How not to keep your job Part II.......

[jesus marion joseph]

A friend of mine who used to work for the steamship authority alerted me to this story in today's Boston Herald. What isn't said in the article is that the heroic passenger acted before the ferry crew or the Coast Guard personnel (who were on board to monitor the man overboard drill) did anything to help the hapless seaman, and that both this incident and last year's incident were caused by the pilot ordering that the lifeboat be lowered before the ferry had come to a stop, causing the nose of the lifeboat to submarine and catapult the crewmen into the water. Needless to say, I don't think they passed the test:

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by Jessica Heslam
Wednesday, August 6, 2003

A New Jersey educator jumped at least 20 feet off a Martha's Vineyard ferry and into the water below, where he untangled a popular crew member who nearly drowned during a routine man-overboard drill, authorities said.


``I handed my shoes and my cell phone to my friend and said, `I'm going in.' Then I jumped off the top deck. I didn't want that guy to die,'' Farley Doucette said yesterday, a day after the daring rescue a mile off Vineyard Haven.

The near-tragic accident happened about 9:30 a.m. Monday as the Steamship Authority did a safety drill on board the Islander as it headed to Woods Hole.

Two crew members were tossed into the ocean when their rescue boat took on water and capsized after it was lowered into the water to fetch a dummy.

Authorities say 55-year-old Barry Brooks of East Falmouth was knocked unconscious and pulled underwater by the ferry when his leg became tangled in a line. Both crew members were wearing life jackets.

As ferry passengers and 19 sailing students on a nearby yacht watched in horror, Doucette jumped in.

``I landed in the water, came up, swam over to the guy and untangled the rope from his leg,'' Doucette, 47, said.

Doucette and the other tossed crew member, Mark LaLiberte, 43, of Worcester, hoisted Brooks onto the nearby yacht, authorities said. Brooks was in good condition yesterday at Rhode Island Hospital.

The Coast Guard is probing the accident, the second one of its kind in two years, officials said.

``This was an unfortunate accident and we are all very concerned for Mr. Brooks,'' said Steamship Authority spokeswoman Paula Peters.>>>