Thanks APS.
I just want to make one thing clear: the comment was a joke. Yes, I guess I didn't really think too much before I posted, and had I
known that the actual person who sunk the boat was a member here, I would never have posted it as it was not aimed toward him, but "nobody," as I didn't know who the boater was. Additionally, this was a huge screw-up on my part, but I missed the fact that there were children onboard. My mistake. I feel bad that I touched nerves when that was not my intention.
And as I have posted earlier, I am glad that everyone came out unharmed and that is ultimately
the most important issue.
Now, with that being said, I feel there are
other issues that need to be addressed, and if we can take these seriously and with a degree of maturity, that would be appreciated. I will try to be politically correct as possible...
-The Cobalt, according to witnesses, was out by Rattlesnake Island and sank. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the only two "holes" below the waterline on the average 24-footer are the drain plug, and the lower unit cutout. In my opinion, the problem could
not have been something to do with the lower unit cutout because, according to the Cobalt website,
Quote:
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...And so every Cobalt undergoes a full half-hour of running under maximum load in the test tank, with well more than 30 checks of its systems completed. Boats are pulled at random from the production line for a trip to the lake for rigorous testing under real-world conditions...
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If the cutout was leaking, it would almost certainly have been discovered during the test.
That leaves the drain plug being out or "not tightened or something." This seems to be the theory that I (with the information I have available) believe. If this is true (I am NOT saying it is, we'll only know for sure when the boat is inspected), then in my opinion, the blame is to lay on the skipper of the boat; this is even more so if the boat was trailered and launched (but we don't know the launching situation).
But we will only know for sure when the boat is recovered.
-The other issue is the gasoline that has been spilled into the lake. I do not know if it will all evaporate like a previous poster said, but even if it does, it must travel to the surface (as it is lighter than water). On the way up, flow of water will spread it out over a fairly large distance, which isn't exactly healthy for the Lake and its surroundings. It
will harm the lake; that is why there are such big civil and criminal charges. The issue is the pollution, cleanup, and, in my mind, the most important: future prevention.