No Safe Harbor: The Tragedy of the Dive Ship Wave Dancer Book

Less than a month after September 11th, with the nation and world still deep in shock and mourning, Hurricane Iris, a category-four hurricane, gathered strength and speed in the Atlantic Ocean. On October 8, 2001, with winds of 140 miles per hour and a storm surge of fourteen feet, Iris hit Belize causing the worst disaster in the history of recreational diving. The Wave Dancer, a live-aboard dive boat, was torn from its moorings and tossed 150 yards, killing seventeen members of the Richmond (VA) Dive Club and three members of the crew.

The ship's captain, a relative novice, had disregarded hurricane warnings, staying at sea longer than any of the other boats that day; when at last he tied up, he left the Wave Dancer dangerously exposed. At the peak of the storm, the tremendous pressure on the boat's moorings and the exposed hull led to the capsizing of the yacht. NO SAFE HARBOR: The Tragedy of the Dive Ship Wave Dancer is a stirring account in the tradition of The Perfect Storm and Shadow Divers, as told by an eyewitness to the Wave Dancer's sad demise.

In the years since, the question of who was at fault in the Wave Diver debacle has bitterly divided the diving community. Many place blame on the captain and his employer, the Peter Hughes Company, a major player in the live-aboard diving industry, for being reckless. Others have questioned the judgment of the divers who stayed on board, a perspective that infuriates the families of the dead and the surviving members of the Richmond Dive Club.

NO SAFE HARBOR is a chilling, high-adventure tale and Burnworth attempts to bring closure while setting the record straight