The op-ed piece in Thursday's Record-Bee by former highway patrol officer Steve Davis demands response. Davis freely admits that during his career he had never been called upon to investigate a boating accident, and this is obvious from his conclusions.

Had he been more experienced he would have known that the laws, rules and customs of the U.S. Coast Guard are not catch-all boating laws his phrase but are well-established maritime laws designed to reduce accidents.

From responses to the television reports on the tragedy involving Deputy Perdock and sailor Dinius, it is apparent that many Clear Lake boaters need to brush up on these rules.

A good place for everyone to start might be the book Chapman's Piloting, Seamanship and Small Boat Handling which is the boater's bible. This would make it clear that in at least three basic areas, Deputy Perdock violated these rules:

--Speed. He admits to running at 40 knots or more on a moonless night, with limited visibility. This is the equivalent of driving 80 MPH in a school zone, and is an absolute invitation to disaster.

--Failure to yield right-of-way. The law clearly states that in virtually ALL cases a boat under power MUST give way to a boat under sail. Clearly


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deputy Perdock failed to do so.

--The overtaking vessel is the burdened vessel, meaning that its operator must assume responsibility not to overtake the lead boat and, in fact, must come to a complete stop if there is evidence that the lead boat operator either doesn't see him, or is uncertain as to actions either party might take.

The fact that Deputy Perdock's boat crashed into the stern of the sailboat, killing a passenger, demonstrates pretty clearly that this rule was violated.

Lieutenant Davis asks if it is reasonable to expect a powerboat operator to drive 15 miles and hour on the lake just because there might be a log or something else in the water.

Actually, 15 miles an hour is probably excessive on a dark night, because that something in the water might be a human head. In fact one of your readers stated in an earlier letter to the editor, that she enjoyed water skiing at night. What if she'd been out there skiing that night?

Davis also states flatly that Perdock had not been drinking, but apparently the Deputy may not have been tested until the next day, which would make that argument moot.

Whether or not the sailboat had its running lights on is also beside the point, even though many credible witnesses had said they were. If a driver whips around a corner at 45 MPH and crashes into a parked car, is he any less liable because the car had the lights off?

Finally, the Lieutenant makes a major point that the sailboat operators were intoxicated. Well, obviously nobody should operate any vehicle if they've had too much to drink, but the reason sailors seldom face charges if they are a point or two above California's low alcohol standard, is that the law generally concedes that anything traveling at four or five knots is probably not going to pose much of a threat.

Adding to the tragedy in this whole dismal affair, is Deputy Perdock's failure to assume responsibility for his actions. I understand that he is a fine law officer and an upstanding citizen and this was, after all, an accident. Had he only faced up to the problem, we would probably not be embroiled in the present controversy.