SDSU The Initiative of Checking Whether the Boaters Were Safe Case Study

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723
US
Storm Warning:
Cast of Characters
Cindy: Ken’s new girlfriend
Jane: Pilot of the Coast Guard helicopter
K.C.: Coxswain of the Coast Guard 47-foot motor lifeboat
Ken: Novice sailor
Mike: Owner of Mike’s Boat Rentals
Tom: Skipper of the fishing vessel Sandy Kay
Zeke: Employee at Mike’s
Background
Cindy is originally from landlocked Nebraska and loves being on and around the water. She
likes the fact that Ken is so willing to please her.
Jane is a Coast Guard helicopter pilot, in command of a Coast Guard HH-60 (Jayhawk)
medium-range aircraft. She is looking forward to taking a desk job after completing her tour
as a helicopter pilot. Her crew includes the co-pilot, the aviation mechanic and, on many
occasions, the aviation rescue swimmer. Jane’s father was an Army helicopter pilot and was
shot down in Vietnam.
K.C. is the coxswain of a Coast Guard 47-foot motor lifeboat. His duties include the
navigational and operational duties of commanding the boat, which includes a crew of four
persons. Although deemed by his superiors to be an excellent coxswain, K.C. has been
counseled several times for being too aggressive in prosecuting search-and-rescue cases.
Ken is a novice sailor. Last summer, he took Basic Sailing, sponsored by the American
Sailing Association, from a local sailing school. He has been on sailboats long enough to
practice extensive maneuvering around the harbor, experiencing only token problems with
handling the boat. He has become pretty confident in his abilities as a sailor. Three months
ago, he started dating Cindy and thinks she’s “The One.”
Mike has been in business for 15 years. Mike’s Boat Rentals is a maritime rental business,
located in Westview Harbor. Tourists can rent small runabouts (small motorized boats),
wave runners (jet skis), and sailboats (22-foot sloops with a cabin, marine band radio, and a
small outboard motor). Because most people want to rent the motorboats and jet skis, the
sailboats usually sit unused at the dock. Mike, therefore, has been demanding that his
employees push the rental of the sailboats.
Tom is a third-generation fisherman, master of a small, 52-foot fishing vessel, the Sandy
Kay, named after his wife. He has extensive experience in the waters around Westview
Harbor and in the ocean. The area has been over-fished lately, reducing the daily catch
fairly significantly
From the beginning of their relationship, Cindy continually asked Ken to take her out for a long
ride on a sailboat in Westview Harbor and out into the ocean. Though Ken told Cindy he was a
novice sailor, she continued to push. “It’ll be fun and romantic. An adventure!” she insisted. So,
on this balmy, late summer morning, Ken relented. They would rent a sailboat from Mike’s Boat
Rentals, sail around Westview Harbor, and head out into the ocean to the Channel Islands a few
miles offshore where they would anchor and have a picnic. Although he’d never actually been
there, based on conversations with other sailors, Ken was sure he knew where the islands and
anchorage were located. After packing a lunch, Ken and Cindy headed to Mike’s.
When Ken and Cindy arrived, Zeke, the only one working that day, was very busy with five
customers who were lined up to rent jet skis and motorboats. Normally, the first time someone
wants to rent a sailboat at Mike’s, they are required to be “checked out,” or pass a short test to
demonstrate their sailing knowledge and proficiency. Today, Zeke felt overwhelmed and mildly
“ticked off” at Mike who wouldn’t hire extra help during the busy season. With impatient
customers waiting in line, Zeke merely asked, “Are you sure you know how to sail?” and Ken
replied, with a side glance at Cindy, “Uh, sure … of course.” Cindy piped up, “Of course he
does.” Without checking him out, Zeke shoved the appropriate documents across the counter for
Ken to sign, took his money, asked to hold his driver’s license as security deposit, and handed
over a key to the dock gate. As the two were about to leave, Zeke remembered he should have told
Ken to check the flags posted at the mouth of the harbor as a safety precaution. But since he was
so busy, and because Mike had told him to push the sailboats, he let Ken and Cindy leave without
the precautionary warning.
Trouble was brewing on the ocean. A turbulent storm with gale force winds was on its way toward
land. Failing to check the weather conditions, Ken cast off from the dock. “What a great day!”
claimed an exuberant Cindy, excited about her first chance to sail outside the harbor. After about
an hour of sailing around the harbor and gaining confidence, Ken changed his course and headed
out to the ocean.
Meanwhile, Tom, at the helm of Sandy Kay, was entering the channel to Westview Harbor when
he noticed this rather small sailboat making its way out to the ocean. “Where the heck is this guy
going?” Pointing vigorously at the red triangle flags flapping in the breeze at the mouth of the
harbor, Tom wondered to himself, “Doesn’t
he know that there’s a big storm heading this way?”
Cindy smiled and waved back at the friendly fisherman. “I hope they know what they’re doing.”
Tom said, as he piloted the Sandy Kay into the harbor and toward the fleet dock so he could
unload his catch of fish. “What a bonehead!” he muttered to himself.
Ken was proud of his very adept handling of the sailboat, especially in the brisk winds. However,
just as he successfully navigated his way to the rocky shoreline of the closest of small islands, the
main halyard —the rope used to raise and lower the sail -snapped, rendering the mainsail
useless. Ken anchored the sailboat and examined the damage. He worked on the boat all day,
stopping just long enough to climb across the rocky shoreline to join Cindy for lunch on a narrow
sliver of sand. While he worked on the boat, Cindy spent the afternoon sunbathing. In desperation,
Ken used the mooring line to jerry-rig a makeshift halyard. Overhead, dark clouds raced across
the harbor, heading straight toward the Channel Islands. Ken asked Cindy to pack up their things;
it was time to head back.
© 2001 Center for Creative Leadership. Coauthored by the Center for Creative Leadership and Comrander Patrick Dowden, U.S. Coast Guard.
All Rights Reserved
“Whoa, look at that sky, Cindy! We’ve got to get going now,” shouted Ken as the wind whipped.
“Maybe we should sit tight until the storm passes,” considered Cindy. “We can’t stay anchored
here, Cindy; in these winds, this rocky shoreline will make mincemeat out of this boat. I used the
mooring line to make a makeshift halyard. Hopefully, it will hold long enough for us to make it
back. But if it doesn’t, we’ll have to count on the outboard. C’mon, Cindy, let’s get going,” said
Ken. They gingerly raised the mainsail, let out the jib, started the motor, and headed to Westview.
As the storm barreled its way toward the coast, Jane at the Coast Guard Air Station and K.C. at
the Coast Guard small-boat rescue station, eyed the sky with professional concern and
apprehension. “Hope no one’s crazy enough to be out there,” thought Jane.
Zeke, at the dock at Mike’s Boat Rentals, was also eyeing the massive clouds approaching the
area. “Man, that sailboat’s not back yet. Mike’s not going to like it if something goes wrong!” He
decided he wouldn’t tell him about the missing sailboat just yet.
Having finished unloading his catch of fish, Tom noticed the first large raindrops hit the dock.
“Wonder if that numbskull sail boater ever turned around?” Just as a precaution, he considered
going to ask someone if the sailboat had returned. But, never liking to draw attention to himself
and his sometime questionable activities, he dismissed the thought and continued supervising the
cleaning of Sandy Kay’s decks.
The storm slammed into the coast with a vengeance. The winds surpassed 30 knots; the seas
became white froth; and the waves were building in anticipation of hitting the coastline.
The couple was still over a mile from the entrance of the harbor when they got caught in the grip
of the storm. Realizing the magnitude of the situation, Ken ordered Cindy to don a life jacket and
take shelter in the cabin. The 22-foot sailboat was no match for the power of the storm. Neither
was the makeshift rigging. Ken’s improvised halyard snapped, leaving the mainsail flapping
violently in the wind. The tiny outboard was worthless in the swirling seas. The sailboat was
tossed like a toy as Ken fought to keep the boat afloat. His arms burned as he gripped the tiller
and desperately hoped for rescue.
Zeke finally called Mike at his home to tell him about the missing sailboat. “Get the guy on the
marine-band radio! See if he’s OK!” thundered Mike. After several attempts, Zeke was finally
successful at reaching a terrified Cindy aboard the sailboat and informed Mike. “Call the Coast
Guard… if it’s not too late!” shouted Mike.
The duty officer at the air station received Zeke’s call and notified Jane who placed the aircrew on
alert for a possible search-and-rescue mission. The small-boat rescue station was also alerted.
K.C. ordered the boat crew to stand by for orders to get underway. Meanwhile, the Coast Guard
radio operator was able to ascertain that the occupants of the sailboat were indeed in trouble and
requesting assistance.
Jane was ordered to take off, fly to the area, and commence a search for the sailboat and its
occupants. As the helicopter took off into the storm, it was buffeted by the strong winds and
heavy rains. At that same time, K.C., receiving his orders, cast off the lines from his motor
lifeboat and headed out to the ocean to begin searching for the sailboat.
When the helicopter arrived on the scene, Jane spotted Ken’s sailboat rocking violently back and
forth and pitching into the waves. She immediately recognized the severity of the circumstances
and told her rescue swimmer to stand by to enter the water so that he could swim to the boaters
and help them enter the rescue basket. The winds were now reaching 40 knots, tossing the
Jayhawk about as Jane struggled to stabilize the craft. She didn’t even know if a rescue basket
could be deployed. Because of the size of the wave swells, the cable could be snapped while
hoisting someone back into the helicopter, possibly causing her to lose her rescue swimmer as
well as her evacuees. Jane weighed her options. She chose not to place her craft, crew, and the
sail boaters at risk by entering the dangerous waters. The fact was, Jane often chose not to risk
her crew or herself. She was hoping to get a desk job soon and didn’t want anything to get in the
way of that possibility. She notified the command center and K.C. that due to the adverse
conditions, the motor lifeboat would have to rescue Ken and Cindy. Jane remained overhead
to monitor the situation.
While the motor lifeboat was fighting the treacherous seas heading to the sailboat’s location, K.C.
kept thinking of the informal creed of the U.S. Lifesaving Service, “You have to go out, but you
don’t have to come back.” Although he knew he shouldn’t place his crew and the motor lifeboat at
risk, he realized he and his crewmates were the last option for saving the distressed sail boaters.
K.C. rationalized that the Coast Guard was paying him to save lives and that was what he was
going to do. Others in K.C.’s crew weren’t so convinced. While they, too, believed in the creed,
they also knew that his superiors sometimes regarded K.C. as reckless. There was also wide
speculation that K.C. was more interested in promoting himself than in truly saving people. In
fact, he had once been formally reprimanded for not following proper safety procedures during a
rescue mission and nearly causing a serious accident.
While sitting on the bridge of the fishing vessel Sandy Kay drinking his coffee, Tom overheard
the Coast Guard conversations on the marine-band radio and said to no one in particular, “Maybe
I should have said something to those boaters; but at least now the Coast Guard knows, so I guess
I didn’t have to say anything.”
K.C. and his crew kept in contact with Jane in the helicopter. They searched visually and used the
radar to locate the sailboat in the storm-ravaged seas. It was dark as night. Finally, one of the
crewmembers saw the helicopter hovering in the distance and spotted the sailboat.
The sailboat was coming perilously close to rocks and a shoal area. K.C. prepared to approach it.
He made sure his crew was fully briefed and prepared to proceed with the rescue. Using his
considerable seamanship skills, he started to maneuver the motor lifeboat into a position between
the sailboat and the rocks protruding above the water’s surface. The motor lifeboat’s engineer
shouted above the thunderous wind to K.C. that he needed to watch out for the rocks or they’d run
into the sailboat. From above, Jane shouted into the radio, “Watch what you’re doing! You’re in
too close. You don’t have any margin for error.” In spite of the warning, K.C. moved his boat in
closer. “Look Jane,” he said, knowing her reputation, “We’re here to save lives, not to play it
safe.” As he split his attention from his task to talk to Jane, a 10-foot swell picked up his
motorboat, knocking it into the sailboat. Ken, who was not tied to his vessel, was knocked
overboard in the collision. K.C. and his crew looked on in disbelief. The sea was so violent, they
never saw Ken surface and although a diver went down, he soon returned to the boat. He had zero
visibility and even though he was tethered to the motorboat, it was too dangerous for him to stay
in the water when they didn’t even know where they should be looking for Ken.
K.C., the coxswain of Coast Guard lifeboat #47206, would be the one who would notify the duty
officer to send a team to find Ken’s body after the weather calmed. Cindy, though physically and
emotionally exhausted, survived the storm..

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