Boat victims had hopes to remarry

Although Bernard and Lois Larson divorced 10 years ago, they never fell out of love. The trip they took this week aboard his 34-foot Star Ruby yacht was a weeklong date, a chance to get back together.

And it was working. They were having a wonderful time, said their son, Shawn Larson of Anchorage.

But on Thursday, Bernard Larson was killed and the woman he hoped to remarry was critically hurt when the Tollycraft yacht was crushed beneath the hull of a 19,000-ton ferry.

"She was desperately in love with him, even after all these years, and he loved her with all his heart," their son said.

He said the two had lived apart since his father moved from Alaska to Washington after their divorce. On a recent visit to Alaska, Larson called on his former wife.

"He asked her to come down and spend some time with him, and that put the sun back in her eyes," he said.

Bernard Larson, 72, died of a heart attack Thursday morning after the Star Ruby was run over by the Spirit of Vancouver Island ferry in Swartz Bay near Sidney, B.C.

Lois Larson was pulled from the water and taken to Victoria General Hospital, where she remained unconscious and in critical condition last night.

Shawn Larson said doctors don't expect his mother to live.

His parents - who met in Florida, moved to Alaska and were married 32 years - thoroughly enjoyed the early part of their trip. They were on their way to a Tollycraft rendezvous at Thetis Island 40 miles to the north when investigators say they tried to overtake and cut in front of the 549-foot-long ferry.

Shawn Larson said his father and mother were experienced and careful boaters and that something must have been happening on the boat to distract them.

Witnesses said the ferry captain - who has been at the helm of that particular vessel since 1994 - repeatedly sounded a whistle to warn the Star Ruby.

The collision was B.C. Ferries' third fatal one involving a pleasure boat in 40 years, a spokeswoman said.

Ferry captains in Puget Sound said they study hard to avoid that sort of collision, but at times it seems almost impossible to avoid.

"Sometimes there's no way to know what those little boats are going to do, and there is a point of no return. It takes a very long time to stop one of those ships," said George Terek, a Washington State Ferries captain.

While it takes a small vessel about five to 10 seconds to stop or reverse course, it takes a large ferry at least one minute to stop, according to ferry officials.

"There isn't any place you can really be complacent about it, because there are little boats everywhere, and it's a part of everyday life," said Terek.

Most such collisions and close calls are caused by poor judgment on the part of novice boaters, ferry captains say.

"You don't really need to know what you're doing to operate a boat," Terek said. "You can be out there and be ignorant of the rules of the road. The majority of close calls are caused by people who take their boat out once a year, and it's party time. They're drinking, and they aren't paying any attention."

Relatives and neighbors of Larson at the Port Angeles marina where he lived aboard the Star Ruby said Larson was an experienced and careful boater not likely to make reckless moves.

They said Larson was an excellent skipper who dressed neatly and kept his boat just as neat, and trimmed with all the latest gadgets.

Shawn Larson said his father was a master craftsman who could build, repair or design just about anything for a car, boat or home. The Star Ruby had radar, a global-positioning system and electronic sniffers to detect fuel leaks. At his slip in the marina, a satellite dish and TV antenna are attached to the piling.

"He had every little thing you could get on a boat," said Steve Hoveskeland, who keeps a boat near Larson's slip.

"He tried to be grouchy" but was kind at heart, Hoveskeland added.

"My wife called him a fake grouch."

Larson was an active member of the marina's yacht club, said Stan Maharaj, who helps run the club. "He told me he would be back for a boat race this Saturday," Maharaj said. "I will miss him."

Lois Larson, who was the head of payroll for the city of Anchorage until she retired, lived there in a home that she, too, kept immaculately groomed.

Neighbors said her garden was a showpiece, and she took part each year in the annual "City of Flowers."

"She just did so much for other people. She was always taking care of everybody else," her son said.

Shawn Larson said he and his three half-siblings - both his mother and father had children from previous marriages - are in Victoria hoping for his mother's recovery and waiting for his father's body.

"The only thing that's getting us through this," he said, "is thinking that they had a chance to be happy together again."

Christine Clarridge's phone message number is 206-464-8983. Her e-mail address is cclarridge@seattletimes.com