Wave Dancer story

[islanddivegal]

There is a web site http://wavedancermemorial.com that has a lot of facts and photos about the wave dancer tragedy. also has a copy of the immarbe report.

 

[lairdb]

Regarding #6 conclusion. I remember that afternoon and Iris was supposed to hit Dangriga based on it's present path, which is about halfway between Big Creek and Belize City. As it was, it bent more to the southwest. This was at about 3PM and the storm hit Big Creek at about 8 or 9PM. That would have been a tough call because they had no time to make it to Belize City without crossing right through the hurricane unless it turned directly south or north. Any continued westerly direction of the storm would have hit them if they tried to go north. By staying south they may have, with a little luck, avoided the brunt of it. But, it wasn't a lucky day for them.

This misses the point. There is no voting on a ship. It may be a tough decision, but the decision belongs to one person, and there is no route in custom, in practice, or in admiralty law, allowing that individual to abrogate their authority to a vote. They can take a poll and consider the result, they can solicit input, they can read the forecasts, they can scatter the chicken blood and read the portents -- but it's their decision.

 

[SubMariner]

This misses the point. There is no voting on a ship. It may be a tough decision, but the decision belongs to one person, and there is no route in custom, in practice, or in admiralty law, allowing that individual to abrogate their authority to a vote. They can take a poll and consider the result, they can solicit input, they can read the forecasts, they can scatter the chicken blood and read the portents -- but it's their decision.

While this may be the case if the vessel is at sea, when it's in port, the people on board certainly have a voice in whether or not they stay on board.

However, as the saying goes hindsight is always 20-20. This case is no exception.

 

[Kriterian]

There is a web site http://wavedancermemorial.com that has a lot of facts and photos about the wave dancer tragedy. also has a copy of the immarbe report.

You forgot the "www" at the beginning, it should be http://www.wavedancermemorial.com

Please adjust your post according or you shall be spanked with a fake seal flipper!

 

[drbill]

There appears to be no question based on the report I read and info from people involved in the incident that Captain Martin was not experienced in Belizean waters or under hurricane conditions and that specific policies and directives from his superiors were not followed.

I lost a Catalina dive friend (Aaron Stark) in this incident. He had gone down to replace Andrea (my #1 dive buddy) who headed back to the States and Catalina. She was fortunate.

Dr. Bill

 

[Damselfish]

well, I'll say this much - We were just on the Sun Dancer II in Belize, when oddball storm Adrian formed in the eastern Pacific and it was predicted it might cross into the Carribean. We were informed soon after it formed, they were very on top of it, and they made it clear they were getting the heck out of there and sticking us on planes if they had any concern. They're going to be conservative and I don't think they're about to make the same mistake twice...

 

[mike_s]

well, I'll say this much - We were just on the Sun Dancer II in Belize, when oddball storm Adrian formed in the eastern Pacific and it was predicted it might cross into the Carribean. We were informed soon after it formed, they were very on top of it, and they made it clear they were getting the heck out of there and sticking us on planes if they had any concern. They're going to be conservative and I don't think they're about to make the same mistake twice...

Well, they are "once bitten, twice shy". Too bad they weren't that way beforehand.

 

[islanddivegal]

I lost a Catalina dive friend (Aaron Stark) in this incident. He had gone down to replace Andrea (my #1 dive buddy) who headed back to the States and Catalina. She was fortunate.

Dr. Bill

Hi Dr. Bill, et al.

One of the WaveDancerMemorial.com web site's goals is to honor those who lost their lives due to PHD and Philip Martin's poor decision-making. I have tried reaching Tom Stark, but have not been successful. I would love to add more information, anecdotes, etc. about Aaron. The public deserves to know the victims as people, and not just statistics.

If you have any information about Aaron you would like to share, please let me know. That goes for any friends or family members of the rest of the Wave Dancer victims. I am especially having trouble contacting the Belizean crew member family and/or friends (Eloisa Johnson, Brenda Wade, and Bart Stanley who survived).

Thanks for your time.

Milly Armao
Librarian@wavedancermemorial.com
http://www.wavedancermemorial.com

PS: Sorry to omit the www in my first post. My fingers were typing faster than my brain was working!

 

[scubapro50]

It has made me think before booking a liveaboard cruise ...... going with Nekton in June and hope I have better luck than those poor soles on the Dancer .....

 

[mike_s]

It has made me think before booking a liveaboard cruise ...... going with Nekton in June and hope I have better luck than those poor soles on the Dancer .....

One thing about the Nekton boats is that they operate all of them out of US waters. Yes some of the operate out of Belize or Puerto Rico for part of the year, but they reposition them all back to the US every year. In order to operate as a commerical vessel carrying that many passengers and having that much tonage, they must be US Coast Guard inspected every year and meet higher specifications and fire and safety requirements than boats registerd and operated in other "3rd world" countries. Operating out of US waters also requires them to meet US labor laws for hiring and also stricter insurance requirements. I hear also that they have warm chocolate chip cookies after every dive also.