No Safe Harbor: The Tragedy of the Dive Ship Wave Dancer
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 910.916365
EAN: 9781578602193
ISBN: 157860219X
Label: Emmis Books
Manufacturer: Emmis Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 256
Publication Date: 2005-06-20
Publisher: Emmis Books
Studio: Emmis Books
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Tragic Story
Comment: I bought and read this book after returning from a scuba diving trip on the Peter Hughes Diving ship 'Sky Dancer' in the Galapagos Islands. The story of the Richmond Dive Club tragedy in Belize touched my heart. It taught me that no matter where we are and what we are doing, we each must take responsibility for our own safety.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Safe Diving
Comment: I found this to be a very insightful review of a tragic event. It brings to light how in a situation like this your safety is largely in the hands of the captain. Since reading this book, my 13 y/o son, who also read the book, and I did a one week live aboard in the Bahamas. In contradistinction to the WD captain, our Captain Paul, was meticulous in ensuring our safety. He or his crew would do a moving predive to make sure the currents at dive sites were within safe limits. We ran day and night to the Cay Sal banks, had an incredible and safe adventure. Kudos to the captains and crew who do their jobs. NSH makes you realize what can happen when they don't.
Customer Rating:
Summary: No Safe Harbor
Comment: I read this book after having been on the Belize Aggressor Aug 2007, which was the boat that didn't capsize. It's a fascinating book, particularly if you've either been on one of the boats or are planning to be. One of the misconceptions I've seen in various writings is when a particular liveaboard is called a 'party' boat - I've been on many liveaboards and none of them have been party boats. After getting up at 6:00am everyday and doing a day's worth of diving, everyone generally goes to bed at a reasonable hour in order to be well rested for the next day. Who wants to be hungover when you've paid good money to dive in these exotic locations? If by chance, a boat becomes a 'party' boat, its because that week's charter is more interested in drinking than diving, and that hasn't been my experience on liveaboards. People go on liveaboards because they want to immerse themselves in scuba diving and the wonderful world that opens up to them below the ocean's surface.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent read
Comment: As a diving aficionado, I remember hearing about the Wavedancer tragedy when it occurred, but never knew the background and details surrounding the event. I stumbled upon this book by accident, bought it on a whim (and based on Theresa Mars's review) and am glad I did.
Joe Burnworth has created a vivid and interesting account of an event that robbed us of so many good people, but the story is faithful to who they were and their lives, although tragically cut short.
It was a page-turner, and one I found almost impossible to put down once I got going. I even held off on another book I had begun reading several weeks earlier because No Safe Harbor was so compelling in its scope.
Although I knew none of the members of the Richmond Diving Club and very little about the events other than what I had seen on the news six years ago, I came away with a much deeper appreciation for what happened and how dangerous and deadly mother nature can be.
Baghdad
10-10-07
Customer Rating:
Summary: When good diving goes bad...
Comment: I've been on the boat that is the subject of this book, and the one that has replaced it. The author did a good job of capturing the experience of live aboard dving. Passages vividly recalled my time on both boats.
It was a quick, engrossing read that was for the most part I enjoyed. I did dread turing the page and seeing another page long doubled spaced weather report. I had questions as to HOW this tragedy occured, this book answered all my questions. All in all a worthwhile read for the divers among us...
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Editorial Reviews:
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On 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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