Newlyweds Elizabeth Webster and Alexander Burckle are suing a Hawaii tour company for allegedly abandoning them during a snorkeling tour. The couple was on a trip to Maui in September 2021 for their honeymoon. During this trip, they booked a Lanai coast tour with Sail Maui. This tour included 44 passengers snorkeling off what was once Club Lanai, a resort that is only accessible via boat.
The couple alleges that Sail Maui’s captain and crew failed to describe the boundaries of where they should snorkel, and when they should return to the boat. Webster and Burckle claim after about an hour in the water, they saw the boat begin to sail away. The couple says they waved their arms as a distress signal, but to no avail. They claim they were left behind in increasingly rough waters.
The Newlyweds claim they tried swimming toward the boat for about 30 minutes. But by then, the surf had risen to about 8 feet high. “Plaintiffs were beginning to panic and were struggling to swim in the ocean conditions,” the lawsuit states. “They feared that drowning was imminent. Plaintiffs realized the Vessel had left them and was not coming back for them, and they decided that their only option for survival at that point was to return to shore.”
They were able to reach the Club Lanai shore by about 1pm. Webster allegedly wrote “HELP” and “SOS” in the sand to alert passersby. Luckily about 10 minutes later, some people found them, and gave them water. They also let them borrow a cell phone to call for help.
What they believe happened is a Sail Maui lifeguard “finished corralling what she erroneously thought was the last passenger back onboard the Vessel, and the crew prepared to depart for the next dive site,” the lawsuit says. “One passenger later reported to the Coast Guard that when she returned to the Vessel, she reported to a crew member that Plaintiffs were still out in the water further out then where she had been, but the crew member assured her Plaintiffs were already accounted for.”
The lawsuit also claims a Coast Guard investigation into the incident found the “vessel master negligently performed duties with regard to operating the vessel because he did not uphold the company safety procedures.”
We’d also like to remind readers that the 2003 film “Open Water” is based on a similar real-life experience. Luckily for Webster and Burckle, it doesn’t sound like these waters are inhabited by sharks. Let alone Cocaine Sharks.
They are seeking $5 million in damages, and the case has been fittingly assigned to Judge J. Michael Seabright.
