Missing Boaters - NFL Players

In addition to Nick being found, I just heard on the radio that Marquis Cooper is alive near Clearwater, FL.
Marquis went to the UofW(Washington) and I hope all can be found alive.
They're awaiting confirmation.
 
Now it's being reported that a Tampa Bay TV station erroneously told Cooper's family that he has been found. That's brutal.
 
In general, it might also be wise to affix some sort of whistle, strobe and mirror to the life jackets, or at least in the "ditch bag". A waterproof handheld vhf could also be helpful.

I just saw this a few hours ago on the news and was commenting to my wife that they probably were overturned and had little warning. Seems like that "may" have played out. I dont recall, but dont some EPIRBs have an auto on sequence when the unit hits the water??? that would have come in handy (I am assuming they didnt have it handy or of that type).

Now we have to pray for the others.....
 
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According to the survivor found, the boat was anchored Saturday night and flipped...
No idea why they stayed out that long- the forecast was correctly calling for very nasty stuff Saturday night.

My PLB is on my belt or in my pocket when I'm offshore. There are self-deploying EPIRBs with hydrostatic releases but they're usually found on commercial craft.

There's no reason for any boat that goes offshore not to have an EPIRB or PLB.
 
Yes those are actual pictures from the rescue. From News Channel 9 I believe. Coast Guard took the photos.
 
Wild. Man I bet he was happy to see the CG coming at him.
 
There is something to be said for having a cored hull.
 
islandhopper00 said:
????????????????? What is that? I don't understand. You talking about for flotation?
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Yes, for flotation. They shouldnt have been out that size boat in that kind of water, but at least one of them owes their life to the fact that the boat floated after flipping.
 
Has there been any indication (from the survivor that they found) whether the other two men had on life jackets?
 
Vince_nj1 said:
Yes, for flotation. They shouldnt have been out that size boat in that kind of water, but at least one of them owes their life to the fact that the boat floated after flipping.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure the function of coring is flotation. May help, so I'll post a thread about it. Unsinkable boats are foam filled or there abouts.
 
I was reading this story on the Internet this morning, and the headlines read “One survivor found, two NFL Players still missing” I thought to myself, there are three men still missing, is one less important because he is not an NFL player? Sad story.
 
hack4alivin said:
I was reading this story on the Internet this morning, and the headlines read “One survivor found, two NFL Players still missing” I thought to myself, there are three men still missing, is one less important because he is not an NFL player? Sad story.
Click to expand...


Big Ditto:thumbsup:, I was thinking the same thing.

Dumb media:smt021
 
The last thing I heard was that they were all wearing life vests, however, the life expectancy in that water temperature was 40 hours and it is long past that. They are big guys, so that may give them extra time, but it doesnt look good.
 
While I feel for the families these guys shouldn't have been out that far on that boat on Saturday. Period. Doesn't matter that the front rolled in as expected and Saturday seas were a relatively calm 3 - 4. A 21' boat deliberately going out into deteriorating conditions like that is foolhardy. While that front might not have been rolling in quicker than expected, since the Gulf is essentially a large bathtub, larger swells were bound to show up much earlier than the front. And if engine failure was the cause... You just don't go out in that impending crap.

Complete failure of duty by the captain. I would rather take my chances crossing the gulfstream on a dead calm day than to have gone out 30 miles off shore on Saturday. And being in Clearwater on Saturday; Saturday was no picnic. I passed on an invitation to go out on a friends boat in the morning and I was told that I should be glad that I did. Conditions on-shore sucked!

Just a dumb, dumb move.
 
Reports also indicate that the boat was anchored. May this have contributed to there demise? would they have had a better chance if they let the anchor go?
 
Generally it is best to stay anchored. PROVIDED there is adequate scope- and that means ALOT of scope- at least 7:1- 10:1.

If unable to anchor safely, next bet would be a sea anchor. If you must motor, it's best done downsea but that's VERY hairy...if power is lost the boat will turn sideways in the trough and it's all over.

Inadequate scope means the bow will be unable to rise as the waves pass under the bow. I watched a buddy boat years ago have to cut his anchor line during a storm because he didn't have enough scope aboard and his bow was beginning to ship the building seas.

Pure conjecture, but this may have contributed to the tragedy in this case. Water depths are around 120 ft or so in the area where the boat was found. The vessel would have needed over 800' of rode to anchor safely- few boats in the 21' range can carry that much...
 
End of the story.
CG calling off the search at sundown saying there could be no survivors on the surface as they would have found them.

Hopefully all the discussion and publicity over this incident will make a few boaters a little smarter...
 
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