Florida Maritime Accident Lawyer
Justice Thomas: Under-appreciated as a Supreme Court Justice and a Writer
Category: Supreme Court Rulings
For over 20 years I have been telling people that Justice Clarence Thomas is the most under-appreciated Justice on the United States Supreme Court. The first time I said it I was speaking to the Duval County Republican Party, a friendly audience, and even there some people were skeptical.
If you doubt his scholarship, read the opinion in Townsend v Atlantic Soundings which can also be found on the Supreme Court web site.
When reading the opinion, look at the logical progression of the argument: historically punitive damages were available at common law; the general maritime law adopts the common law; the general maritime law can be modified by Congress; Congress has not modified the general maritime law in the area of punitive damages; hence, under appropriate circumstances punitive damages are an available remedy.
Look also at the policy behind the decision: we are a Court of Law. We review Cases and Controversies. We interpret the law---we don't make it. In a democratic republic the elected representatives of the people in Congress make the laws. Congress knows how to change the law regarding maintenance and cure if it wants to. Congress hasn't made a law on this subject, therefor the common law remains unaltered.
Thomas is the most democratic-thinking of Justices. He preserves the balance between Congress and the Courts as the Founding Fathers envisioned it. He maintains the checks and balances which Jay and Hamilton considered necessary to the continuing vitality of the nation.
Look at the clarity of the writing. Most Supreme Court opinions are dense and incomprehensible even after multiple readings. Justice Thomas writes clearly, directly, and to the point.
Finally, look at the eloquence of the language:
"The laudable quest for uniformity in admiralty does not require the narrowing of available damages to the lowest common denominator approved by Congress for distinct causes of action."
Although "Congress . . . is free to say this much and no more," we will not attribute words to Congress that it has not written.
These are very profound and concise principles of Constitutional Law. They should be quoted frequently.
No, Justice Thomas is under-appreciated by lawyers, by law professors, and hence by the news media. The media rely too much on others for their conclusions about his greatness as a Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
As for you, you should read his opinions yourself and form your own conclusions. I think if you do you will find his to be a great legal mind.
I applaud him.
Scalia, Stevens, and the Battle Over the "Chevron Doctrine"
Category: Supreme Court Rulings
June 25, 2009 will be the 25th Anniversary of Chevron v NRDC (467 U.S. 837). 25 years, and it's still causing problems.
Today the Supreme Court came out with its decision in Entergy v Riverkeeper, which essentially decided that the EPA could do cost-benefit analyses in determining whether to approve a cooling system on a power plant which destroys aquatic organisms. Justice Scalia said that you could, Justice Stevens said that you couldn't and that every power plant needed to use the "best available technology" regardless of its cost. If I were in Congress, I would have voted for best possible technology among those technologies which as cost effective. If I were on the Court, I don't know. Congress seems to have spoken, but so has the EPA. Therein lies the problem--Chevron strikes again.
The more interesting and personalized effect of the ruling it is that is another salvo in the battle between Scalia and Stevens over the Chevron Doctrine. The Chevron Doctrine says "a court may not substitute its own construction of a statutory provision for a reasonable interpretation made by the administrator of an agency." It delegates too much authority to administrative agencies and takes too much discretion away from Article III Courts who, after all, were delegated the authority by the Constitution to interpret the law, not to defer to Executive Department officials interpret the law. If the bureaucrat's interpretation is good, the Court will undoubtedly agree, but it is entitled to no more deference than the opinion of any other party interpreting a statute.
Anyway, Justice Stevens wrote Chevron in 1984 and Scalia joined the bench in 1986. Ever since, Scalia has used Chevron to thumb his nose at Stevens as if to say "Don't complain to me. You wrote Chevron. This is what you get when you give the EPA such authority."
Justice Scalia was a professor of Administrative Law before ascending to the bench, so he has seen lots of administrative decisions over the years, and knows how powerful agencies have become.
The real goal here needs to be to scale back Chevron. I doubt that Justices Scalia and Stevens ever go fishing together, but perhaps the other seven could get together and soften Stevens up a bit on Chevron. Perhaps it wasn't such a good thing in the long run.
WHAT I WISH I HAD SAID TO JUSTICES SCALIA & BREYER
Category: Supreme Court Rulings
On Monday I had the privilege of making my first appearance before the to the U.S. Supreme Court. Boy, was it intimidating. The case was about punitive damages and maritime law. It goes by the name of Atlantic Soundings v Townsend, and you can find the transcript on the Supreme Court's website at:
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/08-214.pdf
I had prepared and prepared, tested my arguments before panels of law professors and lawyers at the law schools of Georgetown University, where I got my Masters in Law, and the University of Texas, where the countries best experts on punitive damages in maritime law teach.
I had written out questions that I thought I might be asked, and had written out 30 second answers to each of those questions. I had studied and read and run the arguments over and over in my mind until I couldn't think of anything else to do, but it still wasn't enough. Do you know why? Because when you first stand before those eight men and one woman, look at the Chief Justice and say "Mr Chief Justice, may it please the court" you begin to realize that these are nine of the smartest people in the United States of America. They may put on their pants, or their pant-suits, one leg at a time just like the rest of us, but they are smarter than us.
Not only that, but seven of the nine of them are older than I am, and I've always been taught to respect my elders. However, to me none of them was more intimidating than Justice Antonin Scalia.
Justice Scalia was a law professor. He taught Administrative Law at the University of Chicago. He sits at the left hand of the Chief Justice, and was appointed to the bench by Ronald Reagan. Imagine that. This guy knew Reagan! Who am I to question this guy?
Well, the argument was going okay until Justice Scalia started asking questions, and I'm afraid a didn't do as well after that. He's funny. When he talks, people chuckle-sometimes they even laugh. When your making the most important oral argument in your life, you don't want to hear people behind you chuckling. It's unnerving.
So there I am, doing my best to be helpful to the Court. I am trying to be respectful. I am trying to be truthful, even if it hurts my case. I'm trying to represent my client, Edgar Townsend to the best of my abilities, and Justice Scalia is making people laugh.
Well, I don't you people who read this argument to think I am a dunce, so here is what I really wish I had said to Justice Scalia's questions:
Continue reading "WHAT I WISH I HAD SAID TO JUSTICES SCALIA & BREYER "
Dolphin Lands in Boat in New Smyrna Beach
Category: Boating Accidents
Last month a 9 foot long, 400 lb bottle-nosed dolphin leapt into a 17-foot open sport fishing boat with four people on board. One of the passengers was knocked unconscious and sent to the hospital with cuts and bruises to her face. "There was blood everywhere" according to one of the victims.
Laura Hall and her boyfriend, Montie Henderson, were taking her visiting parents, Norman and Barbara Howard for a cruise. The Howards were visiting from Mansfield, Ohio.
"We all saw it jump right out of the water, and we're like, 'Oh my God ,are you all right? Are you OK?' It was like really crazy," said David Kop, a fisherman. "I could see that they had a dolphin right on the front of the bow of their boat and it was flapping all over the place," said John Rice, a witness.
The boat was passing beneath a the north causeway in New Smyrna Beach when the accident happened. Norman Howard, 64, said that he didn't see it coming but that "the next thing I knew, a big old fish was on top of me." The tail hitting him felt like punches from a boxer. Richardson was eventually able to roll the dolphin out of the boat. The U.S. Coast Guard was referred 911 calls from witnesses, and reached the boat in Edgewater. Florida.
University of Hawaii Sailor Killed in Sailing Accident
Category: Boating Accidents
Even experienced sailors can get hurt and killed in boating accidents. A member of the University of Hawaii Co-ed Sailing Team was killed in a sailing accident about two mile off of Waikiki Beach recently. Peter "PJ" Wenner, 19, a sophomore at the U of H, who is from Los Angeles, drowned when the 18 foot "high-performance skiff" he was sailing capsized. He was trapped underwater when his trapeze harness
got caught on the trampoline rack, holding him under water. He was eventually recovered by a safety boat which was on the scene. He died in the hospital two days later.
Rahm Emanuel: "Death!" to his Opponents
Category: Politics and Government
The clearest indication of what kind of administration Barack Obama will run comes from his appointment of Rahm Emanuel as his Chief of Staff. Emanuel accepted the position on November 6, 2008. Less than five days later, an Obama aide "who described the discussion on grounds of anonymity, citing the private nature of the meeting" leaked the contents of the private meeting between President George Bush and President-elect Obama to the New York Times and the Associated Press. Specifically what was leaked was the fact that Bush said he might support a bail-out of American auto manufacturers and their union members in exchange for Democrat concessions of a free trade agreement. Was Emanuel the source of the leaks? Who else, beside Obama himself, would know what went on at the private meeting?
After creating the news story, then Emanuel went on TV with his former Clinton Administration co-worker George Stephanoplous, who is now on ABC, and blasted Bush.
What emerges here is a bitter liberal partisan who will be the true "power behind the thrown" while President Obama projects a smooth presidential image as a "reasonable guy." Emanuel is ethically challenged and temperamentally rash. According to an article in Rolling Stone Magazine, after the 1996 election "he stood up at a celebratory dinner with colleagues from the campaign, grabbed a steak knife and began rattling off a list of betrayers, shouting 'Dead! ... Dead! ... Dead!' and plunging the knife into the table after every name."
What we can also expect from an Obama/Emanuel Administration is more failed social policies. Emanuel is one of the architects of the subprime loan crisis, having served on the Board of Directors of Freddie Mac after being appointed by President Bill Clinton in 2000. It was during that time that loan underwriting standards were reduced so that more borrowers with poor credit, a majority of whom were minorities, could qualify for loans. You can read the 185 page SEC report on ABC News' website. The CEO of Freddie Mac at the time was Leland Brendsel who later became an Emanuel booster, contributor, and adviser. Brendsel was eventually required to return over $13 of his salary from Freddie Mac to account for irregularities in how he ran the company.
Queen's Harbor Collision Results in Three Fishermen landing in Water
Category: Boating Accidents
A collision between a 48 foot boat and a 22 foot boat carrying three fishermen resulted in the fishermen landing in the water and their boat being sunk. The accident happened last month near Queen's Harbor in Jacksonville. According to Tim Nagy, 41, of Fish Kill, New York, the boats were "going through a tight channel.[when] ... the boats collided." The larger boat "stopped and rescued us."
Fort Myers Real Estate Broker Drowns in Kayak Accident
Category: Boating Accidents
Frank D'Alessandro, 52, was a wealthy and well known Fort Myers real estate mogul who made millions investing in and selling real estate in the once booming market in Southwest Florida. Last month he was kayaking in New Jersey when he drowned. His blood alcohol level was over .26 when his body was recovered.
He had gone to New Jersey to visit his ill mother. He was kayaking alone, something he did for exercise. When he failed to return, a search and rescue operation was begun.
According to an editorial mourning his death in the Naples Daily News D'Allessandro's "name appeared on seemingly every "for sale" or "for lease" sign on property in Fort Myers, and more so lately even in Collier County. He succeeded at making his name nearly synonymous -- also via newspapers and television -- with the region's real estate action."
Florida's Worst Boating Accident netted drunk driver 85 years
Category: Boating Accidents
It was ten years ago that Stanley Cameron, a divorced father of six, crashed his speedboat into a 31 foot cabin cruiser, killing six people on board. He was intoxicated at the time of the accident. In another 75 years, he was to have been released from prison.
Since his original sentencing, Cameron has gotten his sentence reduced from 85 years to 50 years. He is set to be released in 2057.
The accident occurred in the Intracoastal Waterway in Fort Lauderdale.
Sarasota Restaurateur Killed in Boating Accident
Category: Boating Accidents
The 49 year old co-owner of two Mexican restaurants in Bradenton and Venice Florida was killed recently in a boating accident off of Bradenton Beach on a recent Sunday afternoon.
Gary Ogden was one of the owners of Mi Pueblo El Restaurante Mexicano and Cantina. He was apparently standing on the bow of a 42 foot boat while the boat was jumping 4-6 foot seas in the Gulf of Mexico. When he was ejected from the boat into the water, the boat struck him, causing severe lacerations to his head. Spectators were kept from the scene when his body was returned to shore.
There were seven other people aboard the boat when the accident happened. The Florida FWS is investigating the cause of the accident.
Man Ejected from Boat Suffer Hypothermia
Category: Boating Accidents
A man ejected from a boat on the Escambia River last month was taken to Jay Hospital to be treated for hypothermia. He was the lone occupant of a 14 foot aluminum boat when he made a quick turn and was ejected. When FWC officers arrived, they were initially unable to locate him even though his wife, who was on-shore, observed him being ejected and did not see him re-surface. The boater was treated for minor bruises on his hip as well.
Remembering a 2006 Injury Caused by another Leaping Ray
Category: Boating Accidents
Collisions with flying with flying sturgeon have become almost commonplace on the Suwanee River in recent years. However, a spotted eagle ray did leap into another boat in Broward County in October 2006. In that incident a stringray leapt out of the water into the boat of 81 year old James Bertakis. A foot-long barb from the ray stuck into Bertakis' chest and entered his heart chamber. He lived, but only after several weeks in intensive care. Now, at the age of 83, he has made an almost full recovery.
Michigan Tourist Killed by Ray
Judy Kay Zagorski, 55, from Pigeon, Michigan, was heading out for a day of fishing in the Florida Keys on a rented fishing boat with her sister and elderly parents. Ten minutes after they left Key Colony Beach, in Marathon, Florida heading for the Atlantic Ocean, she was killed in a freak accident involving a 75-pound spotted eagle ray. The ray had jumped into the air and struck Zagorski and her sister as they were sitting together in front of the console of a 25-foot fishing boat. Zagorski's sister survived, suffering a bad bruise, but Judy Zagorski hit her head and died from the impact.
Her sister performed CPR on her while her father drove the boat to the dock. Their cell phones didn't have service, so a neighbor called 911 and emergency personnel arrived within minutes.
One witness said that the ray, which had a 6 foot wingspan, was so big it took up about half of the front of the boat.
Florida DEP Diver Dies in Diving Accident
Category: Boating Accidents
Rusty Mason was a 54 year old employee of Florida's Department of Environmental Protection Office of Coastal and Aquatic Managed Areas. He died last month while working on a coral reef restoration project in the Dry Tortugas.
Mason, who was a certified dive instructor, was one of seven people working aboard the Key West-based PV (patrol vessel) Peter Gladding, a NOAA vessel. He was working with another diver when he lost consciousness during a 3 to 5 minute decompression stop at about 15 feet below the surface. The other diver, Raul Peña-Lopez, of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, tried to keep Mason alive by giving him air from his own tank, but eventually he had to let Mason go.
When Peña-Lopez returned to the surface, two other divers immediately went down and recovered Mason from the bottom, 100 feet below. The members of the crew of the MV Peter Gladding took turns giving him CPR during the 15-mile boat trip to Fort Jefferson and a 75-mile rescue helicopter flight to the Lower Keys Medical Center near Key West.
Last October the 430 foot long Bahamian registered refrigerated cargo vessel MV Green Chile illegally anchored in the coral reef off of Dry Tortugas. The area is protected under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act. The location was declared a no-anchor area by NOAA in 1977 to protect the coral-reef environment there.
Mason graduated from the Florida Institute of Technology in 1976 with a BA in Oceanographic Technology. He moved to the Keys in 1990 to work at the Looe Key Reef Resort as a vessel operator and dive instructor. In 2002, he went to work for the Florida DEP's Office of Coastal and Aquatic Managed Areas.
Titanic Sinking a Product's Liability Case
Category: Cruise Ship Injuries and Accidents
You recall how it happened in the movie Titanic--Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are in the cargo hold, having just made love in the back seat of an automobile. They exit the car just as the ship hits an iceberg. The jagged edge of the iceberg slits a gash in the steel shell plating on the starboard side of the vessel, buckling the frames and causing the water to come rushing in. Guess what? According to researchers at Johns Hopkins University, it didn't happen that way.
It turns out that in the year 1911, the shipbuilding industry was on the verge of a revolution in materials. Steel, a combination of iron, manganese and other metals, was on the way in and pure iron was on the way out, and the most important place to use the newer, stronger material, was in the rivets. Consequently, the Titanic was built with steel rivets throughout its middle, where a ship experiences the most stress. However, in the bow and the stern the plates were held together with iron rivets, and it turns out that many of those were substandard.
How did they discover this, you may ask? The 1996 expedition to the graveyard of the Titanic in the northern Atlantic Ocean showed that the iceberg had never penetrated the hull, there was no gash in the side, and the water which caused the world's largest ocean liner to sink in 1912, costing over 1500 lives, came in through the seams between nine sets of adjacent plates in the bow of the vessel. The expedition also recovered some of the rivets from the hull, and took them ashore for testing.
By comparing the chemical composition and grain structure of the rivets from the Titanic with the chemical composition and grain structure of rivets from the Brooklyn Bridge, which was completed in 1883, researchers were able to discover that the Titanic rivets has up to three times the amount of impurities and slag as the Brooklyn Bridge rivets did.
What does this mean for us today? It can be taken as an important lesson that lack of care in even small jobs can have catastrophic results. In the mid 1300's a children's nursery rhyme was written that went like this:
For want of a nail the [horse]shoe was lost.
For want of a [horse]shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a nail.
Each of us may feel that our jobs are small and insignificant. However, what each of us does each day makes a difference. Because the powerful play of life goes on and each day, and each you and I have the opportunity to contribute a verse.
Accident kills one off Key Largo in Drowning Incident
Category: Boating Accidents
A 69-year-old Miami man died recently while throwing a cast net to collect bait. The accident happened off of Key Largo. Roberto Romero threw the cast net but lost his footing and fell into the water from the 21 foot boat. When he was recovered, he was dead from drowning, even though his friend jumped in to rescue him. The current took him about 300 feet from the boat before a good-sam (maritime lingo for a "Good Samaritan) picked them up.
IGFA Billfish Royal Slam goes to 19 year old woman
Category: General
A 19-year-old girl from Destin recently became the youngest person to complete the IGFA's 8 species Billfish Royal Slam. In order to qualify for a grand slam, the angler must have caught striped marlin, spearfish, swordfish, black marlin, white marlin, Pacific sailfish, Atlantic sailfish, Pacific blue marlin, and Atlantic blue marlin. Each one of her eight species was catch-and-release.
Jordan McCullough caught her first billfish when she was only 8 years old and has enjoyed fishing with her father ever since. Weighing in at only 100 pounds, she has caught billfish as large as 750 pounds, and has set "a grander" weighing over 1000 pounds as her next goal.
Top-Ten Florida Counties for 2007 Boating Accidents
Category: Boating Accidents
Nationwide, there were 3,474 injuries and 710 fatalities from boating-related accidents in 2007. Overall, two-thirds of all fatal boating accident victims drowned and in 80% of the drowning incidents, the boats were less than 20 feet in length.
In Florida there were 668 accidents and 77 boating deaths in 2007. How big a factor was the sex of the operator in boating accidents? Ninety percent of the boaters killed were men. How effective were speed limits in preventing fatalities? Twenty-eight percent of the fatalities happened in manatee zones, no-wake zones, and other "restricted speed" zones. What kinds of boats were involved? Only 5% of the fatalities occurred on sailboats, which is one reason that I am partial to sailing. Twelve percent happened in canoes and rowboats, 31% of the accidents happened on jet skis, and 50% occurred in open motorboats.
Miami-Dade County led the state with 13 deaths. The Florida Keys, ranked No. 1 in the total number of accidents with 35. However, it had only 4 deaths. The Fish and Wildlife Commission ranks counties by the number of accidents, not the number of fatalities, and based upon that measure, the least safest counties in the State are:
10. Collier County (Naples)
9. Brevard County (Melbourne/Titusville)
8. Duval County (Jacksonville)
7. Volusia County (Daytona)
6. Lee County (Fort Myers)
5. Broward County (Fort Lauderdale)
4. Pinellas County (St. Petersburg/Clearwater)
3. Palm Beach County (West Palm Beach)
2. Miami-Dade County (Miami)
1. Monroe County (The Florida Keys)
Egypt Lake PWC Accident injures 2 teens
Category: Boating Accidents
Egypt Lake is barely even a lake. It sits in the middle of a residential neighborhood barely two miles north of Tampa International Airport. Over the years, it has become a favorite spot for jet skiers to practice wave jumping, sharp turns, and acrobatics, free from motorboat traffic. It was safe, or so it seemed. Last week, James and Benjamin Parker, ages 14 and 13, riding on their jet ski, crashed into a dock which projected into the lake, severely injuring both of them. Some witnesses speculated that the two brothers had tried to pass underneath the dock. It is estimated they doing between 15 and 20 mph. St. Joseph's Hospital was only a few blocks away. Nevertheless, the boys remain in critical condition.
In Florida, operators of jet skis, officially called "personal watercraft" must be at least 14 years old. Operators under 21 must have a boater safety identification card unless they are accompanied by someone over the age of 21, or someone holding a valid card. Operators and passengers must be wearing PFD's, and must only operate during daylight hours, 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset.
Someone commented that "letting at 13 or 14 year old run a jet ski is sort of like giving them the keys to the Porsche." Perhaps. Like any group of teenagers, some will be mature enough, and well trained enough to safely operate a jet ski. Others, not so much. We want to protect them, at the same time we want them to grow into responsible adults.
BUI's Plentiful at Billy Bowlegs Pirate Invasion
Category: Safety at Sea
The FWC arrested four PWC (i.e. jet-ski) operators for BUI during the Billy Bowlegs Pirate Invasion at Fort Walton Beach this year. While two of the men refused to take breathalyzer tests, the two that did registered 0.162 and 0.189 blood alcohol levels. For those of you unfamiliar with the breathalyzer, those number are pretty high. Over 3000 boats attend the annual celebration.
Okaloosa Boater Can't Leave Ex-Wife Alone
Category: Safety at Sea
An Okaloosa County man was charged with BUI last month after he used his boat to spray water on his ex-wife, who was in another boat near Crab Island on Choctawhatchee Bay. FWC officers didn't witness the incident, but when they later spotted the boat traveling at an excessive speed, they stopped it and arrested the driver. The breathalyzer showed that he was over the 0.8 presumptive limit for BUI and he was taken into custody.
Did he learn his lesson? Of course he didn't. The next day, after being released from jail, the man, without his boat this time, went to the Billy Bowlegs Pirate Invasion in Fort Walton Beach. There, he proceeded to beat someone to a pulp, and he was rearrested on charges of aggravated battery. He was treated to another night in the Okaloosa County Jail.
Moving Boats from Sand Bars can Cause Tragic Accidents
Category: Boating Accidents
These two accidents demonstrate why being near a boat while it is getting off a sandbar can be dangerous. In one incident, 21 year old Jimmy Spicer of Palm Harbor was helping to free a boat from Beer Can Island near Clearwater when the engine was started. He was struck in the head by the propeller and died. In a second incident, Ron Marshall of Arkansas was assisting a boater get off a sand bar in Pensacola when the boat operator suddenly put the engine into gear. The rope which Marshall was holding got caught in the propeller and amputated three of his fingers.
Dolphin Cruise Boat Strikes Destin Bridge
Category: Boating Accidents
The Destin Bridge was struck last month by a 65 foot dolphin cruise boat operating out of Destin Harbor. One passenger aboard the boat was injured, although the injuries appear to be minor. The accident was investigated by both the Coast Guard and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.
Elian Gonzales' Seizure Continues to Cause Controversy
Category: General
One boating accident between Cuba and Florida still causes controversy 8 years after it happened. Elian Gonzales washed ashore in South Florida in 2000 when the boat he was on capsized, killing his mother and they were fleeing from Cuba. He was 6 years old at the time.
Two high ranking members of Barrack Obama's staff were instrumental in Elian being removed at gunpoint from the home of his Miami relatives. Eric Holder, who is a member of Obama's VP search team, was deputy attorney general at the time. Greg Craig, an Obama foreign policy adviser, represented Elian Gonzalez's father in the custody dispute. Miami's Cuban community is planning to protest Obama's campaign in Miami.
According to Cuba's Communist newspaper "Young Rebel, " last month Elian Gonzales, who is now 14, was one of 18,000 teenagers who joined Cuba's Young Communist Union.
Two Teenagers Rescued from Burning Mega-Yacht
Category: Boat, Ship and Marina Fires
Two multi-million dollar mega-yachts were destroyed and a third damaged by fire at the Miami Beach Marina, but due to quick action by firefighters and other marina tenants, no one was killed. Two teenagers who were trapped in the hull of one of the burning yachts were only freed when firefighers and good Samaritans (known as "Good-Sams" in the boating community) used circular saws to cut a hole in the fiberglass hull while the fire raged out of control, with flames over 50 feet in the air above them. The two teens suffered from smoke inhalation as a result of the incident.