Reef Fish wrote:

> A very disturbing version by still ANOTHER survivor was given by
> an Assistant Cook who WAS on board and had a first hand report of
> what transpired, but was not even mentioned in any of the reports!
> Angela Luk apparently took matters much more seriously than the
> Captain and crew, and the passengers who HAD an opportunity to go
> on land as she did, but chose not to, in favor of drinking in the
> lounge instead.  Angela lost her job, but SURVIVED!

Bob --
I found this report most interesting.  The passengers knew that Angie left, we
saw her go, and we were told why, although we understood that it was her
boyfriend who insisted that she leave the boat.  We did not know about any
discussion Angie may have had with other crew members.  Angie, of course, was
NOT there when Wave Dancer went down, so she has no knowledge of the events of
Monday night.  Her decision to leave the boat at Big Creek certainly appears (in
hindsight) to have been a smart move.  However, had there been no capsizing we
all would have been diving on Tuesday and Angie would have been out of a job.
Hindsight might have looked different in that case.

I am disturbed by your off-handed inference that the passengers opted to spend
the evening drinking rather than seek safety.  While there certainly was alcohol
consumed on board Wave Dancer that night (as there was every evening), to imply
as you do that the drinking was excessive or uninhibited is a great insult to
the members of the Richmond Dive Club who were aboard Wave Dancer and lost their
lives.

It appears from some of the media reports (and the idea is certainly being
pushed by the Belizian government) that the passengers somehow deserved to die
because they made stupid decisions that put them in harm's way.  Remember that
the Belize Aggressor was moored right next to Wave Dancer -- all of her
passengers were aboard the boat and survived.  There were several commercial
vessels in Big Creek that night, with crews aboard.  None of those vessels
overturned, no one died.  And nobody has reported any of the activities aboard
those boats.  Was there drinking aboard them?  Is that relevant?

Obviously, two people observing the same event may have completely different
views of what happened.  A liveaboard boat's crew sees things differently that
do the passengers, because we are aboard for different purposes.

The implication contained in your post hurt a lot.
-Dave safe [\],
-Dave


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Dave DeBarger
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"ASSETS make things possible.  PEOPLE make things happen!"
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