USCG Searching For Missing Football Players

[towdog]

Re: USCG Searching For Missing Football Players

It doesn't make sense how people with that much cash are not out in a much bigger fishing yacht that far out. Who goes out 50 miles so exposed in a small craft like that? I don't care if it's good weather when you head out. If something comes up, you've got a long drive to make it back to land to beat the storm. Those boats offer no protection from the elements what-so-ever. And why would anyone go that far out with only one motor, regardless of the conditions? I am an inland boater so maybe I don't understand, but that seems nuts to me.

Sad story. It will be interesting to see what kind of electronics they had on board and how quickly the storm came upon them.

 

[godspede619]

Re: USCG Searching For Missing Football Players

My prayers go out to all of them.make it home guys.

I will tell you this though..it has really made me think ."what can I do to make for a safer offshore trip.." Brings me to a scenario question..If your caught in a storm like that and you lose power,either out of fuel or failure, was it right for them to drop anchor? It seems it would be good to lower anchor but not to the sea floor. leave it suspended in order to keep bow into the swell.

 

[Mark42]

Re: USCG Searching For Missing Football Players

There are three major rules that you must follow when your boat is swamped:

1) STAY WITH THE BOAT.

2) STAY WITH THE BOAT.

3) STAY WITH THE BOAT.


In case you didn't notice, the one guy who was saved by the CG had STAYED WITH THE BOAT.

 

[gooseblitz]

Re: USCG Searching For Missing Football Players

Cell phone range. Hey fellas I project manage cell tower network acquisition and construction...Our sites are at most 4 miles apart for coverage....some only 2 miles apart. In urban areas with ots of users only 1 mile on average.
50 miles no way. Heck 20 miles no way.

Working in the business the % of 911 calls made via cell phone is staggering...no one runs to a land line to call for help....remember that when you neighbors are trying to get you to oppose a new tower in local zoning.

Hope these guys are found OK.

 

[Woodnaut]

Re: USCG Searching For Missing Football Players

My thoughs and prayers really go out to these men who are still in the water.

I have two PLBs (Personal Locator Beacons) with built in GPS. One gets attached to my daughters life vest and the other to mine or my guest's. They were expensive but they also have a good reputation when it comes to rescue. We all wear life vests at all times - no exceptions. But I still need to spend the extra money for inflatable offshore life jackets. I'm still using recreational life jackets which is probably better than nothing, but probably not very good if you're in the water in high seas.

 

[mthieme]

Re: USCG Searching For Missing Football Players

Just saw in on the news, the CG pulled them out of the drink.

 

[mphy98]

Re: USCG Searching For Missing Football Players

yeah they got one, he was wearing a preserver and clung to the capsized hull. others still missing.

Always have a vhf radio with gps when you go out in the briney, a locater isn't a bad idea either. prayers are with the families.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: USCG Searching For Missing Football Players

The first thing that we have to remember is that the survivor was suffering from hypothermia, and may not have been very coherent. That being the case, anything he said may have been anywhere from partially inaccurate, to totally inaccurate. Add to that, the fact that news reports very often get things screwed up.

The first issue was who owned the boat. I had read that it was Cooper, but other reports apparently said it was Smith's boat. At this point, I have read numerous news articles by a number of publications. They all say it was Cooper's boat and one quotes Cooper's agent as saying that it was his boat. I guess there is enough info at this point to accept the prevailing view, but who knows?

I also read a few pieces that said Schuyler told rescuers that the others were with him until about 12 hours before he was rescued. Now I am reading reports that he said they drifted away about 12 hours after the boat flipped. Once again, hard to say and that's a tough one, because it could have alot of bearing on how far away from the boat they are.

I've actually seen the computer model that the USCG uses to predict where survivors might be. Its a pretty nifty piece of software, but it suffers from the very same problem that all computer models do - its of no more value than the information that is put into it. In this case, the model was apparently run with a set of coordinates as a base point that were inaccurate, because the group was somewhere else when the boat flipped. There is no one to blame over this fact, because the information used was the best information available at the time, but it does point out the difficulty present when trying to find survisors in such a large area.

This is not a very good situation at this point, simply because the remaining survivors have already exceeded what is considered to be maximum survival time in 68 degree water. Add to this the fact that the weather in Florida has turned cold, and the chances for survival after tonight are probably nonexistant. That said, amazing feats of survival have been known to happen.

May our thoughts and prayers be with the remaining boaters and their families.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: USCG Searching For Missing Football Players

update: nothing good.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,504024,00.html

 

[bowman316]

Re: USCG Searching For Missing Football Players

was this a cuddy cabbin boat? Is it the type of boat you could plan to sleep over night on? Or are we assuming they had engine trouble if they stayed out all night?
I wonder if being anchored at midnight was planned or not.
I know you are never supposed to anchor overnight out in the open sea.

 

[Mark42]

Re: USCG Searching For Missing Football Players

was this a cuddy cabbin boat? Is it the type of boat you could plan to sleep over night on? Or are we assuming they had engine trouble if they stayed out all night?
I wonder if being anchored at midnight was planned or not.
I know you are never supposed to anchor overnight out in the open sea.

No, its was a Center Console (CC) fishing boat. They got swamped by waves coming over the bow. At least thats what the late night news reported yesterday. I wonder if being anchored contributed to being swamped and capsizing.

 

[lmannyr]

Re: USCG Searching For Missing Football Players

Every time I hear the wave heights these guys probably rode in their 21 footer I cringe!! When seas get to more the 2 feet, I don't go out on my 24 ft cruiser, it's just not a comfy ride anymore. I want a 30 footer with 10 ft beam to cross into the bahamas. Oh yea...a 2nd engine too.

Hope they come home safely!!

 

[Captain Caveman]

Re: USCG Searching For Missing Football Players

I know that analyzing this specific situation (at the moment) is speculative, but what in general would be the point of anchoring in big seas? I suppose you'd do that if your motor died in order to keep the bow facing the waves.

Maybe they were using a bow and stern anchor and were taking waves on the side?

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: USCG Searching For Missing Football Players

was this a cuddy cabbin boat? Is it the type of boat you could plan to sleep over night on?

If you go back to my opening post, there is a link to a web page on the boat. It is a center console with a head compartment under the CC. The problem, however, is as Mark42 pointed out - it wouldn't have done anyone any good, because the boat flipped.

What I am most puzzled about is the claim that the boat was anchored. I have no idea how deep the water is 50 miles off of the Tampa/Clearwater area, but would imagine that it would have to be at least a few hundred feet. That being the case, I have to wonder if this information is correct. What makes more sense to me is that a sea anchor had been set, in an attempt to survive wave conditions that would be extreme for the boat in question. Then again, how many people with a 21 foot CC carry a sea anchor, or would even know to use it?

 

[tx1961whaler]

Re: USCG Searching For Missing Football Players

It's shallow off of Tampa. At 50 miles "out" (they probably weren't straight out) They may have only been at the 10 fathom mark. Long offshore trips for grouper and snapper fishing in small boats are common out of Tampa. You gotta watch the weather.

Here's a chart:
http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/11006.shtml

 

[bowman316]

Re: USCG Searching For Missing Football Players

something sounds fishy about this. Maybe foul play? who knows what happened out there. how did they get seaperated?

 

[Cptkid570]

Re: USCG Searching For Missing Football Players

I'm guessing that they were in about 100' of water. They were anchored because they were trying to fish in a particular spot. They left early in the morning and capsized around 5pm, so they were successfully anchored there all day. They capsized when they were trying to pull the anchor up. After capsizing, they all swam under the boat and got life jackets.

I think they all probably tried to stay with the boat, but a huge cold front came through that night and they were subjected to 14' waves and wind gusts up to 45mph.

They should've gotten some rope and tied themselves to the boat.

 

[KurtG]

Re: USCG Searching For Missing Football Players

The problem with tieing yourself to the boat is that the turtle hull probably wasn't stable and the waves were likely breaking over top of them. That hull was barely floating in terms of being dry. It's a testament that one of them managed to hold on.

One issue that probably has more merit is that any boat going offshore should have an EPIRB.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: USCG Searching For Missing Football Players

Hopes are waning: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,504074,00.html

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: USCG Searching For Missing Football Players

Hate to say it but Im thinking SHARKS