Dennis Howard was taken off his San Diego-based Flicka 20

[Fusion 0]

What do you think?

 

On November 5, four days after leaving San Diego on what was to be a two-year circumnavigation, singlehander Dennis Howard was taken off his San Diego-based Flicka 20 Avalo by the crew of the 378-ft Coast Guard vessel Mellon, and his boat was left to drift. Howard has now filed a claim against the Coast Guard for $150,000 in damages, part of it being the loss of his boat — and most of his earthly possessions — which haven't been seen since.

 

http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lec ... u_dLjVd52A

[Guest]

I've been watching that one, not sure what to make of it. I sure would have put up a fight. Do we have any comparable law here?

[Fusion 0]

Would Cat1 be the Stop/Go for here?

[Guest]

Something similar to what happened during the "Perfect Storm". If the coastguard had offered to take him onboard they would be covered for any later legal actions so it is just an example of power in the wrong hands. They had no right to do that to him as he had not asked for their help.

[Grinna 2]

I'm not 100% sure of this, but I believe the US Coastguard have the jurisdiction to make decisions about US registered vessels and remove the crew if deemed to be risking their safety. The assumption is that the Coastguard CO can determine what constitutes a safe or unsafe situation for all types of vessels and crews in all conditions.

 

Rightly or wrongly, the coasties may have been trying to cover their butts .... can you imagine the outcry from the guy's family if the Coasties had steamed off and left a legally blind guy solo in a small and damaged sailing vessel in the middle of the ocean in the path of an oncoming storm and he'd disappeared?

 

Definitely not a black and white situation.