Sol e Mar Tragedy off Martha's Vineyard

OnMarch 22, 1990, local fishermen Hokey Hokanson and his teenage son, Billy, setsail for Cape Cod in the Sol e Mar.

When disaster struck threedays later, Billy transmitted a brief, heavily garbled radio distress call.

Ahoax call immediately followed Billy's cry for help, and believing that the twowere connected, the U.S.

Coast Guard did not launch rescue units for severaldays.

The Hokansons' deaths prompted a new anti-hoax law and changed UnitedStates Coast Guard search and rescue procedures.

Historian Captain W. RussWebster, U.S. Coast Guard (Ret.), and journalist Elizabeth B. Webster chroniclethe fascinating story of the Sol e Mar and its crew and explainthe psychology of hoax callers and Coast Guard technological advancements sincethe tragedy.