Apr 23 2009

Why won’t this happen to you?

Published by at 07:15 under Sailing

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Sean HaggertySean Haggerty, skipper of Sea Hag, did at least one thing right … and it saved his life.

Back a couple of weekends, near platform Gina, a Coast Guard helicopter circled us at low altitude and hailed us on #16. They wanted to know if we’d spotted Sea Hag, which was overdue on its float plan. We hadn’t.

I’d been at Santa Cruz for several days before this and had headed home just in front of a Gale Warning. And gale it did. And this poor soul was out there in it … or washed up ashore. The story ends happily, but that seems accidental too.

Sometimes you just gotta ask, “What were you thinking?”

Indeed, what do you think this skipper was thinking? What questions would you have for him and what lessons can we derive from this incident? Comment at any length and feel free to comment multiple times as the discussion gets rolling. This should be very interesting.

On 6 April, San Diego’s Channel 6 news reported that “A sailboat that was the object of a weekend-long search was towed today into San Diego Bay, hours after the Coast Guard located the missing boater and his crippled craft, which had been struck by a 25-foot wave.

“Sean Haggerty, 39, of San Francisco, was located around 7 p.m. Sunday, about 46 miles southwest of San Diego, by the crew of a C-130 aircraft that was getting ready to turn around for home.

“He had last been heard from Wednesday, when he told a friend via cell phone that the backup engine of the 26-foot sailing vessel Sea Hag, his GPS and radio were inoperative, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Kevin Neff.

“Neff said cell phone records show Haggerty’s last call was made near Point Conception in Santa Barbara County.

“Helicopters from Coast Guard Air Stations San Diego and Los Angeles, as well as a C-130 aircraft from Air Sacramento, spent the weekend searching the California coast from Point Conception south to the coast of Mexico.

“Haggerty told television station KGTV that he saw the airplane circling, but wasn’t sure if the crew was looking for him because he couldn’t establish radio contact. The air crew dropped a radio to the boat, he said.

“Neff said Haggerty had lost his job in the San Francisco area and didn’t have the money to repair the engine on his sailboat, and sailed to San Diego, where he had landed a new job.”

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11 responses so far

11 Responses to “Why won’t this happen to you?”

  1. # Randy Bushon 23 Apr 2009 at 07:59

    At least this skipper was smart enough to file a float plan–absolutely essential for a voyage of that length–particularly single-handed. Had he not done that, the outcome could have been tragically different.

  2. # Rob Waltonon 23 Apr 2009 at 10:14

    I have a feeling his float plan might have been filed when he called his buddy near Point Conception. I don’t see any other fore thought in his actions, why would this be different?

    I really hope someone will post here and tell me how smart, brave and skilled this skipper was. How sailing down the Cali coast on a 26′ sailboat (in obvious disrepair), single handed is a brilliant idea. How the wx forecast was completely wrong and there were no harbors to take refuge in when the seas began to build. How sailors have been to sea for centuries without gps or radios and one of each would be more than enough for this voyage. How he had no idea anyone would come looking for him yet alone risk their lives doing so.

    Learn from his adventure? I’d love to.

  3. # Randy Chapmanon 23 Apr 2009 at 10:44

    This skipper was not smart, brave or skilled – just clueless. Kind of reminds me of my teenage son and his buddies – too naive to know when something may kill them. Looking at the guys picture, I can just hear him talking with his buddies before leaving SF; “Dudes, I gonna take the Hag down to Diego tomorrow – anybody want to go along – it’ll be a rad trip”. Considering how may idiots there are out on the water, I believe there are positive aspects about being clueless – you really don’t know when you’re in trouble, leading to less stress and panic! Like my son tells me “Dude, just chill – all that worrying is going to kill ya”.

  4. # Dennis Dreithon 23 Apr 2009 at 14:48

    I totally agree with the other comments. This guy at least filed a float plan, although I suspect even that probably consisted of nothing more than leaving a message for one of his buds saying that he was headin’ to San Diego on the “Hag.” I guess that it was almost smart to at least bring a working cell phone, although those almost never work more than a few miles off shore, and given his track record, was probably just about out of juice anyway. So, I get it that the “Hag” is a sailboat so he was no doubt thinkin’ “what do I need an engine for anyway.” Of course, since he was heading to San Diego to start a new job, one might expect that to arrive there at some appointed time (which might give us some clue as to why he was unemployed in the first place!) that he would consider having the engine in working order would be something that might increase his chances of arriving on time (or even arriving at all). I don’t even feel comfortable heading to the islands without a back-up radio (a GPS is nice, but I have made some trips with nothing more than a compass, charts, and some binoculars — I wonder did he even have any of those items???). Regardless, to set out with either no knowledge of the weather, or even worse a cavalier disregard of the forecast to single hand such a trip in an ill-equipped boat is sheer folly. He is indeed lucky to be alive.

  5. # Dwight Landison 23 Apr 2009 at 15:29

    Stupid is as stupid does. But this poor guy probably did one thing right—at some point he must have prayed to God, and God listened (at least this time)!

  6. # Randy Bushon 23 Apr 2009 at 16:04

    The article said his GPS and radio were inoperative. Well, yeah—what did he expect with no engine to charge the batteries? I and most other sailors I know carry a portable GPS and VHF plus spare batteries in our boat bags. Having that stuff doesn’t automatically keep you from getting into trouble, but it can sure save your butt if you do. But given this guy’s spectacular disregard for common sense, I doubt if any one thing would have made a difference.

    Filing the float plan (regardless of how he did it) was probably the one thing he did right. The one thing he did wrong was ever boarding the boat to begin wit

  7. # Amanda Sailwithon 23 Apr 2009 at 17:50

    Whaddya expect from a bowler?

  8. # Dwight Landison 23 Apr 2009 at 18:13

    Besides praying (if he did), there is another thing that he did do right. He managed to stay with the boat. Especially in heavy seas, a sailboat (no matter what size) has a much better chance of surviving in the water than a person. It seems that he must have been teathered in the cockpit somehow in order to be able to survive 25 foot waves. I doubt very much if he was wearing a PFD.

    I also noticed that the the picture of him was taken in a bowling alley. I think that from now on he should stick to bowling as a sport instead of sailing!

  9. # Shirly Ujeston 24 Apr 2009 at 06:20

    Hey Amanda,

    When does league start again? I’ve lost my lucky ball and I’m praying to God I find it.

    Shirly

  10. # Wayne Roperon 24 Apr 2009 at 08:30

    They say ignorance is bliss, so this guy must be the happiest person on the planet. I carry more equipment for a two hour sail around Gina with Capt. Dan on a well equipped, working boat than haggerty had on his SF/SD trip. The fact that this guy left SF with that much wrong with his picture tells me he should have let the bowling ball move the boat while he took the Greyhound. Moral of the story, in order to sail with minimal problems, you must be smarter than a bowling ball,and some people don’t qualify. Finally might I suggest that the Coast Guard insist Mr.Haggerty clean the restroom floors of his local bowling alley with his tongue until the millions of dollars spent looking and rescuing his sorry ass are recovered.

  11. # Amanda Sailwithon 24 Apr 2009 at 19:50

    Hey Shirly,

    As far as bowling leagues are concerned, I’m with Jules Verne: Them leagues should be under the sea.

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