The Ethan Allen boat capsizing on Seneca Lake

¶ … Tragedy at Finger Lakes

It was a gorgeous day for anybody, but especially for visitors from out of state to take a scenic boat trip on an exceptionally beautiful lake. There is no nicer time of year to see this area than in the autumn when the trees are ablaze with color against a blue, blue sky. The passengers on the boat were mostly elderly people from the Detroit area, retired autoworkers and their spouses, eager for a glimpse of rural beauty. Who would guess the day would end in tragedy with the boat capsized and 20 of them dead on the bottom of the lake? The captain was a well-known, respected member of the community -- a retired State police trooper who loved his second career. No one trustworthier could be found, according to local authorities who have known him for years. How could such a terrible thing happen?

Investigators say weight and stability may have been the cause of the boat capsizing. The captain reported that he saw a large wake coming toward the boat and turned sharply to avoid it. It was just after that the boat capsized. Survivors say that most of the people were concentrated towards the front of the boat so that the weight may have been unevenly distributed, causing the boat to be top-heavy. Governor Pataki has suggested that State weight standards should be raised from 140 pounds per person to 174 pounds. This makes sense when you consider that Americans are the heaviest people in the world and Michigan residents are the heaviest in the United States. Certainly, most of those people aboard weighed more than 140 pounds, which may have resulted in the boat being overloaded.

Since the accident the boat's license has been suspended because the rules call for two employees to be aboard, the Captain and a crewmember. An extra person on hand might have seen the wake coming and warned the captain in time to prevent such a sharp turn. A crewmember might have noticed that people needed to spread out more evenly. A crewmember trained in life saving might have saved some of the old folks who got trapped underneath and couldn't swim out on their own.