Robert Jahn Quotations

Within two years of the Minturn disaster, they had lifesaving stations every four or five miles along the coast. The Minturn was right on the cusp of the glory days of the clipper ship trade, so the government had to do something to protect foreign trade and the shipping lanes.

It was the sandbars that would be the final stroke of bad luck. Some captains would deliberately go up on the beach, and try to save as many people as possible.

Back 160 years ago, we didn't have global positioning systems and ship-to-shore radio.

You could compare them to volunteer firemen today. The locals knew how to handle a boat ? and they weren't afraid to launch one in a storm.