Coast Guard Tests Vessel Stability In Mystic

On a clear, breezy day on the Mystic River, boat captain Greg Dubrule was closely monitoring the loading and moving of 55 gallon drums—soon to be filled with siphoned sea water—throughout his 65-foot fishing vessel.

The added weight, some 16,000 to 18,000 pounds, moved from the center of the ship Black Hawk, to starboard would, over time, cause the boat to list significantly and what otherwise would be a potentially worrisome event, was in fact done by design. A test to ensure the boat can hold the weight it's supposed to carry by simulating the worst possible passenger load conditions.

The stability test done by contracted marine inspectors and witnessed and certified by Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound officers was an hours-long process where math, measurements and meticulous deliberation were the rule of the day, all in an effort to practice a little preventative maintenance: the Coast Guard wants the boating public to know it’s about more than just search and rescue.

“We don’t just respond, we work to prevent (incidents),” said Lt. JG Erin Maureen Dixon. Dixon is public affairs officer for Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound based in New Haven.  

Safety, boat responsibility and preventative measures and precautions against disaster are the message.

“That’s the Coast Guard everyone knows: the little boat that goes out giving safety information. What we do is that and more,” said, retired Coast Guard, now marine inspector Adrian Kavanagh. Preventing disasters like overcrowded ferry sinkings, like those seen in Asia.  “It doesn’t happen here. We have a tremendous safety record.”

The stability test Friday in Mystic—a safety measure the Coast Guard requires in certifying the number of people that can safely ride on a vessel—was performed after a reconstruction of Debrule’s ship; he replaced his wooden bridge and deck with fiberglass.  

“The last test before we go fishing,” said Debrule, a fishing captain for 40 years. “It was a major change and it eliminated thousands of pounds of weight, but we need to know what we can hold safely.”

A number of inspectors, Coast Guard officers, Black Hawk crew and onlookers watched as barrel after barrel was filled with water, each weighing out at about 428 pounds, and simulating passengers, carefully positioned around the vessel as mathematical calculations were copiously copied and taken again as the boat began to sit lower and lower in the water and list to starboard.

Part of the reason this test was performed on this vessel had to do with the reconstruction but also because we’re heavier than we used to be: the average weight of Americans has increased from 160 pounds to 185 pounds, Dixon said.