43°27′25″N 73°41′24″W / 43.456953°N 73.689938°W / 43.456953; -73.689938The Ethan Allen was a 40-foot, glass-enclosed tour boat[1] operated by Shoreline Cruises on Lake George in upstate New York.

On October 2, 2005, at 2:55 p.m. local time, with 47 passengers—mostly seniors—aboard, the Ethan Allen capsized and sank just south of Cramer Point in the Town of Lake George.

[1] Injured passengers and crew were sent to Glens Falls Hospital by ambulances from Lake George and the nearby towns of Hague, Warrensburg, and Moreau.

North Warren Emergency Medical Service (EMS), which incorporates the towns of Horicon and Chester, assisted in the effort.

Tourists at a nearby camp reported that the Mohican did not pass the area of the lake where the Ethan Allen sank until 20 minutes later.

[citation needed] On February 3, 2006, the official police report for the Ethan Allen sinking was released after a three-month delay.

The pilot of the Ethan Allen, Richard Paris, stated: I started to swing the bow of the boat to the right and immediately encountered stray waves from the wake of the Mohican that was going northbound.

[citation needed] On July 25, 2006, the final report for the Ethan Allen boating sinking was released by The National Transportation Safety Board.

[citation needed] When the owner of the Double Dolphin fitted the boat with an elaborate pipe structure and canvas top, the center of gravity was raised and, more importantly, the projected side area vastly increased.

No retesting to either Simplified Stability Proof Test (SST) nor to Subchapter S is recorded to have occurred under Coast Guard oversight after those modifications were carried out.

In 1989, when the owner had a hard (wood and fiberglass) top installed to replace the pipe structure canopy, it was determined that its lower height more than compensated for its slightly greater weight.

[citation needed] The NTSB carried out stability tests of a sister ship, to both the SST and subchapter S, and discovered that there was not anywhere near a 47-person capacity.

[citation needed] On February 5, 2007, a grand jury indicted Richard Paris, the boat's captain, and Shoreline Cruises on misdemeanor charges of criminal negligence.

A lawsuit was brought by the victims and their families in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York against Shoreline Cruises; its affiliate Quirks Marine Rentals; boat captain Richard Paris; Scarano Boat Building Inc., which modified the Ethan Allen; Shoreline Travel & Tours Inc., a Canadian firm that organized the leaf-peeping tour; and the Lake George Steamboat Company, operator of the Mohican.

"[10] On February 1, 2006, a service to community ceremony was held at the Glens Falls Civic Center to recognize the people, including paid professionals, volunteers, and citizens, who helped during the sinking.

Lake George Village Mayor Robert M. Blais said that plans were in the works for a memorial to recognize the victims and the survivors sometime around the one-year anniversary of the sinking, October 2, 2006.