By Shirley Howland
Mr. Atwood”s letter of Aug. 13 is wrong. First, I too have been out on the lake at night and it is very difficult to distinguish a sailboat”s running lights against the lights on the shore ? not a powerboat”s because they move fast, but a sailboat”s, which at top speed under sail is possibly moving at 3 mph (or knots). He also joins the witch hunt by pointing out that “one” of the skippers was intoxicated. I believe it was a Coastguardsman who wrote a few weeks ago that the sailboat was nothing more than an obstacle. That writer understood the slow manueverability of a sailboat in light winds and recognized that there was nothing the skipper of the sailboat, experienced or not, or intoxicated or not, could have done to get out of the way of the overtaking, speeding powerboat. Finally, Mr. Atwood asks, “Would a 15-mph speed limit have prevented (the accident)?” It probably would not have prevented the collision, but it most certainly would have prevented the speedboat from climbing up over the stern of the sailboat and killing someone in the cockpit. My God! The boat was going so fast that it roared up over the cockpit and the cabin, taking the mast out too! You don”t need to be a rocket scientist to know that the overtaking boat was going too fast! Mr. Perdock clearly broke three laws: He did not give way to a sailboat (possibly excusable because he didn”t see the sailboat). He was the overtaking boat and did not stand clear (again possibly excusable because he didn”t see the sailboat). He was traveling at an unsafe speed and caused a death because of his recklessness. Absolutely inexcusable! The wrong man is on trial here. The sailboat and its skipper had about as much to do with this accident as a log in the water. There may not be a way to enforce speed limits on the lake but that doesn”t mean we should not have them. Even driving a car has speed limits for safety, and boating most certainly should. It”s nonsense that the judge in this case refuses to go out on the lake to see how the lights along the shore mingle with boat navigation lights ? and how the speed of a boat can affect a skipper”s ability to see. Judge and jury should all take such an educational ride. Duplicating the exact conditions of the fateful night would not be necessary to help them understand what happened. Speed of the overtaking boat had everything to do with it!
Shirley Howland
Clearlake
