Cameltosis Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 One thing I learned at a fairly young age is when everyone else is pointing their finger at you, maybe its time to stop pointing fingers at others and look at what I am doing. I'm just sayin... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i_am_the_swammi Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 so what to do about deep sea fishing excursions in Florida--namely, Destin....should I tell my hubby no way...I know to say don't ever leave the boat, but this is scary stuff...we've never been to FL...btw, anyone know of some good babysitters in destin for vacationers? How many kids? My wife's best friend just moved there with her family. let me know, and I'll make a call for you. Terrific people with three kids of their own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i_am_the_swammi Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 thanks for the additional info, about babysitters, I'll have a 10 month old and a near 4 yr old boy there at that time, another couple has a 4 yr old as well---they're easy to manage by now even for the husbands, just was hoping for some help w/ the baby girl if I wanted to head to the spa or shopping never mind, Scooby....might help if I read a little bit, eh? I'll see what's up. when are you heading there? they have three kids themselves....13, 8, 5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAUgrad Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Wow, that boat is a lot smaller than I was picturing. I agree, although the boat that was pulling it in was very large and had 3 inboard/outboard motors. Did you notice that....wow. Plenty of hp for towing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABearWithFurniture Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Wow, that boat is a lot smaller than I was picturing. Yeah, at 21 ft. long it was about 6 ft. longer than your average canoe. I've got an 18 ft. Ranger bass boat and even on a lake, it's hell in any type of wave action. Doesn't take very much to get a wave coming over the bow. Granted, the boat they were in has a deeper hull, but in 7-15 ft. seas they were in it bad. What gets me is one of the guys had to swim down and collect the life preservers/float cushions after the boat overturned, and unless one of them floated away they only had 3 life preservers, not enough for everyone on board which is a basic boating rule. One of the guys had to hang onto a float cushion. So they obviously weren't wearing them when the rough seas started up. Got to love boating though...no license required to operate one up to something like 40-50 ft. long. You just have to register and title it. You don't have to take any type of boater safety course unless you want to. You are required by law to carry certain safety items like a fire extinguisher, whistle, life preservers for every passenger, etc...but I would bet good money that half the boats out there right now are missing at least a few of those items. A boat with at least a 150 HP motor on it can do about 60-65 MPH fairly easy and there aren't any brakes. You just kill the throttle and sooner or later the boat might come to a stop, although you can throw it into reverse real fast...but you get a huge wave coming over your stern. If you ever watch Bassmaster or even some of the walleye or crappie tournaments those boats they are using are generally about 21-22 ft. long with 250-300HP motors on them...capable of about 80-90MPH on open water. Running down a slough or a bayou (skinny water) at full speed you often times find yourself looking head on at a boat coming directly at you as some people think that the running lanes are reversed for water craft (just like the roadways you drive on the right hand side). In a lot of states you can control the steering wheel with your knees so you are able to hold your rifle and beer with your 2 free hands. With state budgets the way they are now you might never see any type of game warden, sheriff, or law enforcement agent, unless your name happens to be Cedric Benson. Most public boat ramps don't even utilize personnel anymore cause they can't afford it...you just put your launch fee in the collection receptacle and a lot of them are on the honor system. I fish a couple of times every month on my boat and I can go a long time without meeting any type of state/county representative for any type of service on some of these lakes/rivers. I could go on and on about this and probably already have...the point is boating in this country is a basic free-for-all, and people die every day from boating accidents simply because of the lack of safety/skill training and let's face it...lot's and lot's of people on the water are completely wasted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh 0ne Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 There's no reason to be out 35 miles on a 21 foot boat. That's just asking for trouble sadly enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rajncajn Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Or any of numerous World War II stories where humans survived a wide variety of horrible events and situations. Even on the sea -- people have survived on crates in the open ocean for over 100 days. You should read the story of the Indianapolis. It's unbelievable that anyone made it out of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackass Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 You should read the story of the Indianapolis. It's unbelievable that anyone made it out of that. One big difference is that happened in july where the water would have been a lot warmer... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 You should read the story of the Indianapolis. It's unbelievable that anyone made it out of that. I did many years ago when it was mentioned on Jaws. That was hard to even believe but I guess in war a lot of people are forgotten. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xMRogers Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 Living here in St. Pete, this has been a sad, wild story over the last week or so. The family's are in between just hoping to find the bodies and still holding out some minor hope from what I'm seeing. The one thing that I think is missed in this is that, while I definitely think they overestimated their abilities by going out that far on that boat, they actually knew the weather (was why they went out - fish would be better) and were very experienced. From the story I've seen, they were realizing it was time to go, pulled up anchor, and the combination of the loose anchor and the wave capsized them - the fact they weren't prepared (had to get the life jackets after capsizing) tells me they just underestimated the combination of the waves and the anchor pull in terms of what it would do to the boat, and probably would have been fine if they pull the anchor a few seconds earlier or later (on a boat that size, pulling the anchor in rougher seas has a rubber-band type effect - guessing it coincided with a wave for a terrible result). Everyone here is definitley looking forward to the story from Shuyler once he's recovered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retrograde assault Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 Unfortunately the seas are unforgiving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McBoog Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 There's no reason to be out 35 miles on a 21 foot boat. That's just asking for trouble sadly enough. My initial and final thoughts exactly. They also clearly did not check the weather or sea conditions, easily done on-line. He[[, I go out all the time in BIG boats and check the conditions even if I'm not the captain! This is a story of Darwinism at its finest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Irish Doggy Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 I don't know which of these statements is more ridiculous. I have no idea, but couldnt 4 athletes like this, flip back over a boat of this size, if they all stood on one side of the boat. I hear you have unbelievable strength in times like this. What do you picture here? Perhaps one of the NFL players could belt out a sacred indian word of power, "INYUK-CHUK!", grow 40 feet tall and set things right? I made a comment about Keg, and everyone above made this about me, I didnt. YOU made a comment, and are surprised when people comment on what YOU said? LMAO! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 Report: Boat not properly anchored TAMPA, Fla. -- An agency investigating a deadly boating accident involving two NFL players and their friends in the Gulf of Mexico has concluded it was caused when the vessel was improperly anchored and the boat capsized after one of them tried to throttle forward to pry loose the anchor. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's investigation also cited carelessness and operator inexperience as contributing factors. The combination of errors came at the time a storm front was moving in, making conditions on the water very rough. Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, free-agent NFL defensive lineman Corey Smith, and former University of South Florida players William Bleakley and Nick Schuyler departed from Clearwater Pass, Fla., early Feb. 28 to go offshore fishing for amberjack. Schuyler, found clinging to the boat two days later, was the lone survivor. The other three men have not been found. In an in-depth interview with the agency, Schuyler gave this account of the accident: Early that morning, the men went more than 50 miles offshore in Cooper's 21-foot vessel. It was loaded with two large coolers filled with ice, drinks, food and beer. All of the friends were dressed in warm clothes, sweat suits and jackets. Around 5:30 p.m., they went to pull up the anchor and head back to port, but the anchor was stuck. Bleakley suggested they tie it to the transom and use the boat's motor to pull it loose. When Cooper tried to thrust the boat forward, the vessel became submerged and capsized, tossing the men overboard. All four tried uprighting the boat by standing on one side of the overturned vessel. When that didn't work, Bleakley swam underneath and was able to retrieve three life vests, a large cooler and a portable, cushion-type flotation device. Bleakley, who Schuyler has credited with saving his life, used the makeshift flotation device, which has been described previously as a cushion. The other three wore the vests. The men appear to have tried everything in their power to rescue themselves: Schuyler told the agency they tried retrieving and using flares, but they were wet, agency Investigator Jim Manson said. They got their cell phones, which were in plastic baggies, but there was no signal. They knew how many hours were passing because Schuyler had a watch with a light on and was able to keep track of the time. He said that around 5:30 a.m. the next day, Cooper became unresponsive. Schuyler and Bleakley tried to revive him without success. Cooper's flotation device was removed and Bleakley put it on. The Oakland Raiders linebacker then became separated from the boat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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