A unique website dedicated to fishing information from Florida's Northern Big Bend. This includes the area from the Econfina River west to the Apalachicola River
Wevans, I do agree that FWC should have immediately called Coast Guard and had them do a broadcast (Why could FWC not do a broadcast?). I hear them all the time when out fishing, and If I heard one close by, I would head that way to help.
But I also would like to know how the phone conversation went. 2 scenarios.
1: "I am capsized, but I am sitting on the boat and just need somebody to come get me. Nobody is hurt and we are fine"
2: "I am sinking and need help asap! I can not hold on much longer. Help me!"
Big difference....
Dubble
The more I know about something, the more I know that I did not know as much as I thought I knew that I knew.
It doesn't matter how the phone conversation went, it should be treated as "phone call 2" ALWAYS when a boat is capsized. Water calls are a much different case than using the same methodology as LEO do on land (1. I got in accident, everyone is fine, send help vs 2. Got in accident, we're bleeding, injuries, etc; in comparison)
Hindsight is a bi*** - until a full report comes out via FWC and/or the capsized boater reports here; its tough to make a full assessment
Three-fourths of the Earth's surface is water, and one-fourth is land. It is quite clear that the good Lord intended us to spend triple the amount of time fishing as taking care of the lawn. ~Chuck Clark
wevans wrote:I call it like I see it, and rarely hold back! I stand by my statement that this was handled BADLY by the officer!! I to rarely criticize officers of the law, but won't hesitate when I feel it is deserved. The officer did what he was hired to do in going after the boater, but the boater could have easily drowned in the extended time that it took him/her to do said job!! I hope the "idiot" uses more common sense if you need him some day
Well said Waldo. It seems to me that there are those among us that see things differently. It's a free world (well here in the USA) and we can say what we feel. Right now I feel the FWC has some explaining to do.
I too am glad the boaters are safe and back on the hill. Lots of sharks in the pass so they are lucky that they did not drown or worse get eaten. In the 90 min the Hero took to get there.
All the more reason to get more help out there sooner!!!
“Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them and you have their shoes.”
Not sure where the (IDIOT?) FWC officer had to come from to get to boater in distress but I would think they were at his or her post of duty per their supervisory instructions. Also FWC and the Coast Guard offer free boating safety courses. Bad decision to cross the bay in the first place with small tiller steer boat in given conditions. I may be wrong on how an officer is positioned for duty on any given day but I would also think they were instructed to be at that duty location. Might be that some of the experts on law enforcement and boat handling skills will let us know.
The gentleman probably learned a valuable lesson on judging weather conditions as many of us have who spend time on the water. There are a couple of trips I'd like to have back over the years, myself. I don't know one thing about the operations of the FWC but I do know that they would not have waited an hour and a half to give him, you or me a fat ticket if they found us guilty of boating violations. If they were short handed someone should have responded on the VHF. Like Wevens said, there are a lot of folks in that area. The coast guard is just around the corner in Carrabelle River. Yes, they did "risk" their lives after 1 1/2 hours but isn't that on the job description. If I were that guy I would have hugged their neck, learned a valuable lesson and then started up the chain of command to see why everybody took the day off. It's their JOB to handle these situations is it not?
Well folks, here is the web page to find the field operations weekly report for FWC officers. Go to Franklin county and see what the Hero has to say about this event. http://myfwc.com/about/inside-fwc/le/weekly-reports/
This is a bi-weekly report which is turned into the local commander for their district. Let's see if the commander will post this report. Or trys to hide the fact that it took them 1 and a half hours to get to this boat.
reelbad wrote: Bad decision to cross the bay in the first place with small tiller steer boat in given conditions.
FWC cant make up for foolish decisions.. I've been there and know it was my hubris that got me in trouble.
I'd be looking at the boater before I threw rocks at FWC.
That being said, a radio call out to say there was a boater in distress would have been answered by others in the area.
Tough to know what was or should have been done till we know all the details.
What we should take away is BE PREPARED and don't do something FOOLISH.
Barry Bevis, Realtor and Owner of BigBendFishing.net
I liked it so much, I bought the company
After making a run to get some rain ponchos, Andrew and I launched in the Carrabelle River at the same time as this gentleman. When I hit the mouth of the river, the white caps and rolling waves were large enough that I made a quick left hand turn and tucked in behind the island just East of the river mouth. I guess he chose to try to make it across to the back side of either St. George or Dog Island.
The weather turned uglier as the day went on. Before noon, the wind blew so hard that both mine and Andrew's ponchos were torn to pieces. Just after noon time, it got bad enough that I didn't feel safe with Andrew out there even on the leeward side of the island. We ran the shoreline back toward the Carrabelle River and cut through the small creek that runs North of the island and connects to the river. I am not sure I would have made it back to the river mouth if I would not have been able to run that creek. We put the boat back on the trailer at one o'clock and drove to Lanark. When we arrived, more than half our tournament participants were already there.
There's an awful lot of arm-chair quarter backs on here being critical of the FWC who managed to rescue our club member and get him back to shore alive in some very challenging conditions. A couple of club members with larger boats offered to go back and try to find the lost boat, but the offers were declined. Any of us could have quickly gotten in trouble out there in such bad conditions and created a second rescue situation.
For me, this was a stark reminder that we all need to watch out for each other.
Little tough to read some of the criticism of the LEO and of the boater. Maybe I am alone on this, but I know I have done some things I regret and some of them have been in a boat. Secondly, if the accident would have happened near Panacea, this thread would have been a lot shorter only because of coincidence. Also, I agree it seems that a call could have went out for boaters in the area to provide assistance if possible. I know I hear a lot of those calls when on the water, so until I know more, I have to assume there was some reason that didn't occur in this instance. Seems to me the theme of this thread would be "Good to hear everyone is ok" and is there anything that we can learn from this.
If the boater is reading this thread, I am glad you are ok. I know that had to be a frightening experience.
Steve Stinson wrote:We ran the shoreline back toward the Carrabelle River and cut through the small creek that runs North of the island and connects to the river. I am not sure I would have made it back to the river mouth if I would not have been able to run that creek.
Been there, done that.
What kind of boat do you have? That's a skinny creek.
