Hey Tom,

...more like part of the group that detests lawyers, and the Legal Lottery Mindset at play, today... (Hope no offense is taken by my many good friends - several of them here - who just happen to be lawyers (grin))...

Sure, I've been very critical of some of the poor decisions I believe the Kaufmanns have made, no question... I simply think that for them to cite the loss of the satphone as the reason for the abandonment of their boat is a bit of a stretch, to put it politely...

Where does this end? Why are they not suing the principals of the Taiwanese company that originally built their Union 36, for not building a more robust hull/deck joint? Or, Elmer's for not building a better wood filler that Eric used to effect the repair of his decks and deckhouse? Why shouldn't Icom bear some responsibility, for not making a SSB that would better withstand suffering the saltwater intrusion? After all, SSB radios and tuners are specifically designed to see use offshore, no? Why doesn't Icom make them more water resistant, or even submersible? The loss of the satphone came pretty late in the chronology of the series of cascading failures aboard REBEL HEART, why should the satphone company be singled out as the one player held solely accountable?

Finally, lest we forget, there has never been any indication that Eric was FORCED by the Navy to abandon his boat... Once the situation with the child was stabilized with the arrival of the Air National Guard para team, seems to me he still could have chosen to stay with the boat himself. In fact, at the press conference from Moffett Field, one of the ANG team specifically referenced this, asking him what his intentions were once the rendezvous was made with the USS VANDERGRIFT... It was his choice to abandon REBEL HEART with the rest of his family, which is certainly understandable... But if anyone can find a cite that he was forced to do so, I'd like to see it, for I've never seen any such reference to the CG declaring a Manifestly Unsafe Voyage, or similar... Medical evacuations from yachts are done all the time, doesn't mean the entire crew has to be taken off, and the boat scuttled...

best regards,

Jon