Boating accident in Fl Keys

[trtldvr]

Not diving, but may serve as a reminder of the importance of safe baoting practices. Know when to swallow your pride and put on the life vest.



Rough seas claim a life

BY ADAM LINHARDT Citizen Staff
alinhardt@keysnews.com
[SIZE=+0]A Saturday afternoon fishing trip in high winds and stormy seas led to a sunken boat, a 20-hour survival ordeal and the loss of an 80-year-old woman.
A group of eight people, including a 4-year-old girl, was fishing off Long Key when their boat capsized and threw everyone into the water around noon Saturday, said Coast Guard spokeswoman Lt. Kara Lavin, adding that the people appear to be from the West Palm Beach area.
All eight people spent the next 20 hours in the rough seas, before a Good Samaritan boater picked up three men at 8:49 a.m. Sunday. The men had become separated from the elderly woman, three other adult women and the female child, Lavin said. It was unclear if anyone was wearing a life jacket.
Survivors told rescuers the elderly woman was last seen struggling to stay above the waves. The identification of the woman and of those rescued was not released Sunday.
A Coast Guard Sector Marathon rescue boat and helicopter from Miami were joined by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission searchers. Shortly after the men were found by another boater, rescuers located the remaining three women and the child as they clung to a floating cooler, Lavin said.
Paramedics met them at Captain Hook's Marina in Marathon, Lavin said.
Details about the size of the boat and their reasons for fishing in such rough seas were unavailable Sunday.
Much of South Florida, including the Florida Keys, were inundated Saturday by heavy rains, strong thunderstorms and high seas that caused dangerous boating conditions and flooding in part of the Upper Keys and Miami.
The National Weather Service reported 2.32 inches of rain and wind gusts as high as 40 mph in Marathon Saturday into Sunday morning, said meteorologist Ben Nelson.
Forecasters on Saturday morning issued a small craft advisory, which indicates hazardous conditions, Nelson said. Projected winds of 20 mph and 4- to 6-foot seas within the reef were forecasted at 5 a.m. Saturday with seas as high as eight feet in the Gulf Stream.
Sustained winds of 26 mph were reported at Florida Keys Marathon Airport Saturday, Nelson said.
"The strong thunderstorms just added to the severity of the situation," Nelson said. "Wind gusts higher than 34 knots were possible with the type of storms that were passing through."
The Upper Keys saw the most rain with 8- to 10-inch rain totals common between 3 p.m. Saturday and 12 a.m. Sunday, Nelson said. About .74 inches of rain fell in Key West during the same time.
alinhardt@keysnews.com


Safe Dives (and boating)

Trtldvr
[/SIZE]

 

[Blue Sparkle]

80-year-old woman dies when boat capsizes off Long Key

 

[DandyDon]

I started to post this in "Whine and Cheese" under "Too good to wear a life vest." This version Florida Boaters Rescued: 7 Treading Water For 20 Hours Found Off Florida Keys says that none were wearing any. Their call I suppose, other than for the child, who is required by law to wear one I think. This story also said the elderly lady never surfaced?

20 hours holding onto flotsam in rough seas was heroic. Glad most of them made it. One of the reasons for taking so long to be noticed might have been that the storms had been forecast for several days and most didn't go out. Some poke fun at me for wearing my inflatable vest on small dive boats; I still wonder why others don't.

Funny how the news media like to use "Good Samaritan" in place of "civilian," kind of like their shark infested waters - which have not been mentioned in this story yet but should appear soon.

 

[fdarden]

Being out on the Ocean in South Florida this weekend was extremely poor judgement. Taking the family out was idiotic, and proved deadly. Nobody had any business out in the weather this weekend on a private vessel, and anyone with any amount of common sense knew/knows this. The fact that they were not wearing PFD's was a secondary issue. Anyone foolish enough to be out in what amounted to 7-10 foot seas, (bigger in some places) attempting to "pleasure boat" is setting themselves up for disaster, and will most likely Darwin themselves out (and unfortunately a friend or family member in the process) sooner or later. Sorry to be harsh, but that is the situation. People do not wear PFD's full time on pleasure boats in Florida, nor do I think its necessary most of the time. You want to see a bunch of whiny adults? Try even suggesting that "We all put of our lifejackets, just to be safe" Haha, riiight. Even in rough weather most would scoff at this idea. Lifejackets should be readily accessible and available for everyone, and throwable flotation devices available.(its the law!) Children, elderly, and otherwise disabled or incapacitated individuals should wear a life jacket the duration of any boating trip. Heck, I even have a life jacket for my dog! If you are on a vessel under 21 feet in length, you should be wearing a Lifejacket full time. The type of conditions this weekend presented called for nobody to be on the water for any reason. Most would not even enter the water at the beach to swim..Although I dont know the specifics, im gonna go out on a limb and say this group did not "need" to be on the water. The captain really should have his head examined for bringing an 80 year old woman, or a small child out on a boat in those conditions. That having been said, if I am on the boat alone, (which is very rare) I ALWAYS wear an auto-inflate PFD, and attach myself to the kill switch. I think Sea-Tow and I are the only ones that even do this. I almost fell overboard many years ago while on the boat alone, and learned quickly that many boating accidents are a one-way street, and boating is VERY dangerous. However much like Scuba Diving these risks and dangers can be managed to the point that its a safe and fun activity for everyone. It is very much like diving in that any time you can reduce the risk, you should, and small reductions in risk equal big paybacks in safety. Treat your boat like an automobile, and pretty soon someone is going to get hurt. Problem is about 70% of the boaters in South Florida think their boat is a car. Also, in this day and age, there is NO excuse to be treading water for 20 hours. If you own a boat capable of holding passengers, then you should STRONGLY consider an emergency beacon, ideally an EPIRB, but at least something like findmespot to summon authorities when there is an emergency. If this story does not make the case for an emergency beacon of some sort, I dont know what does. They are so effective, I am not sure why the law does not require them on all vessels that are sea going.I am going to see if FWC or BSO has done a study on the percentage of boaters that actually are compliant with the basic USCG safety requirements, but I bet many boats that they pull over lack even enough life jackets for each passenger, let alone the various other safety equipment that the law requires. The ocean is a big lonely place. Its not Disneyworld. You can get yourself into a made for TV movie situation for real in a very short period of time if you are not careful, and safety-conscious. I am not sure what was going through this guys passengers minds. They must have been totally oblivious to the rough conditions at sea this weekend.

 

[Ana]

Besides the craziness of actually going out during this weekend's conditions I think the amount of people in this 22 foot vessel is worth at least a nomination in the Darwin awards.
My boat is just a hair bigger than that, and don't care to have more than 6 people on board. Only 4 if going diving.
So maybe the young and the old don't add a lot of weight but between coolers, fishing gear, grandma's chair and who knows what, 8 pairs of feet are too many in such a small boat.

 

[fdarden]

Excellent point Ana. With all the other bad decisions I completely overlooked the vessel size. Even on a good day that is too many people. I bet the vessel is not capacity rated for that many passengers.

 

[DandyDon]

But after 20 hours treading, they'll probably get to sell their story.

 

[trtldvr]

To summerize the lessons one can learn from this:

1. Have life vest and know how and when to use them.
2. Invest in EPERB.
3. Maintain the vessel.
4. Take a safe boating course.
5. Get a safety inspection.
6. Don't overload the vessel.
7. Pay attention to marine forcast and warnings.
8. Have someone on shore aware of where you are and when to expect your return.
9. Develope the all too uncommon attribute of common sense.


Safe Boating
Trtldvr

 

[deeper thoughts]

News reports that ALL wore life vest except the deceased who REFUSED to wear one when they departed

 

[DandyDon]

News reports that ALL wore life vest except the deceased who REFUSED to wear one when they departed

Typically, we are getting all sorts of reports on that, from none to some to all but one. I can see the 80 yo refusing maybe, and if so - a dramatic example.