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When considering a sea burial for a loved one, make sure to hire a professional. Ashes blowing onto a boat's new paint job or having a body wash ashore are two blunders Capt. Brad White has heard amateurs commit.
White's Boston firm, New England Burials at Sea LLC, has expanded its operations into the Gulf Coast to take advantage of growing demand for sea burials in Florida. The strategy has helped the company post large growth lately.
New England Burials at Sea LLC has gone from $2,500 in sales in 2006, when it was founded, to more than $500,000 expected this year. White, the firm's founder, says families are more nomadic and less attached to graveyards and funeral homes. So he takes them out to sea.
The macabre situations described earlier would be a nightmare for any grieving family, but as a licensed captain, White says he takes every variable — like the direction of the wind — into account. And the company weighs full bodies down with four 37.5-pound cannon balls in its patented burial shroud. He compares his company to a Broadway show in the way it must have every detail under control. “When the curtains go up you've got to be ready,” he says.
White says there's also a green angle to his business. His burial services don't leave the carbon footprint that a normal burial with a wood casket and formaldehyde does. “We went from getting one or two calls a week to almost 20,” White says.
The move into Florida is a timely one. Because he never knows when a call could come in for a sea excursion, having locations in Florida will make the firm more efficient. “In this business,” White remarks, “everything is about timeliness.”
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