Escapade Was Owned by the Treasure Island Cruise Line before Tradewinds Casino
A Georgia casino cruise line on its maiden voyage ran aground on a sandbar two miles out to sea, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The problem is the international waters line is 3 miles from shore, so the gambling on the ship may have been illegal, according to Georgia gambling laws.
In Georgia, all forms of casino gambling is illegal. Casino cruises exist which skirt the ban, because they can cruise out to international waters, where gaming is unregulated.
Tradewinds Casino Maiden Cruise
When the Tradewinds Casino (aboard a ship named “Escapade”) set sail last Saturday night for its maiden voyage, the idea was to get out to sea, then start gambling once in international waters. Unfortunately, the ship ran aground about 9:30pm, when it was still within Georgian waters.
Even before that time, things did not start well. The ship was late leaving port, leading to a certain amount of disgruntlement with the high-dollar crowd of gamblers assembled for opening night. Diane Davis remembers saying, “When I boarded the boat, being that you left the dock late, you ought to make up the difference so we get our full time gambling.”
Gambling Commences at Sea
Gambling began at the appointed hour, since the casino’s management knew the approximate amount of time it would take to reach legal waters. That was the schedule and the excited new customers had come to gamble. Eventually, it began to dawn on more and more people on board that the ship wasn’t moving.
Dina Cook, a passenger aboard the ship, says it was obvious they were no longer moving. Cook told reporters, “Clearly we weren’t 3 nautical miles [out], because we got stuck in the same spot since the night before and we were all still gambling.”
Still, no one thought anything was amiss until 1am, when the crew of the ship called everyone aboard below deck. Players were enjoying the games. Though they were out later than expected, they had left the port late, so many expected additional time gambling.
Dispute over Placement
The U.S. Coast Guard, which came to the rescue of the Escapade, says the ship ran aground about 2 miles out to see. The crew of the Escapade has a different story. They say they hit a sandbar at that point, but they continued to creep along the sandbar. Thus, they believed they were further out to sea than the Coast Guard sailors believe.
The real question is when the gambling stopped. The picture is still unclear when that happened. Even the patrons cannot agree on the timing of events–a common happening at night and without the usual placement markets to reckon by.
Clashing Stories
Eventually, the 100-plus passengers were rescued after 16 hours at sea. One passenger said the ship was tilted to one side, which may have made disembarking more difficult for the less agile gamblers. Two smaller boats were called to help in ferrying passengers back to shore. By that time, the crew had plenty of time to get their stories straight, while passengers had plenty of time to confuse the facts. Memories of a such a time often vary wildly from one person to the next. Dina Cook and Diane David serve as a good example.
Dina Cook says the gambling was most certainly illegal. She said, “What they were saying was ‘We’re in the guidelines of the laws.’ No, you weren’t.”
Diane Davis describes an entirely different story. Davis explained, “They shut them (the machines) off. And then we said, ‘Can you turn them back on” and they said, ‘No.’”
Investigation and Fines May Take Months
The news crew for a local television station, WJCL, asked the Coast Guard about its findings. A spokesman for the Coast Guard says the investigation is ongoing and is likely to be for the next several months. Therefore, they cannot comment on any potential fines.
WJCL News asked for an interview with the decision makers of Tradewinds Casino. At first, casino management agreed to the request. Upon learning the station planned to call their story “The Wild Escapade”, the casino personnel decided against the interview.
