2 NFL Players Gave Up Hope

[FinanceDude]

I believe the article said the water temp was in the 60s. Add to that horrendous wave action and panic, look at this chart, and understand that it truly is a miracle that the one guy survived.
Hypothermia safety

What I said was IF they were not delusional and still had rational thought, they might have NOT taken off their life jackets.

I live near Lake Michigan. My friend has a 21 foot cuddy cabin cruiser. Until he got a marine radio and GPS on it, I refused to ride outside the breakwater on it. I also told him until he gets RADAR, I am not going to go out father than 2 miles........

Lake Michigan water temp is about 44 degrees in the HEAT of August, right now the temp is 38 at the surface and 34 15 feet deep.......

 

[Sarah in SC]

FD, you don't need just a GPS on that boat, that is not sufficient. You need him to have an EPIRB. Very important distinction, and one that could have saved some lives this past week.

 

[FinanceDude]

FD, you don't need just a GPS on that boat, that is not sufficient. You need him to have an EPIRB. Very important distinction, and one that could have saved some lives this past week.

Will advise the captain.......

 

[Sarah in SC]

Or you could get yourself a PLB and carry it with you on the boat, or hiking, or doing whatever activities you might find yourself to be in need of rescue!

Can you tell I'm a big fan of EPIRBs? From working at the chandlery, I am sure. You get to hear all the nightmare stories!

 

[REWahoo]

Can you tell I'm a big fan of EPIRBs? From working at the chandlery, I am sure. You get to hear all the nightmare stories!

Or is it a fear that no one would miss you unless you had some means of letting the world know you were 'gone' ...

 

[freebird5825]

Or you could get yourself a PLB and carry it with you on the boat, or hiking, or doing whatever activities you might find yourself to be in need of rescue!

Can you tell I'm a big fan of EPIRBs? From working at the chandlery, I am sure. You get to hear all the nightmare stories!

I'm sitting right beside you in the EPIRB fan bleachers. I primarily boat in smaller inland lakes. If I were boating on any of a larger inland lake, Great Lake, river or offshore waters, I would have one of those babies within immediate reach and/or clipped to my PFD at all times if moving around onboard. Stuff happens!
We have a SPOT handheld device which is capable of calling our cell phones or worst case, notifying 911. dh2b uses it for snowmobiling. it will be with me 24/7 on land and "at sea" this summer.

 

[FinallyRetired]

FD, you don't need just a GPS on that boat, that is not sufficient. You need him to have an EPIRB. Very important distinction, and one that could have saved some lives this past week.

Did a 600 mile offshore rally once. EPIRB was mandatory, if you didn't have one they would rent you one, but you could not go without one.

Other required items for that rally: offshore PFDs that kept your head up, self-inflatable dinghy, submersible VHF, waterproof lantern, float plan, charts. I don't think a GPS was required, though we all had one. If you need a GPS to navigate, you really should not be offshore, but it's valuable to relay positions back and forth.

Can you tell the rally organizers were a bit anal about it? I'm glad they were.

 

[RustyShackleford]

Water was 50 degrees and my core temp when they pulled me out was down to 94.

NFL players are tough guys, but like most any world-class athlete,
virtually nil body fat; body fat is very useful in the water, both for
buoyancy (even with PFDs, I'd think more buoyancy is nice, I notice
a big difference with me and a 25-lb PFD) and for insulation (just ask
any marine mammal).

Was the survivor a significantly less buff guy I wonder ?

 

[Sarah in SC]

I thought about that body fat thing, too, Rusty. When we were in the water for that long stretch, my DH and I (no scarcity of body fat on us) were much warmer longer than our two skinnier friends. In fact, we actually told Bobby that if it came down to it, we'd use him as a 6 foot chicken neck to catch crabs! (apologize for the humor that may not be apparent those who have never been crabbing with chicken necks).

 

[ls99]

Maryland's eastern shore AKA chicken necking country. Commercial crabbers get them by the truckload.

 

[FinallyRetired]

Details are now in on this boating accident. New boaters, or even experienced boaters, should learn from this. Never try to pull up a stuck anchor from a small boat with a powerful engine. The anchor is likely to win, pulling the rail or stern under water and the boat will capsize.

You can do this on a big, heavy sailboat with a keel, or a heavy displacement power boat with high freeboard. But, as a general rule, if the anchor won't come up by hand, or with the windlass, cut the line and move on. A new line and achor is a lot cheaper than a new boat, and a lot better than risking your life.

"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."

Report: Improper anchoring caused boat accident - wtop.com

 

[FinanceDude]

"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."

Report: Improper anchoring caused boat accident - wtop.com

That was NOT a smart idea.....did any of these men take a course in water safety?

 

[freebird5825]

That was NOT a smart idea.....did any of these men take a course in water safety?

An experienced boater knows that you NEVER tie the anchor to the transom, but a landlubber would not.
It is just a matter of time before states require mandatory boating courses before allowing operation of vessels. That concept is not new, but it is fiercely opposed whenever it is proposed. People accept the concept of a written/practical driver's test, but for some reason the public hates the idea of a boater's license. I personally support licensing boaters. It would be a lot safer for all of us at the helm.

 

[FinanceDude]

An experienced boater knows that you NEVER tie the anchor to the transom, but a landlubber would not.
It is just a matter of time before states require mandatory boating courses before allowing operation of vessels. That concept is not new, but it is fiercely opposed whenever it is proposed. People accept the concept of a written/practical driver's test, but for some reason the public hates the idea of a boater's license. I personally support licensing boaters. It would be a lot safer for all of us at the helm.

I agree...... I have a few scary boat stories about being on Lake Michigan, and th stupid stuff my dad and I saw out there. I think we rescued about 9 boats in a ten year period........

 

[SarahW]

All due respects but........ The story is being told by the lone surviver who was plucked out of those same waters after 40 some hours. Is his story the truth or was he impaired after this traumatizing experience? Salt water. Hypothermia. For over 40 hours. Can you really expect him to be 100% clear in what he remembers? I would not be so quick to jump on his story as gospel.

^^ Yeah, that. Or...:sinister music: there was only room for one on the upside-down boat.

 

[FinanceDude]

^^ Yeah, that. Or...:sinister music: there was only room for one on the upside-down boat.

Actually, a 21 foot boat upside down has enough hull space for all 4 men.........

 

[bright eyed]

That is very sad! I have a deep fear of the ocean, have nightmares about tsunami's pretty regularly!

I saw on some nat geo or discovery show about an old navy ship that went down in 1945 In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis…Amazon.ca: Doug Stanton: Books

anyhow, the poor guys were in the water for 4 days - and the stories about the different delusions and fierce fighting (for flotation or food) was so upsetting. The sharks circling around!

A few of them thought they could "swim down" to find something to help them and a bunch others followed, some started drinking the salt water out of insatiable thirst etc etc. it was sad.

 

[SarahW]

Actually, a 21 foot boat upside down has enough hull space for all 4 men.........

Yeah, I was just being a smartass. Wonder why they weren't all on the hull. Hmmm. Oh, well. A tragedy no matter how it happened.