4 missing off Florida coast

In fairness, I don't think they left the boat of their own free will. There isn't exactly a lot to hold onto on the bottom of that 21' boat. In retrospect, it would have been wise to tie themselves together and to the boat. Of course if they were worried about that boat actually sinking (which in thiis case looks very unlikely), I can see be hesitant to tie off to the boat.

 

it was dark
they were scared to death
cold and unprepared
they may not have even had a few feet of rope available to them
and the sea is not real forgiving of the unprepared
its a wake up call
best we can do is be respectful and try to learn a few things from the mistakes of others
Ill probably focus a little more on safety equipment for my coaster now that Ive been so active in following this story
that and finding the room in the design to put enough flotation in it to make it positively buoyant no mater what kind of pain in the *** it is
If I get in trouble which Im bound to eventually
my *** will be found sitting on a hull wearing a goofy looking orange suet and eating a sandwich maybe drinking an beer from the emergency stash and wondering what took em so long to find us and this pile of eprb's flashing away in the dark

I wish those guys clear sky's and smooth sailing
a nice island
a few palm tree's
and whatever there version of paradise may be

 

on purpose

on ESPN ,the essential sports network,late last night, they actually said the survivor announced that the two other NFL guyz had their pfd's on and took them off purposely and allowed themselves to float out to sea.

wow! this is a huge curve ball for all of us..

if this is true,it says alot about what goes through the mind when under tremendous stress.

ive been lost in an underwater cave at 75' beneath the surface with 1' of visability,after 15 to 20 minutes of doing the best i could at figuring out how i got into this or how im getting out,the thought of "man! do i keep fightn or at the last second of air do i end it with my dive knife!?! no bull$hit,these are the thoughts that were on my mind..

just when i thought all was lost,i noticed my bubbles going sidewayz to the right.

that told me on my decent i went down at an angle.
earlier in the day topside, i aimed my compass at the far edge of the dam and got a 180 degree positioning.

i decided to go for that location with my last bar of air,followed my compass,it saved my life.

turns out i was in a under ground river that had eroded itself under and around the dam.
what this tragic accident has told me is that mental preparedness is just as or more important as gear preparedness.
my prayers and best wishes to the families

 

Here is a GREAT FORM to fill out and e-mail before you set out to the unknown. You can also send it to your boating guests family the day before. Also, teach guests how to operate boat and radio in case you fall ill.
Comments welcome, Stan http://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/FloatPlan.pdf

I never flew anywhere W/O filing a flight plan, so now I'll file a float plan.

 

Too little boat, knowledge or proper fear of sea.

Extremely correct...
I have crossed serious waters in a canoe but never beyond sight of land.
I have crossed the gulf in 55 Beltram and been thrown off my feet by the waves. I would never go out into gulf in a 20 foot boat specially with storm front coming. In a 20 foot outboard the wave got them because they could propel themselves over the waves. The engine is out of water on every wave.

They should have bought a bigger boat.... but the in reality the weather was really bad that day in any boat.

 

It was reported the boat flipped when they were trying to raise the anchor!

Four good size lads on one side of a 21 footer in ruff seas trying to raise the anchor.....

In a video from the USCG the anchor rode was visible midship on the stb'd side.

 

A “float plan” is a smart idea to adopt. I believe what was mentioned herein the past few days will have already saved in the future. Thanks in advance.
As mentioned by billyc, when faced with the uncontrollable the mind works in different ways. I too was lost in a fresh water cave dive @55 feet below Florida, Orange Grove. A stagnant cave we ventured caused the silt to drop like a black blanket. Only 50 feet penetrated we didn’t have a line and the entrance light was “T-totally” gone as the blanket enveloped us. 300 feet in the oppsite direction some light shined through a hole and we swam towards it to discover the hole was about 15” dia. Yeah, we scratched and contorted through the hole without our tanks, but in a brief moment during the seemingly immense time feeling my buddy in panic stuck in the hole in the blackest of darkness, I was at peace. Almost in acceptance in the most peaceful and calm state I have yet to experience. Maybe it is an animalistic physiological defense (or offense) mechanism which may unfortunately or fortunately emerge sooner with some? I wish there exist some more training for boaters as with the flight training I went through.
Thanks for the site, and the post. Just may have already saved a life or two.

 

I hear if they search something from an aeroplane at sea they put a pigeon on a piece of glass floor. If there is something in the water the pigeon pecks the glass... thinking the speck is something it can eat. Can aparently fly very high where the item at sea is not visible to human eyes.

Anyone knows about this ?

 

Yeah Fanie, I saw a doco on this years ago. They had four birds that had been trained to tap with their beaks when they saw an object in the water and were of course rewarded with food if they tapped their beaks at the right time. Eventually they would only tap their beaks when they saw something.

They then put four birds, one in each quadrant ie so each bird could only see a quarter of the area. The area the birds tapped, contained an electrical contact that activated a light.

If all four birds started tapping, the pilot knew they must be directly overhead an object in the ocean. If only one bird tapped he would know that the object was only visible in that quadrant.

Of course when I saw that doco, it was well before EPERBS where commonly used and I assume the idea was shelved.

I could say something silly like it was a distress beak on. But I wont.

Poida

 

OK I'm a skeptical person and I didn't beleive this one bit, thought it had to be one of those old wives tales so I googled it, and its true. Sorry I doubted you.....

See this page from the US coat gaurd complete with pictures of the birds taped to the galss panel.

http://www.uscg.mil/history/articles/PigeonSARProject.asp


Gareth

 

What's next? Dolphins finding underwater mines? Sealions guarding our harbors?

 

good idea about the float plan

its called making your peace Alex
I myself am ready any time
doesnt have to mean I wont fight for it when the moment arrives
just means that Im ok with it any time it does

there is a term for it in many of the native languages
I only know it as
Hoka Hey
it means
today is a good day to die
but not in a bad sense at all
think of it like you had a good time and made the best of it
lived a good life and did good things
the sun is shining and the tall grass is waving in a gentle breeze
I can meet my ancestors today knowing
I did my best
if its my day
then it was a good day and I have no regrets
Hoka Hey

 

I took two coasties sailing years ago and asked what would be the most important piece of safety gear to have. They both responded the same time the same thing "a mirror". Something to reflect or beckon back to a aircraft.

I myself a rule of 'when five things are going wrong, I throw in the towel and ask for assistant'.
The reason, one has not considered fatique. The point where one gives out and or gives up.

We saw a 21' Everglade being towed into Salt Creek today and the freeboard was maybe 2'.

 

Hoka Hey Boston!

 

As I see you may be above the rest in “life” wisdom Boston. Not forgetting and sympathizing with the initial post, several years ago I and a few others went for some sky diving in Palatka Fl, for the first time. After the tornentious jumping off the four foot platform in the training (...to land proper???) prior the jump a few (including me) were nauseous. Some were feeling sick (most possibly from the jumping off the four foot platform and rolling)… Anyway, I did say, “Hey guys it’s a good day to die, don’t ya think?” A few laughs and everything was smooth sailing after that. We all had fun. Thanks.