Dan's Papers -November 6, 2009

There is a monument out at the Montauk Lighthouse dedicated to local people who are lost at sea while earning their livelihood off our shores. It happens every few years. Someone is blown overboard or there is an accident of some sort. At the annual Blessing of the Fleet ceremony every June, when Montauk's fishing boats parade before religious leaders for their annual blessing, the last boat is always a Coast Guard boat that, when required, carries on board the family members of those lost the previous year. After passing through the jetties and heading off for half an hour, the cutter approaches the Montauk Lighthouse, where wreaths are cast upon the water in memory of those who have died. It is a touching and important conclusion every year to the Blessing of the Fleet.

Because Montauk takes the loss of its men and women so seriously, and because the town relies so heavily on the work of our men and women at the Coast Guard station on Star Island for help in times of distress, it has come as a shock to the town that the current commander, a very dedicated, well-liked man, is being disciplined by his higher-ups.

Our chief is James Weber, and last week, he was temporarily relieved of his command for taking two crews of guardsmen aboard identical 47-foot Coast Guard surfboats into heavy surf conditions off Montauk this past August.

A review of the incident is taking place by order of Rear Admiral Joe Mimmich of the 1st District Headquarters in the Battery, and within a few weeks it will be decided whether the removal of Weber's command is to be permanent, or if some other outcome is possible. Perhaps he can be reinstated. Certainly the town hopes so.

There are three levels of certification that can be achieved by all commanders of ships in the Coast Guard. Each level is progressively more difficult than the one before. The first is Basic Coxswain for piloting a boat in normal weather. The second is Heavy Weather Coxswain for rough seas. The third is the most difficult of all and licenses coastguardsmen to pilot a ship for anything up to the Perfect Storm. All licenses have to be renewed every year to make sure that those holding them continue their level of training. There are certain training benchmarks that must be met.

Weber was certified at the highest level. He had achieved the certification of "surfman," but not at Montauk, because Montauk is not considered a heavy surf location. Inasmuch as Weber was put in command of Montauk, he was thus unable to train there to continue his surfman rating, and at the time of the incident, his certification had expired.

The incident itself was the arrival of 30-foot surf and 120 mile-per-hour winds of Hurricane Bill 50 miles east of Montauk. This hurricane created enormous surf to its west as it churned counterclockwise up from the southern Atlantic. In Montauk and throughout the Hamptons, people actually camped out on the beaches to watch the amazing surf created by the passage of this hurricane. It roared north at about 40 knots, and here, 50 miles away, our surf was 20 to 30 feet high for a period of 12 hours.

As this hurricane neared, Weber ordered his two surfboats out into the sea off Montauk for a training mission. He captained one of the boats and planned to train the captain of the other boat, who had never been certified to work ships in this kind of surf. They were out for several hours, struggling up one side of the waves and down the other and learning the best angles to approach them. According to the Coast Guard senior staff, during this time Weber was endangering the lives of his crew and putting brand-new million-dollar boats at risk.

"Mr. Weber stepped outside the rules the Coast Guard has in place to perform this operation," the charge temporarily relieving him says.

According to those on the scene, Weber spoke to the Section Commander of the Coast Guard at Shinnecock before ordering his men out. It is not known if Weber just informed Shinnecock of what he was about to do, or was asking permission, or what. Such surf conditions off Montauk come only once every 10 years or so. This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance for surf training at Montauk. All these matters are part of the investigation.

Neither of these ships are the largest in Montauk. The largest in the slips at Star Island is the 87-foot Cutter Ridley, commanded by Sr. Chief Boswains Mate Jeff Ryan. In heavy seas of this sort, the Ridley might have gone out for training, but it did not. Ryan does not report directly to Weber. Ryan was never asked.

How this will turn out nobody knows. The town hopes that Weber will just receive a reprimand and be back. No one was hurt. No ships were damaged. Everyone learned something.

Some years ago, this newspaper sponsored an event at the Montauk Lighthouse called "Flight to Portugal." People entering the event threw homemade model aircraft off the cliff there in hopes of winning a free trip to Portugal, which was the first prize offered by the Portuguese National Tourist Office in Manhattan.

Offshore at the start of that event was the Point Wells, the 80-foot cutter that preceded the Ridley as the largest ship in the Montauk Coast Guard Fleet. I had asked and was happy to have them out there, standing by if needed. Much of the Montauk fishing fleet, along with sport-fishing boats, the media, surfers, a band, a barbecue and a crowd of spectators were on hand.

It was a rough day, though, and about one hour into the event, the Point Wells got a call from a ship in distress in the 20-foot seas just off our shores, and they went off to assist. There were priorities for the Point Wells. Everyone understood that.

We are lucky to have a Coast Guard station in Montauk. I am glad there are priorities, and we are all glad that the crew there is highly trained to handle emergencies. We hope that Chief Weber will be back. But overriding that is the fact that the Coast Guard will do what it has to do to keep us safe.