Posted by Chris on March 23, 2005 at 19:59:47:
On the local news in Morro Bay I heard second hand the following:
1) the boat was stolen last night
2) it hit three boats on the way out of the harbor and sunk one.
3) The boat is now run aground north of Point Arguello and may be a total loss.
The loss of the Conception is a tragedy on many levels.
Glen and Truth aquatics:
Probably lost the boat.
They will probably be sued for the damage to the other boats.
Will face recovery or clean-up costs.
The economics of boat building are different today, thus if the boat is a loss it may never be replaced.
They will suffer the loss of the many charters that will not be covered by insurance.
If insurance does not cover it all it could bring down the business.
employees:
The employees of Truth Aquatics and the fishing boats may loose their jobs, and there are not many to replace them in Santa Barbara.
divers:
The groups that chartered the boat may not be able to find replacement slots and will loose their dive trips
There will be fewer dive alternatives for us all.
The cost of dive trips will increase because this incident will be reflected in the insurance rates of all boats.
The other boat businesses:
The owners of the fishing boats will suffer loss of charters and may be driven out of business by the loss.
Sea Landing will loose income from the missing charters on all of the boats;.
If there ever was a valid case for keelhauling, this is it. I believe that keelhauling is the appropriate punishment for the jerk that did this.