Ironic that I mentioned Natalie Wood's death on the thread about Catalina at Thanksgiving. Now the Splendour's Skipper is claiming a different story 30 years later.
How does this relate to C brats? I'll try and develop the scenario. We always check the current and wind when we moor (at Catalina Splendour (Robert Wagner's boat) was on a mooring to the East of the the fairway about 4 rows out, and we were on the west side, about 6 rows out). There was a moderate breeze from which enough to bring up a 1 foot chop in the bay, and the current was running opposite to the breeze). One of the nights that weekend there was enough swell coming into the Isthmus that we actually moved one of the stern mooring blocks--on the largest mooring. (Our boat was 62 feet long and displaced over 65,000 lbs)
We had two dinghies--one was a 10 foot fiberglass skiff with oars and a 4.5 hp outboard--and my father and mother had been rowing around the anchorage and stopped to talk with Natalie and Robert Wagner about 2 pm that afternoon. All was well then. The other dinghy was a 13 foot heavy duty Achillies inflatable with a 25 hp outboard. We had gone to bed at about 10PM and the lights were still on aboard Splendour at that time. I got up several times during the night, but never noticed any thing unusual, except the chop, wind and current.
I awoke at about dawn to the sound of a Sheriff's SAR chopper, which was picking up Natalie's body. Both the dinghy and Natalie's body were over on the other side of Bird Rock, near Blue Cavern Point--and over a mile from the boats. The body was fairly close to the dinghy (which apparently had been found a short time earlier). I went ashore to find out what was going on, and Splendour's inflatable dingy was tied up at the main dock. I immediately noted a broken wooden thwart. We heard what had happened shortly there after.
My conclusion was the same as the coroner's. That Natlie had fallen in the water, and hung onto the dinghy. She probably sustained some injuries at that time. She gradually slipped into hypothermia and then eventually drowned as she lost hold of the dinghy which was carried away from the boat by the wind. The initial condition of the body suggested that she had only been dead a very short time. The fact that the wind and current were in different directions, lead me to believe that she hung onto the inflatable until shortly before she died, since the body and inflatable were fairly close.
What I could not understand is why more of the boaters who had good sized dinghies and experience were not called on to search for her when she was noted missing about 1:30 AM. We speculated that the "authorities" wanted to keep things hushed up...I believe that if we had mobilized all of the resources and each dinghy was within sight of the next one, we could have fairly rapidly found the dinghy--and Natalie could have been saved, although she might have had some degree of hypothermia.
The boats involved in the search were Bay Watch, and a couple of harbor patrol boats, and several private dinghies from boats who had heard the radio call from Splendour to the Harbor patrol office saying that a crew member was missing.
Lessons--
1. don't drink and boat--even at anchor. I have pulled several friends out of the water after they fell off the boat, or a dinghy trying to get to the boat. I also lost a friend who fell overboard at the dock and drowned. Even if you don't fall off the boat--you may be called upon to help someone one else, or manage your boat if the weather conditions change.
2. Always look at the wind and current--and which way a boat might drift
3. At night wear a life jacket if you have to go secure a dinghy or go on deck
4. Be sure you have someway to get back on the boat or dinghy (such as a swim ladder under the swim step (something Spendour did not have).
5. If anyone is missing--immediately mobilize as many resources as possible. The more people looking the better the chances are of finding a person alive.
6, Back to the premise of putting a submersible hand held radio, a strobe light and whistle on the life jacket (and a Personal Locator Beacon is highly suggested). If Natalie had put a life jacket on, or had any of these safety devices, she would have survived.
7. One of the boats near us thought they had heard someone yell out for help--even if only suspicious--ask for help, turn on lights, use a search light, and initiate a search.
This death has haunted me for years, because it was preventable. But I never had any suspicion of foul play.
How does this relate to C brats? I'll try and develop the scenario. We always check the current and wind when we moor (at Catalina Splendour (Robert Wagner's boat) was on a mooring to the East of the the fairway about 4 rows out, and we were on the west side, about 6 rows out). There was a moderate breeze from which enough to bring up a 1 foot chop in the bay, and the current was running opposite to the breeze). One of the nights that weekend there was enough swell coming into the Isthmus that we actually moved one of the stern mooring blocks--on the largest mooring. (Our boat was 62 feet long and displaced over 65,000 lbs)
We had two dinghies--one was a 10 foot fiberglass skiff with oars and a 4.5 hp outboard--and my father and mother had been rowing around the anchorage and stopped to talk with Natalie and Robert Wagner about 2 pm that afternoon. All was well then. The other dinghy was a 13 foot heavy duty Achillies inflatable with a 25 hp outboard. We had gone to bed at about 10PM and the lights were still on aboard Splendour at that time. I got up several times during the night, but never noticed any thing unusual, except the chop, wind and current.
I awoke at about dawn to the sound of a Sheriff's SAR chopper, which was picking up Natalie's body. Both the dinghy and Natalie's body were over on the other side of Bird Rock, near Blue Cavern Point--and over a mile from the boats. The body was fairly close to the dinghy (which apparently had been found a short time earlier). I went ashore to find out what was going on, and Splendour's inflatable dingy was tied up at the main dock. I immediately noted a broken wooden thwart. We heard what had happened shortly there after.
My conclusion was the same as the coroner's. That Natlie had fallen in the water, and hung onto the dinghy. She probably sustained some injuries at that time. She gradually slipped into hypothermia and then eventually drowned as she lost hold of the dinghy which was carried away from the boat by the wind. The initial condition of the body suggested that she had only been dead a very short time. The fact that the wind and current were in different directions, lead me to believe that she hung onto the inflatable until shortly before she died, since the body and inflatable were fairly close.
What I could not understand is why more of the boaters who had good sized dinghies and experience were not called on to search for her when she was noted missing about 1:30 AM. We speculated that the "authorities" wanted to keep things hushed up...I believe that if we had mobilized all of the resources and each dinghy was within sight of the next one, we could have fairly rapidly found the dinghy--and Natalie could have been saved, although she might have had some degree of hypothermia.
The boats involved in the search were Bay Watch, and a couple of harbor patrol boats, and several private dinghies from boats who had heard the radio call from Splendour to the Harbor patrol office saying that a crew member was missing.
Lessons--
1. don't drink and boat--even at anchor. I have pulled several friends out of the water after they fell off the boat, or a dinghy trying to get to the boat. I also lost a friend who fell overboard at the dock and drowned. Even if you don't fall off the boat--you may be called upon to help someone one else, or manage your boat if the weather conditions change.
2. Always look at the wind and current--and which way a boat might drift
3. At night wear a life jacket if you have to go secure a dinghy or go on deck
4. Be sure you have someway to get back on the boat or dinghy (such as a swim ladder under the swim step (something Spendour did not have).
5. If anyone is missing--immediately mobilize as many resources as possible. The more people looking the better the chances are of finding a person alive.
6, Back to the premise of putting a submersible hand held radio, a strobe light and whistle on the life jacket (and a Personal Locator Beacon is highly suggested). If Natalie had put a life jacket on, or had any of these safety devices, she would have survived.
7. One of the boats near us thought they had heard someone yell out for help--even if only suspicious--ask for help, turn on lights, use a search light, and initiate a search.
This death has haunted me for years, because it was preventable. But I never had any suspicion of foul play.
