Sailor's death baffles his friends
Tom Kirschbaum loved the sea and was at home there, in good weather and bad. How the seasoned skipper ended up in the water and dead remains a mystery and an anguishing topic on some sailing websites.
June 1, 2010
Alone some 1,500 miles off the California coast in his 26-foot sailboat, Tom Kirschbaum logged about the enchantment of the open sea one day and the roller coaster swells and difficulty getting sleep another.
Completing the elite Singlehanded Transpac Race from San Francisco to Hawaii, as he did over 19 days in 2008, was a major feat for the Los Angeles attorney. He'd spent decades dreaming about it; years preparing and running qualifying races in Northern California's rough and windy waters. "I've been thinking about this for a long time — since fourth grade," he wrote on a sailing website just before the race.
So it was not surprising that, despite a May 23 gale advisory along the Southern California coast, the 57-year-old skipper, following some fellow sailors, apparently felt confident about heading back to Marina del Rey after finishing a local race to Catalina Island.
"He'd certainly been in major squalls," said attorney and sailing buddy Steven Thomas. "He knew what the boat could do."
How the seasoned, well-equipped and, by all accounts, methodical skipper ended up in the water and dead remains a mystery and an anguishing topic on some sailing websites.
Investigators recovered Kirschbaum's body Wednesday off Long Beach and are treating the case as an accident. No signs of foul play, obvious trauma or damage to the boat, which washed ashore in Venice that afternoon, have been reported. Kirschbaum was wearing a life vest. His safety harness was found in the boat's cockpit, properly secured to deck hardware, said a sailing associate, Eric Lambert, who inspected the beached craft after making the same channel crossing just ahead of Kirschbaum.
An official cause of death may not be established for weeks, according to the Los Angeles County coroner's office.
Colleagues, friends and fellow sailors last week were trying to absorb the abrupt passing of a successful lawyer known for his love of family, his dry wit and a mastery of corporate compensation law. "We all keep waiting for him to come around the corner saying, 'Let me tell you about my sailing adventure Sunday,' " said Thomas, who worked with Kirschbaum at the Irell & Manella law firm in Century City. "He was just a very fun guy.
"This is a terrible, tragic loss."
The Coast Guard, which searched 2,000 square miles of ocean for Kirschbaum before calling off the 22-hour effort, noted that the decision to head out to sea is up to a boat's skipper, based on weather conditions, his training, his and his crew's experience, his boat's capabilities and other factors. Small-craft and gale warnings are only advisory, said Coast Guard Lt. Ana Thorsson. "I can't say he should or shouldn't have" sailed that day, she said. "From what we can see, he had taken proper precautions."
Sunday's warning meant sustained winds of 39 mph and higher were expected offshore, Thorsson said. Nine-foot seas also were forecast, said Coast Guard Lt. Jim Hiltz, who added that his agency generally does not recommend that small boats go out in such conditions.
Indeed, those are abnormally rough seas for Southern California.
But Kirschbaum had experience with far worse conditions as a singlehanded racer, including during his trip to Hawaii, said LaDonna Bubak, editor of Latitude 38, a Northern California-based sailing magazine. "He was one of the most safety-conscious sailors I've ever met," said Bubak, who knew Kirschbaum from the years his boat was based in San Francisco Bay.
Friends also noted that Kirschbaum's boat, Feral, was a design widely recognized for its ocean-going capabilities.
Lambert, like Kirschbaum a member of the Pacific Singlehanded Sailing Assn., said he and other returning racers also crossed the channel from Catalina's Emerald Bay to the mainland on Sunday. "These were not extreme conditions," he said.
Kirschbaum's death was a poignant coincidence. Local Coast Guard units, in addition to leading the search-and-rescue effort, were promoting Safe Boating Week, noting that Memorial Day kicks off the heavy summer boating season.
"It's just kind of a heartbreaking reminder," Thorsson said. "No matter how experienced you are, things can still happen."
Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-missing-sailor-20100601,0,7650644,full.story--
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