San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

Glad everyone is safe but drunk captains isn't anything new.

Others normally get away with it because they're in the middle of the ocean

professionull wrote: Fri Jun 16, 2023 2:12 am Glad everyone is safe but drunk captains isn't anything new.

Others normally get away with it because they're in the middle of the ocean

I have been out of the landing a couple of times, also glad to see everyone is fine. Did you read the captain was drunk or are you speculating, just curious?

Coast guard doesn’t mess around with a licensed captain, collision and drugs/alcohol.
Drugs and alcohol plague the industry unfortunately.
Sleeping at the wheel is super scary.
I woke up one night with a bad feeling. Went up to the wheelhouse and the guy on watch was full steam on autopilot, slumped over sawing logs. Insane

foulhook wrote: Fri Jun 16, 2023 5:53 am I have been out of the landing a couple of times, also glad to see everyone is fine. Did you read the captain was drunk or are you speculating, just curious?

I was just speaking in general

We can discuss this for hours,
stupid to set gps / auto pilot destination straight for the rock, thats suicide....
Also an fyi, same boat hit the island just a few years back....
we have history of stupidity here....

I’d say complacency is a better word but stupid fits too. A lot of things could have helped. Primarily not Drinking but Radar alarm, depth alarm etc….we even set 30 min alarms when on 2-3hr whee watch which isn’t an excuse to snooze but just extra precaution.
Some of the best known local captains have run a ground.

Captinitis is a problem too(pride). If some one is tired, they need to wake someone else up regardless of a watch schedule. It’s normal to have only one person awake on watch while steaming. If the guy passed out without knowing he was tired because of drinking, that’s a tough lesson and he needs to look for another career. People just get complacent and seem to forget they have lives in their hand.