Boat sinks off Port Everglades...no lifejackets

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Sad. Situational awareness plays a big part in survival along with proper safety equipment. Inflatable PFD, water activated LED strobe, and PLB are SOP if I'm going out on your boat.

Ted
 
Sad but I'm convinced the south Florida of the Us has more morons that own boats than anyplace else. We boat quite often and we have almost decided not to go out on weekends, weekdays are safer.
 
The other five folks were very lucky, as it could have been tragic for all six of these gentlemen.

Hard to believe that someone would captain a boat for offshore fishing and not have life preservers for the passengers! :facepalm:

Jim
 
There is no indication from the story that there weren't life jackets present on the vessel. (I'm not saying there were) Only that none of the them had life jackets on. Life jackets could have been stowed, such as in lockers or a T-bag and simply gone down with the vessel. These events can unfold very quickly. Admittedly, one might point to 6 adults on a 23 ft center console could be overloading.

Implying someone deserves it or that one wishes a death on the captain is a bit harsh.
 
Shrew said:
There is no indication from the story that there weren't life jackets present on the vessel. (I'm not saying there were) Only that none of the them had life jackets on. Life jackets could have been stowed, such as in lockers or a T-bag and simply gone down with the vessel. These events can unfold very quickly. Admittedly, one might point to 6 adults on a 23 ft center console could be overloading.

Implying someone deserves it or that one wishes a death on the captain is a bit harsh.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the intelligent and compassionate response!
 
Short of a torpedo...its hard to imagine a boating excursion going from hunky dory to "we're going down" so quickly that life jackets couldn't be obtained if they were there. Storage on a 26 foot center console boat isn't that complex. If there was time for a 9-1-1 call there should have been time to get the jackets out of storage. I believe the Coast Guard requirements state that the PFD's have to be "readily accessible".
 
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Benthic2

The particular evening has wind 15-20 from the ne so one could expect 3-5 waves approaching the area. So if this boat, which appears to be overloaded would broach it could sink rapidly. I don't know the make of boat or condition, just a guess at how it could take on water so fast. I'm sure more facts will be coming to the front as time goes on.
 
I'm disapointed in the reporting of the story that didn't call more attention to the life jacket issue and the fact that the rescuers couldn't find the victims right away. 60% of boating fatalities are people who weren't wearing life jackets and drowned.
 
A boat can roll in a second.

As waves build, one will always be way larger and unexpected.

I have pretty much explained to others how these short waterline center consoles with T Tops taking a sudden severe roll, that the passengers may grab the T Top for a handhold and make things worse by flipping the boat. I believe that is what happened to the 4 football players off Tampa years ago.

So grabbing stowed life jackets could be a no go in some situations.
 
Moonfish said:
Thank you for the intelligent and compassionate response!
Click to expand...

We don't know all the facts, but what we do know is a life was lost and others were endangered and, in my mind, that calls for compassion, not humor and certainly not comments implying that anyone had it coming.
 
psneeld said:
A boat can roll in a second.

As waves build, one will always be way larger and unexpected.

I have pretty much explained to others how these short waterline center consoles with T Tops taking a sudden severe roll, that the passengers may grab the T Top for a handhold and make things worse by flipping the boat. I believe that is what happened to the 4 football players off Tampa years ago.

So grabbing stowed life jackets could be a no go in some situations.
Click to expand...



The Tampa deaths were caused by tying the foaled anchor line to the stern of the boat and going half throttle on the engines. The anchor held and the boat rolled. They died trying to save the cost of an anchor.
 
Here is the deal with me and the ocean. I respect it and its power. Before even leaving the dock, type 1 jackets are out for each passenger. I do a radio check and system check. Check fuel glass, etc. I have lost a couple of kids at sea not long ago. Friends kids. They went out alone.

I do not know what happened in this story, but I did a crossing in my last boat a 24ft, Sea Ray. I can tell you, 6 men say 180 lbs. each is 1,080 lbs. on that boat and doesn't even include coolers etc.
 
I know the story, but after many ungroundings of vessels hard stuck like an anchor, I can see pulling a stern quarter under, but, in itself not flipping the boat....unless caught by a bad wave.

Even so, I see 4 big guys where one or more lost their footing, grabbed the t-top and a chain reaction occurred.

I believe only weight or a wave in conjunction with the stern pull would flip the boat, not the pull alone.
 
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Hi SCOTT

I know of a case wher two guys in an18 boat were anchored by the stern fishing, the tide changed and rollers started coming. One guy went to release the anchor line from the stern cleat and water came over the transom and the boat sank. The guys were saved by holding onto a cooler.
 
Some of those outboard boats, if the engine stalls it can start getting water into the transom area. Easier to have happen than most think.
 
I guess maybe the take away from this is to get life jackets handy at the "wow...these waves are getting big" stage rather than wait until the "oh crap....this is bad" stage.

....and to have a vhf with DSC.
 
The folks that need to hear sound and basic seamanship advice the most never frequent a forum.
 
Take a look at this similar sized center console and how quickly it sinks. In this case, they are trying to haul a crab pot from the stern. However, one could easily get the same effect from large waves or wakes breaking over the transom. I've seen a small handful of people in a 23 ft Grady White center console sitting in the back, submerge the scuppers, causing water to start flowing IN.


Look around 8:30 on to skip to the events right before the sinking. Notice how fast they go from calling for life preservers to being in the water.
 
CPseudonym said:
The folks that need to hear sound and basic seamanship advice the most never frequent a forum.
Click to expand...

And wouldn't listen if they did. They could have pursued knowledge. Now, we don't know the facts of this case yet.

The attitude of "I've always done it like this and haven't had any problems" is pervasive inside and outside of boating.
 
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