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2 NFL Players Gave Up Hope
Old 03-05-2009, 08:04 AM   #1
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2 NFL Players Gave Up Hope

FOXNews.com - Florida Boat Accident Survivor: 2 NFL Players Gave Up Hope - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News
But two to four hours after the boat capsized, one of the NFL players removed his life jacket and let himself be swept out to sea, the St. Petersburg Times reported. A few hours later, the other one followed suit.
------
After Cooper, 26, and Corey Smith, 29, were carried away, Bleakley and Schuyler hung on until morning — but then Bleakley decided to swim to get help when he thought he saw a distant light, the paper said.
He, too, took his life vest off, 24-year-old Schuyler told the families.
+++++++++++++++++++
This is an interesting story from several angles.
First, the general guideline in a survival situation like this, car stuck in a snow drift in winter, plane crash in the tundra is to stay where you are.


Second, I think is the time frame that the first two took off their life jacket and gave up. I think that is a factor of today's society - we expect everything to happen quickly - like a TV cop show. Has anyone see that old movie LIFEBOAT - good movie.



Third - Bleakley - thinking he could swim miles to help - just foolish.


Schuyler, the survivor is an instructor at L.A. Fitness.
------
There are a lot of lessons here.
Know your limitations
- they went too far out in that size boat
- know your personal limitations - Bleakley didn't

Have patience.
----
I'm guessing we could also use this as an analogy for the stock market and retirement and other things in life.
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Old 03-05-2009, 08:18 AM   #2
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Unlike in a game, there are no time outs in war or survival situations.
No referee.
Score is kept by who survives.

If it is true that they removed their life vests, there is no more to be said for them.
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Old 03-05-2009, 08:19 AM   #3
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But two to four hours after the boat capsized, one of the NFL players removed his life jacket and let himself be swept out to sea, the St. Petersburg Times reported. A few hours later, the other one followed suit.
That's sad -- the ultimate capitulation.
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Old 03-05-2009, 08:32 AM   #4
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Terrible tragedy, getting lots of press in these parts.

Apparently they knew that dangerous weather was on its way later in the day; experienced captains apparently handle that by designating a "go home" time by the clock with plenty of margin. In this case, the young men decided not to pick a time, but rather to "keep an eye" on sea and weather conditions and head home when it started to look threatening.

The seas picked up very quickly and they never even got the anchor up before the boat was swamped.
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Old 03-05-2009, 09:09 AM   #5
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I am an avid inland waters boater with 25 years experience (both power and sail) as well as formal US Power Squadron training in weather, marine communications, and boating safety.
I just read the story and am shaking my head. This is no time to be throwing stones, but the actions taken by these 4 young men constitute making every mistake in the book. Life vests are only part of the story.
A pre-cruise weather check online at NOAA to make the GO-NO GO decision, a simple EPIRB device clipped directly inside each of their lifevests, or a cruise plan (destination, planned return time) filed with the marina or Coast Guard, could have changed this outcome to a successful rescue.
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Old 03-05-2009, 09:26 AM   #6
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After about a dozen hours of being in salt water your skin starts to burn very badly. Throw in 12 hours of direct sunlight and you got a misery index off the scale.

They probably took off their life vest because it was rubbing their skin off.
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Old 03-05-2009, 10:28 AM   #7
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Or they ingested salt water and their thinking became impaired.

2-4 hours doesn't seem that that long to wait, especially with others.
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Old 03-05-2009, 10:38 AM   #8
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Or they ingested salt water and their thinking became impaired.

2-4 hours doesn't seem that that long to wait, especially with others.
Salt water or no, a survival situation can impair thinking quickly and dramatically.

A significant portion of the survival training courses taught by the military and others focuses on the mental aspect of survival. No matter how strong, how physically fit you are, you are unlikely to survive if you don't think you can...
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Old 03-05-2009, 10:46 AM   #9
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Or they ingested salt water and their thinking became impaired.
I agree with that. I'm not used to salt water and was doing some snorkeling off a boat in Hawaii a few years ago..... whether it was from the mouthpiece of the snorkel or whatever, I ingested enough salt water to really make me super nauseous. DW reports that as I lay on the deck of the pitching catamaran, I asked her to give my love to the kids/grandkids and kindly shoot me.

For lots of folks, agressive rocking and pitching motion coupled with salt water ingestion are not a good thing! Probably harder to cope with than good ole, straight forward pain.
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Old 03-05-2009, 11:54 AM   #10
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...then Bleakley decided to swim to get help when he thought he saw a distant light, the paper said.
Perhaps foolish. But the story could have ended that Bleakley swam three miles to shore and got help. When the helicopter arrived at the boat, the remaining man was dead from hypothermia.

Open Water was a good movie.

CDNN :: The True Story Behind Disturbing Open Water Movie
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Old 03-05-2009, 12:24 PM   #11
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It's tough to second guess these guys, like folks have said, who knows
how they were suffering. Still, too bad they didn't take the platitudes
they've heard all their lives about "quitters never winning" more to heart.

Kinda off the subject, but a great book about water survival situations is
"The Perfect Storm". Far different than the lame-ass movie.
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Old 03-05-2009, 12:30 PM   #12
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Check the survivors stool - i betcha he kilt 'n et them. Got past dinner time.....
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Old 03-05-2009, 12:54 PM   #13
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Something about people, or modern life, or whatever makes potentially dangerous pursuits seem less hazardous than they really are. I've been kicking around the idea of learning how to fly for the last couple of years and doing a lot of reading on the subject. There's a lot of discussion about pilots who completely misunderstand the potential dangers of things like darkness and hazardous weather. I like what Phillip Greenspun wrote about why the average private pilot shouldn't try to fly according to a schedule, as opposed to "we'll get there Tuesday, or maybe Wednesday, or maybe Thursday". It makes people fly when they really shouldn't. Like JFK junior. Or the local family here that didn't make it past the mountains in Colorado because the husband wanted to leave to make a business meeting back home. They got caught by a weather system that was unusual for that time of the year, but was identified and its existence was published to pilots in the weather report.

Maybe it's a survivalist attitude, or experience from what I did when w*rking, but I tend to approach things based on "what can go wrong?", and work towards the happier ending while being prepared for the unhappy one.

All I know about boating is that the water is a dangerous place to be when the weather turns. I always ask about the location of life jackets when I get on board a boat. Of course I'm the guy who can't sit in a public place until I've identified all of the emergency exits.
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Old 03-05-2009, 01:08 PM   #14
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I've been kicking around the idea of learning how to fly for the last couple of years and doing a lot of reading on the subject. There's a lot of discussion about pilots who completely misunderstand the potential dangers of things like darkness and hazardous weather. I like what Phillip Greenspun wrote about why the average private pilot shouldn't try to fly according to a schedule, as opposed to "we'll get there Tuesday, or maybe Wednesday, or maybe Thursday". It makes people fly when they really shouldn't. Like JFK junior. .
"There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots."
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Old 03-05-2009, 01:12 PM   #15
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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.
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Old 03-05-2009, 02:31 PM   #16
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"There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots."
The Alaskan bush pilots are real good example. Used to fly with an old pilot 70 plus. In a supercub.

He never competed with the younger ones, never gave a schedule. Used to say come down to the airport around xx then we'll see. If you in a hurry find someone else.
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Old 03-05-2009, 02:43 PM   #17
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...All I know about boating is that the water is a dangerous place to be when the weather turns. I always ask about the location of life jackets when I get on board a boat. Of course I'm the guy who can't sit in a public place until I've identified all of the emergency exits.
You are welcome to come aboard my boat anytime.
My first question to anyone, before they come on board, is "Do you swim and how well?" If the answer is no, next question is "Are you willing to wear a life jacket?"
If the answer to both is no, they remain a landlubber. I can't drive the boat and play lifeguard at the same time.
I skipper my boat on a relatively small lake, but I have read of so many accidents on the "little safe lakes", I have it be a PITA when it comes to safety.
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Old 03-05-2009, 06:57 PM   #18
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All I know about boating is that the water is a dangerous place to be when the weather turns.
In my experience, the sea is the strongest, most relentless force on earth. It is a wise thing to fear. At the very least it demands your abiding respect.
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Old 03-05-2009, 07:19 PM   #19
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When floating around on big grey boats my question to myself was "how long and how far can i swim"? In my case, not far and not long. Didn't really matter though - in the middle of the sea Mike Phelps & i would have just about the same odds of swimming to safety. I had a lovingly maintained inflatable vest; on small boats i wear the newest puffiest brightest orange life preserver i can find.
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Old 03-05-2009, 09:51 PM   #20
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You are welcome to come aboard my boat anytime.
My first question to anyone, before they come on board, is "Do you swim and how well?" If the answer is no, next question is "Are you willing to wear a life jacket?"
If the answer to both is no, they remain a landlubber. I can't drive the boat and play lifeguard at the same time.
I skipper my boat on a relatively small lake, but I have read of so many accidents on the "little safe lakes", I have it be a PITA when it comes to safety.
freebird,
Could you give us some pointers of what else to ask before boarding a boat? Besides the 2 you mention. GPS is one right? Anything else? This is my worst nightmare
Thanks
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