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    • Jul 31, 2026by:   Curtis Hoff No Comments

      NY Times: Rescue Boat Crews Show Signs of Brain Injuries – Loose Cannon

      Cruisers Net publishes Loose Cannon articles with Captain Swanson’s permission in hopes that mariners with saltwater in their veins will subscribe. $7 per month or $56 for the year; you may cancel at any time.

         
       
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      NY Times: Rescue Boat Crews Show Signs of Brain Injuries

      But the Coast Guard Isn’t Looking

       
      		 
      		 
      		 
       

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        Community of Past, Current, and Future USCG Surfmen All Live by a Creed - HSToday  
      Petty Officer 1st Class Adam Preiser (surfman #535) operates a 47-foot Motor Lifeboat in the surf near Brookings, Oregon, on December 13, 2019. Surfman is the pinnacle of the five certifications available to boat-crew members, and Coast Guardsmen. (U.S. Coast Guard photo courtesy of Petty Officer 1st Class Adam Preiser)

      Here’s another gift from the New York Times. We have started sharing stories as gifts from our Times account. Most readers reported being able to access the stories. This one was first published on July 30, 2026.

      By DAVE PHILIPPS

      Brett Bonner saved hundreds of lives during 21 years on rescue boats in the Coast Guard. When he died, his teenage daughter Kayleigh wondered why he couldn’t save his own.

      He was a big, gregarious man who seemed able to handle anything. But as Kayleigh grew up, she watched him slowly fall apart. First came headaches. Then sleeplessness. His memory frayed and his moods turned raw.

      When he retired from the Coast Guard at age 40 in 2022, things only grew worse. He would rant and scream. One afternoon he dropped her grandfather with one punch. In the months after, he started setting things on fire.

      On a winter evening in 2025, with a pile of Coast Guard files burning on the living room floor, he walked out the front door and shot himself dead.

      Kayleigh, her mother, her younger sister and her two little brothers all saw it happen.

      He left no note. He offered no explanation. His unraveling left his family so perplexed about how to sum up his life that they buried him without a headstone.

      READ THE REST

       

      LOOSE CANNON covers hard news, technical issues and nautical history. Every so often he tries to be funny. Subscribe for free to support the work. If you’ve been reading for a while—and you like it—consider upgrading to paid.

       

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    • Jul 31, 2026by:   Curtis Hoff No Comments

      Annual ‘Day at the Docks’ features work, life on Hatteras – CoastalReview

      https://coastalreview.org/2026/07/annual-day-at-the-docks-features-work-life-on-hatteras/

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    • Jul 31, 2026by:   Curtis Hoff No Comments

      LTM Additions: Yesterday (Thu, Jul 30)

      12 New LTM\’s Added Yesterday

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    • Jul 30, 2026by:   Curtis Hoff No Comments

      LIFE INTERRUPTED MY PLANS AGAIN THIS WEEK – Janice Anne Wheeler, Sparring With Mother Nature

         
       
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      This week’s SPAR involves the inevitable aging process. Sometimes I read these stories, sometimes I don’t. Regardless, stay aboard. Rough seas lately. They’ll calm. ~J

      If you just dove into our very engaging little community, please read SPARS & SPARRING, .….it introduces my wonders and my wanders. ~J

      LIFE INTERRUPTED MY PLANS AGAIN THIS WEEK

      And other things we all have in common

       
      		 
      		 
      		 
       

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      For this edition, I was going to share with you a thought-provoking, awe-inspiring poet, Navy Veteran and lover of all things boat, nature, & humanity but you’re not getting that. I’m sorry. You will. Promise. It’s a work in progress that I could not concentrate on this week.

      I received a(nother?) single phone call, and made a(nother?) decision that was both easy and complicated, one which changed everything from that moment forward. Sometimes it happens like that, doesn’t it? The required modification of logistics got me where I needed to be, and that place is one I told you about just last week. As we’ve often discussed here, SPARRING or not, I believe that all things fall into place. This time, definitely. You know what I mean. We all have this in common, an unrelenting, unforeseen set of adjustments to our best laid plans. Not a week goes by, really, that something doesn’t surprise you, keep you on your toes, and remind you to appreciate what you have. Fortunately I have the flexibility to pack up this computer and take my work along for the ride.

      On Tuesday I left the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay at 4am EST and took in the New York City skyline at 8:15. It’s never as I remember it; 25 years later I still expect to see the Twin Towers, the World Trade Center, which fell on 9-11-2001. Interstate 87 north of NYC might be the least-traveled in this nation and I followed it north through the Adirondack Park for what is probably the 400th time, give or take a few. My entire life, with random frequency, has pulled me through this region of North America. By 1pm I parked at the depressingly-busy hospital, ready for the barrage of emotions that would accompany this particular visit to ‘Comfort Care’ (read: hospice). At age 93, my friend recognized me. There’s a lot of gratification in that, and a lot of sadness in the friends and family who sit, bedside, awaiting what will eventually happen to all of us. The support of the still-very-much-alive is why I’m here.

         
      Looking east across Lake Champlain, just after sunrise.

      Last week I introduced (or reintroduced) you to the 6,000,000 acre Adirondack Park in New York State, US. If you have set foot within these boundaries, (the “Blue Line”) or live within them, you have experienced a revolutionary concept in cooperation between public and private lands. It’s not always easy. I lived and played within the Park, more or less, for my first twenty years; I relish going back.

         

      Undoubtedly my favorite landmark is the 1912 Firetower Lookout on an enticing mound of granite called, equally compellingly, Poke-O-Moonshine Mountain. When I lived in this area during my father’s illness 2016-2019 I climbed the soul-soothing peak as often as I could. My first days here this time were spent with the friend in hospice, but the third day I got up at the same 4am crack of dawn and climbed that mountain, as I have every time I’ve visited since I went to liveaboard STEADFAST. Each time it is more stunning than I remembered. Not that many things are better than you recalled them to be, and I treasure that.

         
      Dappled morning sun on the granite steps.

      The elevation gain is 1280 feet in 1.8 miles, total height 2180 or 664M. These mountains are the oldest in North America and reportedly even the planet, worn down over the last two billion years or so, yet these stubborn beauties (including Whiteface Mountain/Lake Placid, New York, which hosted the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics) still persist in their stubborn uplift (no wonder I feel the vibe) of 1 to 3 mm per year. Frankly, that’s not much, a third of a meter per century, but it’s a hell of a force nonetheless. Hard to measure, hard to imagine. Mention Poke-O-Moonshine in rock and ice-climbing circles, and the nods of respect will most certainly happen. My legs took me up a non-technical but damn steep trail, three layers of a cake-like mountain structure full of energy, peace and challenge. The fire lookouts were deactivated in 1988, but you can climb the bottom five sets of steps to acquire a stunning 360-degree view.

         

      This is the very trail my maternal grandparents hiked on their first date in 1930 or so, when Pearl was a one-room schoolteacher (almost-spinster at 26) in very rural Malone, New York with a woodstove for heat and Don was an industrial arts teacher almost close enough to make the courtship practical.

      Their relationship wasn’t always companionable but clearly worked because here I am, writing this to you during days of reminiscing and appreciating the worth of those closest to you. It is not our blood that matters, it is the characters of the friends you have chosen to surround you, to be your family, and the dedication of those who show up at times like this, plans interrupted, putting aside their normal preoccupied worlds to focus on the importance of life, loss and love. That’s what I did this week, and I’m still up there, thirty miles from the Canadian border, spending precious time. ~J

      Headed to the Adirondacks? Need a rustic place to shack up? Nothing better than Adirondack Lean-tos. Conceived as early as 1800, these gave shelter to explorers of all sorts and the extensive system of huts became a state program in 1919. Under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal hundreds were constructed by the federal government (Civilian Conservation Corps) in the 30s and maintained voluntarily by members of the Adirondack Mountain Club. A blast from the past, for sure. Some things are still free and worth the effort. I know I’m craving those and I’d guess you are, too. Seek them out and take care of them.

         
      My father was one of the volunteers who maintained NY’s network of lean-tos.

      Thanks as always for staying aboard these sometimes rough, sometimes heavenly passages. Everybody has a story.— if you don’t believe that just check my website… I try to always stop and listen. Heard anything this week worth relaying? I thought so. If you’re so inclined, please pass it on. I’m wishing you peace.

      Share SPARRING WITH MOTHER NATURE

       

       

      I so appreciate your support of my work. Have a wonderful week!

         
       
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      © 2026 Janice Anne Wheeler
      Living aboard Sailing Yacht STEADFAST again soon!
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    • Jul 30, 2026by:   Curtis Hoff No Comments

      Two Federal Lawsuits Filed on Behalf of All Sea-Doo Switch Buyers – Loose Cannon

      Cruisers Net publishes Loose Cannon articles with Captain Swanson’s permission in hopes that mariners with saltwater in their veins will subscribe. $7 per month or $56 for the year; you may cancel at any time.

         
       
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      Two Federal Lawsuits Filed on Behalf of All Sea-Doo Switch Buyers

      Hybrid Pontoon-Jet Boat Described as a ‘Floating Death Trap’

       
      		 
      		 
      		 
       

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        2023 Sea Doo Switch  
      The alleged problem with these boats is not going fast but when they decelerate and, according to one lawsuit, “take on water, nose-dive, and capsize.”

      Two separate Florida legal teams recently filed class-action lawsuits against BRP, the manufacturer of the Sea-Doo Switch, the jet powered pontoon boat with a propensity for flipping over forward.

      “What BRP did not disclose to consumers—at all— is that the Switch boats feature defective designs that render them completely unsafe, unfit for normal use, and essentially floating death traps,” wrote Attorney Stuart Davidson, on behalf of a team of Florida lawyers who filed suit on July 17.

      In seeking compensation for all Switch buyers, the lawsuit also alleged that the Canadian company’s marketing targeted people least able to pilot watercraft safely to begin with:

      BRP’s acts and practices were unfair because they were immoral, unethical, oppressive, unscrupulous, and substantially injurious to consumers. BRP knew that the Switch boats were being purchased and used by a particularly vulnerable group of people, including first-time boat owners and families; knew that consumers would naturally assume the Switch boats were safe for normal use; and knew that the Switch boats were not, in fact, safe or fit for use because of the defects.

      The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Gainesville, Florida, representing Ariana Maria Renee Adkins of Archer as the named plaintiff. If the court approves the suit as a class-action, all Switch owners will be added.

      Share

      The Adkins case comes on the heels of another class-action lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Miami on June 25. This team of Florida lawyers includes the firm of Goldberg & Golden, which also represents the family of a little girl from North Florida in a separate case that seeks compensation for the permanent brain damage she suffered when their Switch flipped on the St. Johns River.

      Representative plaintiffs in the initial suit are: Lori Long of Palm Beach, James Abreu of Lee County, Scott Bauer of Lee County and Craig Corlew, who spends part of the year in the Florida Keys.

      Both suits make the same argument that a design flaw that allowed water to get inside Switch hulls tended to shift forward on deceleration, plunging the boat’s bows into the water and causing it to flip. The second suit—the one filed at Gainesville—also alleges that the same water intrusion created a host of other problems, including corrosion, engine damage, electrical failures, propulsion loss, fault codes and near-sinking events.

      Both suits also allege that three BRP corrective actions—sealent repair in February 2025, a gasket repair in October 2025 and software throttle control measure in May 2026—all failed to fix problems caused by poor hull design.

      Besides the badly injured Florida girl, four Switch passengers have died after a forward flip. In October, the U.S. Coast Guard declared that these vessels presented a “capsizing hazard.”

      “These capsizings have occurred when the vessel was operated with trim by the bow and the bow ‘digging into’ the water. Weather conditions and poor seamanship do not appear to be significant contributing factors,” Coast Guard investigators wrote.

      The compensation theory for both suits is the monetary harm to Switch buyers, who paid top dollar for a boat, which has lost resale value as the world has learned of its hithertoo undisclosed safety issues.

      Here’s an example of harsh words that the Gainesville lawsuit lawyers had for BRP:

      BRP marketed the very design feature that makes the Switch boats dangerous—the tri-hull configuration—as a source of safety and stability. On its website and in materials disseminated to consumers, BRP represented that the Switch’s “Tri-hull design creates a whole new feeling on a pontoon,” that “[t]he outer pontoons are set slightly higher in the water, adding confident stability and nimble performance,” and that the design combines “the stability and versatility of a pontoon boat with the agility and performance of a Sea-Doo jet boat.”

      BRP likewise touted its Intelligent Brake and Reverse system as making the Switch safer and easier to stop, representing that the system “greatly reduces stopping distances” and gives operators “more control and maneuverability at low speeds.” These representations were untrue, deceptive, and misleading: the same tri-hull design and low-speed deceleration that BRP marketed as sources of “confident stability” and “control” are, as BRP’s own recalls and the U.S. Coast Guard later confirmed, the mechanism by which the Switch boats take on water, nose-dive, and capsize.

      When two class-action lawsuits are filed making the same claims against the same company, the courts usually try to stop wasted effort and messy rulings. The judges may consolidate the cases into one single lawsuit, pause one case until the other finishes, or dismiss the duplicate filing.

      LOOSE CANNON covers hard news, technical issues and nautical history. Every so often he tries to be funny. Subscribe for free to support the work. If you’ve been reading for a while—and you like it—consider upgrading to paid.

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    • Jul 30, 2026by:   Curtis Hoff No Comments

      American Tug Doom Spiral Was Even Worse Than It Looked – Loose Cannon

      Cruisers Net publishes Loose Cannon articles with Captain Swanson’s permission in hopes that mariners with saltwater in their veins will subscribe. $7 per month or $56 for the year; you may cancel at any time.

       

       
         
       
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      When all else fails, try journalism.

      American Tug Doom Spiral Was Even Worse Than It Looked

      From Healthy and Debt-Free to Broke in Three Years

       
      		 
      		 
      		 
       

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      American Tug weathered the Great Recession and Covid 19 Pandemic without ever stopping operations or missing a rent payment, according to news articles. When the La Conner company was acquired by Kadey-Krogen in May 2023, it was building boats and reportedly had no debt.

      No one characterized the acquistion as a rescue, described instead as a synergistic union that would help both trawler brands grow.

      As recently as February 2024, President and co-founder Kurt Dilworth was still bullish, as he spoke to marine writer Norris Comer:

      Our shared resources both from engineering to interior design work and then hopefully, at some point, assembly and building expertise will start to mesh. Who knows what that’ll bring?

      From the American Tug standpoint, no one dreamed it would bring doom. The AT bankruptcy would not be the reorganize-and-keep-working Chapter 11 type, but straight to liquidation. In Chapter 7 bankruptcy assets are sold and creditors repaid, usually for pennies on the dollar all around.

      When the Krogen executives filed bankrupcy papers earlier this month, American Tug had four boats in various stages of production.

      According to the bankruptcy filing, progress payments for these boats totaled $1.5 million during the first six months of this year. Based on the price and reported stages of completion for the four vessels—two 435s and two 365s—American Tug could have collected another estimated $1.7 million if they were completed by the end of 2026.

      That’s an estimated $3.2 million in revenue, even if no new boat were ordered.

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      This would have been down from the roughly five-and-a-half-million totals for 2024 and 2025, but why would 2026 have been less survivable than the Covid years, during which only one boat was being built?

      This is undoubtedly one of the questions that Joe and Tana Ganete of Gig Harbor, Washington, were asking when they convinced the Skagit County Sheriff’s Department to investigate the American Tug insolvency for potential fraud.

      The Ganetes have put $700,000 down so far on one of the 365s under construction. They like the other three buyers are considered “unsecured creditors” under the bankruptcy—pennies-on-the-dollar people.

      In the nine months since the acquistion, three boats were sold, according to Kadey-Krogen President Tucker West, as quoted in a magazine article. Based on a stated 25 percent completion, the fourth boat being built was likely since that January 2024 article in Soundings Online.

      Other questions suggested by the AT bankruptcy filing include:

      • If the company had no debt in mid-2023 and earned revenues of more than $5.5 million in 2024 and 2025 and $1.5 million so far in 2026, why does the company now owe $1.1 million in unsecured claims—a figure that does not even include the four boat buyers?
      • Why does American Tug owe about $588,000 in unpaid state and county taxes, going back to fiscal year 2024-25?
      • What was the purpose of 20 payments, totaling $499,000, from AT to Kadey-Krogen in the 90 days before the bankruptcy filings? The required look-back under bankuptcy regs is 90 days; what were the amounts and the pace of inter-company before that?
      • What is the story with $177,000 in loan payments to third parties in those final days and thousands of dollars in credit-card reimbursements to Tucker West?

      $499,000 Transfered to Kadey-Krogen Yachts

         
      From the American Tug banruptcy filing of July 6.

      American Tug declared bankruptcy at the same time as Kadey-Krogen, as part of the Krogen group. Krogen President Tucker West described the financial structure of his company up to and after the AT acquistion. He said Krogen had just created a third brand, Summit Motor Yachts.

      West describes Krogen’s move to private equity funding ahead of the American Tug deal in an interview published by Soundings Online in January 2024:

      Soundings Online: Soon after Summit was created, in 2021, the Kadey-Krogen Group had more changes. Tom Button retired and Larry Polster moved into a sales role. That’s when you moved up to president and CEO, with growth-equity capital to help the transition, right?

      Tucker West: That’s correct. I ended up finding the first guy I ever met when I moved to Rhode Island in 1978, one of my best friends. He’s in private equity. He put together a group to buy out Tom and Larry. The group owns 67 percent and I own the rest. They’re silent partners. He doesn’t know the difference between port and starboard or bow and stern, but he loves coming on the boat if somebody who knows what they’re doing is running it. It’s great because he’s got strengths with financials, which is not my strong suit. It’s been a really, really good setup.

      Tucker West signed the bankruptcy filings, but Gavin M. Gray is listed as having served as sole manager of Kadey-Krogen and American Tugs through KKY Holdings, whose voting members included three investors 2820 Partners LP, Yellow Leaf Investments LLC and Summit-KKY LP.

      Any police investigation into the surprise bankruptcies of these two quintessential trawler brands is going to run into the challenge of gathering evidence to show criminal behavior and/or criminal intent. And, even then, what may look like nefarious conspiracy at first glance can often be later explained as simple incompetence.

      LOOSE CANNON covers hard news, technical issues and nautical history. Every so often he tries to be funny. Subscribe for free to support the work. If you’ve been reading for a while—and you like it—consider upgrading to paid.

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    • Jul 30, 2026by:   Curtis Hoff No Comments

      Squalls on the horizon, from way up high – CoastalReview

      https://coastalreview.org/2026/07/squalls-on-the-horizon-from-way-up-high/

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    • Jul 30, 2026by:   Curtis Hoff No Comments 33.3735,-79.28859999

      SCDNR Coastal Updates August


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      SCDNR Coastal News Updates Banner
      atlantic sharpnose

      A SCDNR biologist holds an Atlantic sharpnose shark after measuring and tagging it as part of a routine longline survey. Tagged animals are released back into the ocean. (Photo: Erin Weeks/SCDNR)

      Welcome to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Coastal Updates newsletter! You are receiving this email because you attended one of our public programs or signed up for updates from our agency. In this monthly newsletter, you’ll find the latest outdoors news, volunteer opportunities, useful career information and more. We hope it will help you enjoy and protect our state’s beautiful coastline.

      What’s happening outdoors along the coast in August?

      • It’s HOT out there–and not just on land. High temps stress fish too. Consider avoiding fishing for large, adult red drum until temperatures drop and spawning ends in October.
      • Florida manatees migrate to South Carolina when the water is warm to enjoy our aquatic vegetation. Want to help these visitors on their journey in South Carolina? Report your manatee sightings to SCDNR biologists here.

      Events Volunteer HeaderWomen’s Inshore Saltwater Fishing Clinic (Georgetown, SC) |  Thursday, July 30th, 8:30AM – 11:30AM  | This clinic will teach you how to tie fishing knots, rig a rod and reel and cast. Women ages 12+ are welcome. You must RSVP here to attend.

      Saltwater Fishing Clinic (Okatie, SC) |  Saturday, August 1st, 8:30AM – 3:30PM  | In partnership with the Port Royal Sound Foundation Maritime Center, we’re offering 2 fishing clinics as a component with the Inshore Slam Fishing Tournament. We will teach you how to tie knots, rig your rod, cast, what bait to use and what fish you can catch! You must RSVP here to attend.

      Surf Fishing Clinic (Murrells Inlet, SC) |  Thursday, August 6th, 7:30AM – 10:30AM  | You will learn how to set up your tackle, tie fishing knots, choose the best rigs and bait and surf cast. Kids ages 6+ to adults are welcome. You must RSVP to attend.

      Saltwater Pier Fishing Clinic (Hunting Island, SC) |  Saturday, August 8th, 8AM – 11AM  | You will learn how to tie fishing knots, rig a rod and reel and cast. Kids ages 6+ to adults are welcome. You must RSVP here to attend.

      Flounder Fishing at the Pier (North Myrtle Beach, SC) |  Saturday, August 8th, 8AM – 11AM  | This flounder fishing pier clinic will teach you how to tie fishing knots, rig a rod and reel for flounder, cast, techniques and more! Kids ages 6+ to adults are welcome. You must RSVP here to attend.

      Saltwater Pier Fishing Clinic (North Myrtle Beach, SC) |  Wednesday, August 12th, 8:30AM – 11:10AM  | This pier fishing clinic will teach you skills on how to tie fishing knots, rig a rod and reel and cast. Ages 6+ to adults are welcome. You must RSVP here to attend. 

      Advanced Surf Fishing (Myrtle Beach, SC) |  Wednesday, August 12th, 6PM – 8PM  | This class will teach skills on how to tie your own fish finder rig, advanced knots and more technical aspects to surf fishing. Kids ages 6+ to adults are welcome. You must RSVP here to attend.

      SCORE MWR Fabrication (James Island, SC) |  Wednesday, August 19th, 9AM – 12PM  |  Join SCORE and Casual Crabbing with Tia to build manufactured wire reefs (MWRs) that will be used as substrate for larval oysters! All volunteers must RSVP ahead of time in order to secure your spot as slots are limited. 

      Blue Crab Crabbing & Tagging Clinic (McClellanville, SC) |  Wednesday, August 26th, 8AM – 11AM  | Participants will learn recreational crabbing techniques, blue crab biology, new South Carolina blue crab regulations and conservation best practices. Participants will be helping collect data and tag blue crabs for ongoing research under SCDNR biologists’ supervision. All ages are welcome. You must RSVP to attend.

      ACE Basin Fun Day (Edisto Island, SC) |  Saturday, September 12th  |  Save the date! More information to follow.

      Jobs and Career

      We’re hiring!

      Natural Resources Technician II |  Colleton County, SC  | This employee will be part of the ACE Basin NERR Stewardship program, and will assist with the management of McKenzie Field Station in Bennett’s Point, South Fenwick Island WMA and St. Helena Sound Heritage Preserve/WMA.

      General Maintenance Technician III |  Charleston County, SC  | This employee will be responsible for completing tasks on the Upper Coastal Waterfowl Project.

      Natural Resources Technician II |  Berkeley County, SC  | This employee will be responsible for assisting project staff in the operations and pond grow out of numerous species of fish at Bayless Hatchery and Dennis Wildlife Center.

      Natural Resources Technician III |  Berkeley County, SC  | This employee will be responsible for assisting the hatchery manager with all pond harvest activities at Bayless Hatchery and Dennis Wildlife Center.

      General Maintenance Technician II |  Charleston County, SC  | This employee will be responsible for monitoring, maintaining, controlling, and repairing electromechanical systems (e.g. HVAC, plumbing, electrical, generators, lighting, safety systems, and other associated building systems).

      Vehicle/Equipment Repair Technician II (Hourly) |  Charleston County, SC  | This employee will work within SCDNR’s Vessel Operations Section at the Marine Resources Division. 

      Watercraft Captain I (Hourly) |  Charleston County, SC  | This employee will be responsible for piloting, navigating and operating SCDNR – MRD’s R/V Silver Crescent to support education and scientific research. 

      See all open SCDNR jobs here.

      tagged blue crab

      SCDNR crustacean biologist, Jordan, holds a tagged blue crab. (Photo: Erin Weeks/SCDNR)

      Other Opportunities with Partners

      Director of Preservation – Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor |  Remote within Gullah Geechee Corridor (NC, SC, GA, or FL)  | This is an exceptional opportunity for a preservation professional who is passionate about cultural stewardship, community collaboration and ensuring that one of America’s most significant living cultures is preserved for future generations. The deadline to apply is August 7th.

      Restoration Crew Member (Fall Cohort, 18 weeks) – The Sustainability Institute |  North Charleston, SC  | This cohort within the Environmental Conservation Corps will engage in habitat restoration activities in public parks, forests and waterways. The deadline to apply is August 10th.

      C.A.R.E. Scholarship – Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (SEAFWA) |  The Conservation Access, Relevancy, and Engagement (C.A.R.E.) committee is actively seeking students to participate in the 80th Annual SEAFWA Conference October 26th -30th in Nashville, Tennessee. The deadline to apply is August 14th.

      News Updates HeaderBerkeley County boaters asked to watch for manatees as gentle giants return to local waterways |  The Berkeley Observer

      Belle W. Baruch Foundation and SCDNR announce new partnership |  News 2

      SCDNR and Wounded Nature-Working Veterans remove nine boats at Johns Island landing |  ABC4 News

      SCDNR encourages reports of non-native blue land crabs |  News 2

      August and September are peak spawning months for red drum in South Carolina!

      August and September are peak spawning months for red drum in South Carolina, and successful spawning activity is critical to producing the next generation of red drum, like the fingerling seen below.

      If you’d like to help the population rebound, give these adult (or bull) drum a break from fishing pressure during these months. They’ll still be around when temperatures dip and spawning ends in October – after they’ve had a chance to contribute to next year’s crop of young fish.

      rd1

      Photo: David Fladd

       

      rd2

      Photo: SCDNR

      		 
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    • Jul 24, 2026by:   Curtis Hoff No Comments

      Cruisers’ Net Weekly Newsletter – July 24, 2026

      Cruisers’ Net Newsletter for this week has just been emailed via Constant Contact.
       
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    • Jul 22, 2026by:   Curtis Hoff No Comments

      Guilty Tugboat Captain Was Shopping Online – Loose Cannon

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      Guilty Tugboat Captain Was Shopping Online

      Under Plea Deal, He Will Serve a Year in Prison for Three Deaths

       
      		 
      		 
      		 
       

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      “My client is deeply remorseful for his conduct, he feels awful,” defense attorney Walter A. Reynoso told reporters after Tuesday’s hearing. “He feels awful about the unimaginable pain and loss suffered by the three families who lost their three very young daughters. Our thoughts remain with each of the families as they continue to endure this profound tragedy.”

      Yusiel Lopez Insua, 46, pleaded guilty Tuesday to seaman’s manslaughter in connection with the deaths of three girls learning to sail in Biscayne Bay. Insua admitted to operating a barge with obstructed visibility and without a proper lookout, which led to July 28, 2025 collision.

      Insua also admitted he was using his phone to visit the online shopping services eBay and Amazon. “Due to the obstructed visibility, and lack of a lookout, Insua did not see the stalled sailboat before the barge struck it,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release yesterday. “A forensic review of Insua’s cellphone revealed internet activity during transit, including at or near the time of the collision.”

      Under a plea agreement Insua will serve a year in prison and six months of home confinement. The maximum sentence for the manslaughter offense is 10 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for October 13.

      (More details on the accident may be found by following the link at the bottom of this story.)

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      What follows is the “factual proffer” behind the plea agreement:

      The United States of America, defendant Yusiel Lopez Insua (“the Defendant”), and the defendant’s undersigned counsel (collectively, the “Parties”), agree that had this case proceeded to trial, the United States would have proven the following facts beyond a reasonable doubt:

      On July 28, 2025, the Defendant operated a 25-foot tugboat that was affixed to, and pushing, a 108 feet long, 28 feet wide, and 149 gross ton construction barge (collectively “the Vessel”). The Vessel had the capacity for steering and propulsion. Due to the position of a deckhouse and a crane on the barge, the Defendant did not have waterline visibility in front of the Vessel, from his position in the Vessel’s pilothouse. While there was another person on the barge (“Individual 1”), Individual 1 was not designated as a “look out” and was not acting as a lookout on July 28, 2025. Individual 1 did not have a means of communicating with the Defendant from the deckhouse to the pilot house, and the Defendant did not take actions to ensure that Individual 1 was acting as a “look out.”

      On July 28, 2025, the Defendant was piloting the Vessel from a lot on Star Island to an empty lot on Di Lido Island to transport material from the deconstruction of a sea wall. Because the Defendant was driving the Vessel in the inland waters of the United States, he was subject to the United States Inland Navigation Rules, codified in 33 C.F.R. § 83, et seq. One such rule provides that “[a] power driven vessel underway shall keep out of the way of… [a] sailing vessel.” 33 C.F.R. § 83.18(a)(iv).

      On that same day—July 28, 2025—a group of children and young adults in a camp run by a local organization were sailing from the camp towards Monument Island. One such sailboat was a Hobie Getaway type sailboat which had a 13’ 6” foot tall sail (‘the Sailboat”). The Sailboat’s sole means of propulsion was wind and sail. The Sailboat was operated by Victim 6 and had five children aboard (Victim 1, Victim 2, Victim 3, Victim 4, and Victim 5).

      As the Sailboat progressed through Biscayne Bay, the wind suddenly died, leaving the Sailboat becalmed—unable to move under its own power. The Vessel, piloted by the Defendant, continued on a collision course towards the Sailboat. Because the Vessel was a power-driven vessel underway, it had a duty under the Navigation Rules to avoid collision. Despite this, the Defendant did not change course or speed. Victim 6, as alleged in the Information, attempted to warn the Defendant of the oncoming collision by waving her hands but the Defendant did not change course or speed.

      A forensic examination of Defendant’s cellular telephone revealed that it was unlocked while transiting from the lot on Star Island and in the moments prior to and at the collision demonstrated activity on eBay and Amazon.

      The Vessel—operated by the Defendant—collided with the Sailboat. Victim 4, Victim 5, and Victim 6, as alleged in the Information, escaped being pulled under the water by the Vessel as the Vessel continued to travel over and on top of the Sailboat, eventually submerging it and pinning it under the barge’s hull. However, Victim 1, Victim 2, and Victim 3, as alleged in the Information, were trapped underwater, pinned by their life jackets to the bottom of the barge’s hull. Victim 1, Victim 2, and Victim 3 perished by drowning.

      The above conduct given the attendant circumstances constituted the required negligence under Title 18, United States Code, Section 1115. This negligence caused Victim 1, Victim 2, and Victim 3’s deaths. The Defendant had a duty to avoid a collision.

      The facts described above are not intended to be a complete recitation of the facts of this case and are merely intended to form a basis for the undersigned Defendant’s knowing, willful, and intentional plea of guilty to Counts 1 and 2 of the Information.

      LOOSE CANNON covers hard news, technical issues and nautical history. Every so often he tries to be funny. Subscribe for free to support the work. If you’ve been reading for a while—and you like it—consider upgrading to paid.

       

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