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Natalie Wood's death
- Thread starter thataway
- Start date
cruiserlessvinny
New member
The issue of the Splendours captain being told by Robert Wagoner to not initiate a search has always struck me as being odd. Who's ever heard of a rule (or a law) at sea which states a boat owner can tell the captain to engage in irresponsible action without anyone being held accountable? If that were the case, then what size boat would such a rule begin to be germane to an incident? Inland waters or at-sea? Ain't gonna happen. Veeery interesting indeed.
CV
CV
You have to consider that Splendour is a private yacht. I am not sure that Dennis Davern was a Coast Guard Licensed Master. There are a number of 55 foot vessels which may have "skippers" which were not licensed--and back 30 years ago, there were even less licensed personal. In any event, the "moral" issue is that if any one is missing, that a search should be initiated.
From my understanding of the time line--first Robert Wagner got one of the shore boats (water taxi) to go around the harbor looking for Natalie--both at the dinghy dock and generally around other boats etc. I don't know exactly when that was, but sometime near midnight. Shortly after than the Harbor Master was noticed that Natalie was missing. My understanding was that it was his and Doug Bombard's that the issue was to be kept low key, and that is why other boaters were not involved. When the Harbor Master was involved, his boat, several of the water taxi's and Bay Watch began to do a search. That search continued thru the night, until shortly after dawn, when the Sherriff's rescue chopper found the body.
In the last few days one of the life guards (paramedics on BayWatch who pulled her body out of the water) noted what I have been saying all along--that if a larger search party had been initiated that she would have been saved. His conclusion was that she was hypothermic and then slipped into the water and drowned. His conclusion was also that the dinghy and body had drifted in the same direction, until she could no longer hold onto the boat.
Once the Harbor Master--or even the shore boat was involved, I suspect that decisions were made by Doug Bombard. I also suspect that the Coast Guard was notified at this time. I suspect that when BayWatch was activated that the Sheriff's office was also notified (that was the usual protocol at that time).
Why they would examine the boat 30 years later is certainly a mystery. Also some one who heard something different than what was reported at the time ( I talked to the one gal who thought she had heard someone that morning--she was not certain because of the noise from the adjacent boat which was between her boat and Splendour) is questionable. The other issue is if any of my crew had heard anyone yelling for help, we would have certainly have both put on our search lights and set out in the dinghy to see what was going on. (As we have in several occasions).
From my understanding of the time line--first Robert Wagner got one of the shore boats (water taxi) to go around the harbor looking for Natalie--both at the dinghy dock and generally around other boats etc. I don't know exactly when that was, but sometime near midnight. Shortly after than the Harbor Master was noticed that Natalie was missing. My understanding was that it was his and Doug Bombard's that the issue was to be kept low key, and that is why other boaters were not involved. When the Harbor Master was involved, his boat, several of the water taxi's and Bay Watch began to do a search. That search continued thru the night, until shortly after dawn, when the Sherriff's rescue chopper found the body.
In the last few days one of the life guards (paramedics on BayWatch who pulled her body out of the water) noted what I have been saying all along--that if a larger search party had been initiated that she would have been saved. His conclusion was that she was hypothermic and then slipped into the water and drowned. His conclusion was also that the dinghy and body had drifted in the same direction, until she could no longer hold onto the boat.
Once the Harbor Master--or even the shore boat was involved, I suspect that decisions were made by Doug Bombard. I also suspect that the Coast Guard was notified at this time. I suspect that when BayWatch was activated that the Sheriff's office was also notified (that was the usual protocol at that time).
Why they would examine the boat 30 years later is certainly a mystery. Also some one who heard something different than what was reported at the time ( I talked to the one gal who thought she had heard someone that morning--she was not certain because of the noise from the adjacent boat which was between her boat and Splendour) is questionable. The other issue is if any of my crew had heard anyone yelling for help, we would have certainly have both put on our search lights and set out in the dinghy to see what was going on. (As we have in several occasions).