California newlyweds ABANDONED during a snorkeling trip on their Hawaiian honeymoon forced to swim half a mile to shore and write ‘SOS’ in the sand: Tour company sued for $5M after miscounting boat passengers
- Alexander Burckle and Elizabeth Webster booked the trip for September 2021
- They claim they were left behind by the touring company while snorkeling in choppy waters
- They’re now suing for $5million claiming they feared they would drown on the half mile swim to the nearest island of Lanai near Maui
A Hawaii tour company is being sued for $5million because a couple claims they were left marooned in the ocean during one of the company’s snorkeling trips.
Alexander Burckle and Elizabeth Webster booked the trip with Maui Sail Company for Lanai, a tiny island near Maui, in September of 2021 as a honeymoon.
While on the 10am expedition from Lahaina Harbor in Maui with 42 other passengers, who had been told they would anchor the boat in one location for an hour while they went snorkeling, the couple swam out into the ocean.
But they began to get caught up in turbulent water that was becoming ‘choppy’ and they were unable to make their way back to the boat after 15 minutes of struggling against the waves. The boat then deserted them as they called for help.
‘They feared that drowning was imminent,’ the couple claimed in their lawsuit against Maui Sail.
Alexander Burckle and Elizabeth Webster (pictured) booked the trip with Maui Sail Company for Lanai, a tiny island near Maui, in September of 2021
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The couple desperately tried to stay afloat but their efforts led them into even deeper, more troubled waters.
All 44 passengers got in the water at around 10:50am and passengers returned to the boat at various times, the lawsuit said.
Burckle and Webster – both experienced at snorkeling – started to make their way back to the boat after about an hour in the water.
The suit alleges that they were facing waves up to eight feet high and realized that swimming to the island of Lanai, which tour guides had advised against, was their only way to survive.
They ‘were beginning to panic and were struggling to swim in the ocean conditions,’ they added in the litigation.
Fortunately, the couple was able to get to the shore of the island but were in bad shape, claiming in the suit they were ‘fatigued and dehydrated.’
They turned to some traditional methods of getting attention for a rescue, including writing ‘SOS’ and ‘HELP’ in the island sand.
They were later found and given water and the use of phones by local Lanai residents, identified as RJ and Shra Sanches.
The suit argues that when Webster got in touch with Sail Maui at around 1:15pm, three hours after they’d gone missing, they admitted they did not notice anyone was missing from the tour.
They said the first mate made three head counts and twice had said that they were two people short of the 44 guests before counting a third time and incorrectly saying all 44 were on board.
Their attorney, Jared Washkowitz, also claims that they weren’t given boundaries and didn’t identify a lifeguard or any kind of system for the tourists to help one another
Fortunately, the couple was able to get to the shore of the Lanai island but were in bad shape, claiming in the suit they were ‘fatigued and dehydrated.’
Sail Maui is being sued for $5million because a couple claims they were left marooned in the ocean during one of the company’s snorkeling packages
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Jessica Herbert, a fellow passenger on that cruise, told Good Morning America the staff assured the guests that ‘everybody was on.’
‘All accounted for, we started to take off, nobody’s looking behind them,’ Herbert added.
She claimed the crew had not forced everyone to stay in place and were left to count people moving around below deck.
Their attorney, Jared Washkowitz, also claims that they weren’t given boundaries and didn’t identify a lifeguard or any kind of system for the tourists to help one another.
Jessica Herbert, a fellow passenger on that cruise, told Good Morning America the staff assured the guests that ‘everybody was on’
The suit alleges that Sail Maui left them facing waves up to eight feet high and realized that swimming to the island, which tour guides had advised against, was their only way to survive
‘It can be really rough water even for people that are experienced in the ocean, much less visitors who may not have any ocean experience or especially not have experience in Hawaiian waters,’ he said.
The complaint said an investigation by the Coast Guard into the incident found negligence on the part of the captain, and that the company had since revised its procedures to require vocal contact with each passenger, according to BuzzFeed.
‘They spent a lot of time in the water and if they weren’t young, healthy people who were athletic, they probably would’ve drowned,’ the lawyer added.
A spokesperson for Sail Maui declined comment.
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