Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)My husband, Ray Mars, was one of the victims of the Wave Dancer tragedy, so this book is of particular interest to me. However, I was still able to read it without letting my personal feelings into my opinions and thoughts about the book. I was absolutely amazed by the ability of Joe Burnworth to give the reader the feeling of actually being there, on board the Wave Dancer, with the divers themselves. For over 3 1/2 years, although I knew in my head what had happened, what capsizing meant, I have continued to have a kind of abstract feeling, something that made the entire event unreal, something that no matter how much I read, I just could not really "see" the event in my own mind. This has been troublesome, and I was previously unable to get many specific questions answered. The unknowing, the wondering, was very difficult, as the mind continues to imagine all kinds of things. But, from the very beginning of No Safe Harbor, I felt as though I was right there on the Wave Dancer with Ray, and all the others, most of whom I also knew. I had a visual thing to hold onto, and it gave me a much better understanding of the actual events leading up to the tragedy, what was really going on between the captain and crew, and what information the divers themselves had been given. So many of these questions have been troubling and very disturbing to me over these years. I finally have the answers, thanks to Joe Burnworth, and I can see in my thoughts just what was going on, what information was being given to the divers, who had access to no other information than what the captain told them, and I am finally able to settle my mind around what Ray and all the others really believed. With these facts, I am able to give this event a "face", a real picture in my mind, and I feel as though I was right there, and can see exactly what went on. I can picture the actual capsizing, and the subsequent events. Of course, this does not change what happened, but it does relieve the extreme unrest I have had for so long, when I was unable to get these answers from anyone else.
Every traveler, on a ship of any kind, diving or not, needs to read this book. This book gives every reader the feeling of actually being there, you will feel as though you can see every aspect of the boat itself, giving a clear picture of the events. It also gives a very personal accounting of the victims themselves, making them real people, as they were, not some vague thought of people you do not know. They will become important to you, and they will mean something to you. It is an important read for all, divers or not, and will really open your eyes, and put you right in the middle of the entire event.
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No Safe Harbor: The Tragedy of the Dive Ship Wave DancerOn October 8, 2001, the 120-foot luxury live-aboard dive yachts Wave Dancer and Aggressor III, both carrying members of the Richmond Dive Club, were secured to a concrete dock in southern Belize when Hurricane Iris struck. The last boat to slip into the harbor for safety, the Wave Dancer, stuck out halfway into the channel, unable to find more room at the crowded dock. The category four hurricane, with winds of 140 mph and a storm surge of fourteen feet, ripped the Wave Dancer from its cleats, tossing it like a toy across the lagoon. When the storm subsided an hour later, 20 of the boat's 28 occupants were dead. The investigation into the tragedy - the worst in the history of recreational diving - revealed that the boat's owner and captain had ignored storm warnings and needlessly endangered the lives of their passengers and crew.In a vivid indictment of maritime irresponsibility, author Joe Burnworth - a passenger on the Aggressor III - dramatically recounts the events leading up to the Wave Dancer's capsizing, the rescue and recovery attempts, and the devastating aftermath.
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