchorage in San Diego where my family likes to spend our weekends. We've been going there for about four years now. Husband always checks tides before dropping our anchor. In this particular anchorage, low daytime tides expose a good chunk of sand that stretches for 10-30 feet.

A sailboat anchored very close to this particular section. I was passing them on my paddle board and told them they were way too close to the beach. The younger of the two guys told me he's been coming here for over 20 years and knows what he's doing. The next time — four or so months later — we saw their boat, same location, but it was on its side because the keel was sitting in the sand. They had to wait until the next day to get it out of the shallows.

The boat's name was Keelin' It.

Tasha

⇑⇓ BIG MOTOR YACHT RUNS AGROUND AT FAMED SURF SPOT ON MAUI

So he was incorrectly hooked up to a mooring, where he did not know the rules. Overstayed the time limit by days. Did not have an anchor alarm set, or any warning that they had broken free from the mooring. When they realized the yacht was adrift, they quickly ran to the helm and put her in forward instead of reverse. Apparently no attempt was made to run out the anchor and kedge off the reef. No weight redistribution was attempted. No mayday was issued? How is this not gross negligence?

Mark Wieber

Mark was commenting on the February 24 'Lectronic Latitude with the same name as this letter. In the wake of accidents, we normally try to temper comments secondguessing or speculating about someone else's decision making. In the case of the 94-ft Sunseeker motor yacht Nakoa, airing a little righteous indignation might be cathartic.

Two weeks after Nakoa went aground in Maui's Honolua Bay in late February, a salvage ship and a tugboat from Honolulu freed the 120-ton yacht from the shore, but she sank while under tow. "The yacht was listing to one side and riding bow high and it's unknown at this time whether it was successfully pulled all the way to Honolulu or had to be scuttled in 1,000-foot-deep water offshore," the Department of Land and Natural Resources told Big Island News.

⇑⇓ A WORD FROM A MARINE SALVAGER

Having personally assessed the scene on the first day, it pained me to know I needed to avoid becoming involved