But all that ended last week, and for a man who lived by the ocean, perhaps it is not so uncommon that he should die by it. As a matter of fact, he may have expected it-perhaps even wanted it that way. "When I go, if I go, I hope to hell it's in the ocean," he once told a friend. And that seems to be how it happened. [From the Honolulu Advertiser, Sept. 29, 1969] COAST GUARD GIVES UP SEARCH The Coast Guard said at sunset yesterday it was suspending the search for two men missing in Maui waters since Thursday. A Coast Guard cutter and search plane, joined by Civil Air Patrol planes, had searched three days for Larry Windley and St. George Bryan. The two left Windley's Makena home Thursday to sail a 20-foot catamaran around Molokini Island and back to Makena. They have not been seen or heard from since. Their small boat, called a Hobie Cat, carried no provisions, life raft, lights or radio. The Coast Guard said the search, although suspended, would begin again if any reports were received of traces of the men or the boat. [From the Honolulu Advertiser, Sept. 30, 1969] SEA SEARCH FOR TWO MEN RENEWED The Coast Guard yesterday resumed its search for two Maui men missing since Thursday on the chance that tidal currents and strong trade winds carried their catamaran further southwest. A Coast Guard C-130 and an Air Force rescue plane are searching an area 50 to 150 miles southwest of Maui for Larry Windley and St. George Bryan. The search reopened after Coast Guard officers and interested parties met and decided the craft could have drifted into currents and winds in the Alenuihaha Channel between Maui and the Big Island. At sunset Sunday, the Coast Guard Rescue Center had suspended its three-day search, saying it would begin again if any reports were received of traces of the men or the boat. Bryan and Windley left Windley's Makena home Thursday to sail a 20-foot catamaran around Molokini Island and back to Makena. They carried no provisions, life raft, lights or radio in the small craft. [From the Honolulu Advertiser, Sept. 30, 1969] MAUI SEARCH IS RESUMED MAALAEA, MAUI.-The search for two men missing from Maui since Thursday on a small catamaran continued today on the chance that tidal currents and strong trade winds may have carried them further southwest-along the Big Island.. The search, abandoned Sunday night, was renewed yesterday after it was decided the craft may have drifted into the Alenuihaha Channel further from Maui. A Coast Guard C-130 plane and an Air Force rescue plane spent much of yesterday searching an area as far as 150 miles to the southwest of Maui. Larry Windley and St. George Bryan, both of Makena, have been missing since they set sail Thursday morning for a short trip around nearby Molokini Island on the 20-foot vessel-without provisions, radio, lights or even life jackets. [From the Honolulu Advertiser, Sept. 29, 1969] SEARCH IS SUSPENDED FOR MISSING MAUI MEN MAALAEA, MAUI.-Search efforts were discontinued here yesterday for two men missing since Thursday on a small sail-boat. The two, St. George Bryan and Larry Windley, had set sail from a point near Bryan's Makena home Thursday morning for a short sail around nearby Molokini Island. When they had failed to show up by that evening, a friend notified the Coast Guard and a search was launched. Coast Guard ships, planes and helicopters from three islands were joined over the weekend by Civil Air Patrol flights from Honolulu and Kahului, but no trace was found. Windley, 36, who was partially disabled from a case of the bends some years ago, was a former professional diver and one of the men responsible for starting the black coral industry in Hawaii. Noted for his work in Lahaina restoration projects, he resigned at the end of June as curator of the Baldwin House Museum and moved to Makena. He had directed the museum and other projects of the Lahaina Restoration Foundation since 1965. In 1959 while diving for black coral for Maui Divers off Lahaina, Windley suffered a severe case of the bends. He was paralyzed from the waist down and weakened in his arm and hand muscles, but gradually recovered and was able to walk with the aid of crutches. Bryan, a bachelor in his 30's, lived in a beach home near Makena. He was described as a clean-cut man with a neatly-trimmed beard, a wellto-do person who sympathized with and assisted Maui hippies. In more recent years he was noted for his continuing work on various Lahaina restoration projects. He resigned earlier this year from his post as curator of the Baldwin House Museum, run by the Lahaina Restoration Foundation, and had moved to Makena. [From the Honolulu Advertiser, Sept. 27, 1969] SEARCH ON AGAIN FOR MISSING MEN MAALAEA, MAUI.-The U.S. Coast Guard resumed its search today for two Maui men who set sail from Makena Thursday in a 20-foot sailboat and have not been seen since. The two men, Larry Windley, former curator of the Lahaina Restoration Foundation Museum, and George Bryan, reportedly sailed the small craft from Makena hoping to circumnavigate nearby Molokini Island and return to Makena. They carried no provisions, and the boat was not equipped with lights or radio. Mrs. MINK. I have corresponded with the Commandant of the Coast Guard in an attempt to have the navigation lights requirement implemented by administrative means, but was informed that legislation submitted to Congress-presumably including that covered by these hearings would allow the Coast Guard to develop regulations to cover safety problems concerning navigational lights. **** Meanwhile, the Commandant said, "The responsibility for installation of proper lights still rests with the owner and operator With permission, I will also insert this correspondence in the hearing record. (The correspondence referred to follows:) SEPTEMBER 15, 1969. Adm. WILLARD J. SMITH, Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, Washington, D.C. DEAR ADMIRAL SMITH: A resident of Honolulu, Mr. Paul Ebesu, informs me that small boats are allowed to operate in Hawaiian waters without navigation lights if they are intended for daylight use only. Members of boating clubs in the Islands, however, believe this to be inadequate protection from hazards that too frequently befall small craft. I urge you, therefore, to note the examples provided by Mr. Ebesu of circumstances that can force small boats to be in open waters at night, and to consider establishing more stringent navigation light requirements. 1. "Boats originally intended for only daylight operation may encounter oc casion when they might have to be used after sundown. To jury rig a navigation light in a hurry on a small boat is almost impossible. Result: One small boat in the dark without lights." 2. "A boat may be out at sea during daylight hours and fail to return to port before dark due to engine trouble." 3. "In time of tidal wave warnings, to prevent damage to boats, they are taken out to sea. If the warning comes during the night lights or no lights, hundreds of boats will make a mad scramble out to sea.. Mr. Ebesu and others interested in promoting safe boating in Hawaii suggest that the Coast Guard Report of Boarding Requirements be changed to include "All small boats must be equipped with navigation lights regardless of restricted daylight use." Thank you for your attention to this matter. I am certain you will agree that every precaution must be taken to protect the ever-increasing number of small boat owners in Hawaii and other states. DEAR MRS. MINK: This is in response to your letter of September 15, 1969, regarding navigation lights on pleasure craft. The examples set forth by your constituent, Mr. Paul Ebesu, are valid and well taken. Present law requires that pleasure craft be equipped with the required navigation lights from sunset to sunrise only. However, there is provision in the Rules of the Road that small vessels in bad weather need not keep the required lights fixed but must have them readily available and lighted and must show them in time to prevent collision, or be subject to a $100 fine. Your letter has been referred to the Rules of the Road Coordinating Panel to the Merchant Marine Council for further consideration. The Coast Guard will continue to review all regulations involving safety and will propose changes when it is felt that the regulations are inadequate. Your interest in boating safety is appreciated. If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to call. W. J. SMITH, Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Commandant. ОСТОВЕР 3, 1969. Adm. WILLARD J. SMITH, Washington, D.C. DEAR ADMIRAL SMITH: Thank you for your reply of September 26th regarding my inquiry on navigation lights on pleasure craft. I enclose for your attention a news article directly on point. Two men were lost at sea and their boat was without lights or radio. To require that the lights be visible between sunrise to sunset and during bad weather, is begging the question, if in the first instance the boat is without lights altogether, develops trouble and is unable to return to shore before dark. Very truly yours, PATSY T. MINK, OCTOBER 6, 1969. Adm. WILLARD J. SMITH, DEAR ADMIRAL SMITH: I am enclosing further newspaper clippings concerning my letter to you on navigation lights for pleasure craft. You referred my letter to the Rules of the Road Coordinating Panel to the Merchant Marine Council. These articles from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and the Honolulu Advertiser further illustrate the hazards of the present policy of not requiring lights on boats at all times. Very truly yours, PATSY T. MINK, DECEMBER 1, 1969. Hon. PATSY T. MINK, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. DEAR MRS. MINK: This is in further reply to your letters of 3 and 6 October 1969 regarding the lack of navigation lights on pleasure boats operating at night. The Administration has just submitted a boating safety bill to Congress that would allow the Coast Guard to develop regulations to cover safety problems like the one you have called to our attention. Our regulations would, of course, be based on evidence of need such as you have presented. Needless to say the responsibility for installation of proper lights still rests with the owner and operator and we continue to promote their interest in safety through Coast Guard Auxiliary activities and our public information programs. At recent boat shows, however, we have noticed another trend that may go a long way toward solving this particular problem. More and more of the boat manufacturers are providing navigation lights as original equipment. Meanwhile the Coast Guard is not powerless to cope with the problem and we do instruct our pleasure craft boarding teams to check for lights and advise owners to obtain them if there is a chance that the boat will ever be used after sunset. Additionally our law enforcement patrols watch for violations of the light requirements and frequently issue citations for noncompliance. Your continued helpful interest in boating safety is appreciated and we hope for your support of the new boating safety bill when it is introduced. If we can be of assistance please let me know. Sincerely yours, W. J. SMITH, Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Commandant. Mrs. MINK. In view of the lack of adequate protection provided to date, I ask that the subcommittee approve legislation to specifically require the installation of navigation lights as original equipment on all boats used in the United States in open waters. Mr. CLARK. Also, for the record, we would like to state we are very thankful for the help that the Coast Guard has been giving us on this bill and in all of our hearings: they have attended every one that we have had all over the United States. We do appreciate their cooperation. Thank you very much. Mr. KEITH. Mr. Chairman, so the record may show, and so the witnesses will know, I have been this morning in Executive Session on the Mutual Funds Bill, and also on the Political Fairness Doctrine in Public Broadcasting, and that is why I haven't been here to participate in discussions of this matter which I consider so important to our Nation and my constituency. Thank you. Mr. CLARK. Thank you very much, Mr. Keith. Any further discussion? The meeting is adjourned. Thank you, gentlemen, for coming. (The following material was supplied for inclusion in the record :) STATEMENT OF MITCH KURMAN, WESTPORT, CONN. I am in general agreement with the proposed "Boating Safety Acts" S 3199 and H.R. 15041. My stand is based on the facts published in Boating, April, 1970, pages 66-67. I would want it to be included in the record. (Article follows this statement.) Boating as a sport has grown from a pleasant pastime to a huge industry of over 3 billion dollars annually. "Official" statistics show 1350 boating fatalities for 1969. Actually, the number is greater. Some counties tend to call all boating fatalities mere "drownings" (which can be similar to a child drowning in a bath tub!). This tends to keep boating fatalities down. Suffolk County L.I. is such a community. Mr. Dave Knickerbacke wrote a column for Newsday as far back as April 7. 1961 called "You're Dead-But You Don't Count" to ridicule this extraordinary precaution to maintain boat sales rather than protect lives. I do not doubt that there are similar situations throughout the country. Therefore, I am hopeful a uniform reporting system will be used to truly determine where the danger lies and take accurate steps to correct it based on statistical facts gained from uniform reports. Mr. Bob Wanamaker of New Hartford, N.Y., a business man with a long background of competition speed boat racing, informed me that he feels meaningful boating safety legislation is overdue. He has expressed the wish that basic licensing be a part of it. He is eminently qualified as a water or boating expert and he has lost his enthusiasm for much of the sport due to the ignorance of the boat operators re: basic rules of the road, a knowledge of buoys and their meanings, and a general disrepect for the dangers involved. This disrespect manifests itself in lack of even the elementary safety equipment; and, in too many cases. simple knowledge of how to operate the boat they are in. On May 12, 1970 two young men from Cincinnati, Ohio sailed a small sail boat into the Ocean off Moriches, L.I. To the best of my knowledge the boat was found later but the two would be sailors are still missing and it is doubtful if they will ever be found. In the same area of Eastern L.I., N.Y., 4 family men from the Bronx, N.Y.C. trailered a boat out to Southold for a day of fishing. The Orient Point area is not to be compared with trailering a boat to a pond. Those who fish the area realize 10 to 14 ozs of lead are needed to simply reach bottom against a vicious tide as the Long Island Sound surges in and out. They died May 17 leaving over 20 children orphaned. Only 1 man (who wore a life preserver and died of exposure) was ever found. The other 3 men are lost perhaps forever. No one knows if they had basic safety equipment (i.e., life preservers, etc.). Chief of Police Carl Cataldo of Southold, L.I., told me he dreads the coming season. Something must be done. In 1969 he had 86 boating accidents sufficient to warrant police reports. Amongst the more bizarre they included a Boston whaler with an 11-year-old driving, a 12-year-old as observer, and a 13-year-old on water skis. It crashed into a small boat crowded with people, injuring some from propellers and skis flying over them. It could have been much worse. The Coast Guard and its auxiliary do an excellent job with the tools they have which are insufficient for the enormous task. "Education" as a force is ineffectual. Out of approximately 55 who took the C.G. course (no charge!) only a dozen remained to finish. We cannot have in excess of 43.290.000 people using our waterways in over 8,696.000 boats and killing in excess of 1,350 people "officially" (1969-Source: The Boating Business published by the Boating Industry). To restore the pleasure, the relaxation of the sport, "anarchy" must give way to truly meaningful legislation. I wish to emphasize that this will not cost money. |