Our clients v. The Mary Jane.
Confidential settlement. This is a double wrongful death action that happened just off the coast of Bodega Bay, California in the Pacific Ocean. The plaintiffs were the heirs of a father and son who went on a sports fishing outing for the day on a "party boat" called The Mary Jane.
The captain returned to port by taking a short cut that took his boat to an area where "sneaker waves" were known to be generated. A sneaker wave is a huge wave that is created near shore during the winter months. These waves are large enough to engulf or capsize a fairly large boat. The Mary Jane was hit by a sneaker wave that exceeded 20 feet in height and it threw several passengers off the boat, including the plaintiffs' father/husband and son/brother. They were swept from the boat and drowned.
