NFGFC Tourny boat sunk

[tallykenjsbetterhalf]

Glad you're ok Bob. That's most important! So glad you are safe and sound. I'm sure it was a scary experience for you and the FWC officer that headed out to find you. We headed out of St. Marks that morning and got to the mouth of the river and turned back in short order because it was so bad! Thank goodness law enforcement responded in enough time to avoid a tragedy! I suspect that FWC responended appropriately given all the circumstances.

[silverking]

Thanks for sharing your side of things, Bob, and thank goodness you are here to tell it. You learned a valuable and expensive lesson, one that we can all learn from. When I bought my first boat many moons ago in Pensacola, my BIL gave me the best advice. He told me that I didn't need to be afraid of the Gulf, but I had damn sure better respect it. I've since been in some hairy situations myself, and his words always rang true.

There has been a lot of criticism of the FWC in this thread without the whole story being told. Granted, there is always room for second-guessing and the manpower allocation wasn't the best in this particular case. But it certainly sounds like the responding officer admirably did his job and then some. Hopefully that lesson will stick with others as well.

Again, glad you're still with us, Bob. Boats, outboards and tackle can always be replaced. You can't be.

Tight lines,

[CaptReelThyme]

Couldn't agree with you more Capt Dave. Don't knock the people that quite possibly could save your life one day. Glad your still here Bob. All things are just that, things. They can be replaced, you cannot.

[Salty Gator]

Glad your ok Bob, it does sound like FWC did go above and beyond. I hope the folks that immediately turned this thread into a FWC witch hunt will think twice before pointing fingers. I doubt it though. Again, glad you are ok Bob.

[wevans]

I'll say it one last time, then I'm thru with this. It was not an FWC witch hunt!!! I simply questioned the officers judgment in his response! Y'all want to go on and on about us hating law enforcement, and that is just not true "nor has it been stated by anyone other than those blindly supporting this officer"! The officer sounds like he did what he could once he got there it's the actions taken "or not taken" in the time from receiving the call and the launching of the rescue that is in question.

Y'all bash away at me, but don't ever think that I do not support law enforcement and the dangerous "and mostly thankless" job that they do

[kenfly]

Really glad your ok Bob and so sorry to hear your loss. I do think that the fwc and sea tow did everything they could do to help you out and glad we have them.

[Salty Gator]

[quote="wevans"]Seems to me that the FWC made this situation a lot worse than it should have been! There are a LOT of boats available between C'belle and Apalach who could have assisted this boater in less than 15 minutes, yet they leave the man in the water for 1 1/2 hours, just so they can be the hero!! This boater could easily have been dead in the time wasted by the FWC and the officer responsible needs to be held accountable for this idiocy!!!!
I'm glad everyone is safe

Really weavans? You came right out and assumed FWC made the situation WORSE than it should have been. Exactly how is that? Then you say that they left him in the water for 1.5 hrs just so they could be the hero. What kind of bs is that? They either had a long run in choppy water or had to trailer the boat to carrabelle and relaunch. And assuming time was wasted and saying the IDIOT should be held accountable . Seems to me you were making lots of assumptions about his situation and came out looking to blame FWC before the true story was told, but you weren't the only one.

[bman]

Thanks for sharing Bob and FWC! and Seatow!

Well, I'm the dummy who made the bad decision to cross the bay in a 16 foot Stumpknocker when I knew the winds were going to be 15 - 20 from the southeast. Thought I could make it, looking at the 2 - 2 1/2 foot seas at the mouth of the Carabelle. Expected there to be calm water in the lee of St. George's - didn't happen. High tide and only 2' of island sticking out didn't block much wind. Was within 1/3 of a mile from the island when I swamped. As far as the FWC goes, you guys who criticize are entirely out of line. The closest boat they had in the water was in the Ochlochnee, they had to get down to the office, launch and run out to find me. Don't know that I could have gotten there any quicker if it was myself. And the officer, after picking me up, volunteered to call Sea Tow, and stay with my boat in an approaching squall. Sea Tow was on a run to Dog Island with an ETA of 1 hour to get to us. FWC captain stayed with my boat until the squal was imminent, then headed back. Ran into Sea Tow two miles later, gave him an idea of where the boat was, Sea Tow braved the weather but couldn't find it. I found out Monday that the FWC captain went back out the next day to look for my boat. That's what I call above and beyond the call of duty! And Russell (Sea Tow) did also. Monday I also found out that a Seargant in the Sheriff's office had launched his own private boat a little after the FWC officer, and went out in that, by now, 5 - 6 foot sea, looking for me. These guys are heros, FWC saved my life, and I'll be indebted to them as long as I live. Great folks, all! Bob

[rocket]

Glad your back on the hill Bob.

[rockyg]

Just happy that you made it back Bob.

If I see the FWC folks this Sunday I will make sure to thank them again for doing what they do to protect all of us.

( we need a Smiley Face Icon for "See......I told you so you #### #####") lol

[river dog]

First time poster so bear with me. From my understanding the emergency call was made to 911 making it the Franklin Co. Sheriff's office and FWC the primary responders. I think question(not criticism) some on the forum legitimately have is why wasn't the emergency call relayed to the Coast Guard? I know if I was an hour and a half from being able to render assistance I would be calling in every asset at my disposal. I don't know if the USCGC Seahawk was in port at the mouth of the Carrabelle River but even if it wasn't at least a radio broadcast could have been made alerting any boaters in the area of the emergency and to render assistance if possible. Not trying to "Monday morning quarterback" but just saying I would have been on the radio to every agency. Thank God the situation had happy ending but if it had not the investigators would be asking these questions. Also, it was Russell with Tow Boat US not Sea Tow who assisted. I have no doubt that Russell could have arrived on site in well less than an hour and a half if asked to assist early in the process. Again, I'm not criticizing but if it had been me in the water I would want to know ALL available assets were being used.

[zload]

There is a real nice SAR operations manual online from the USCG. They even indicate calling 911 is acceptable for SAR emergencies. I found this little tidbit in the 600+ page manual:

"2.7.3 911
The Coast Guard must be proactive in ensuring that maritime distress calls to 911 are promptly routed to the appropriate command center. Sectors should liaison with all 911 services within their AOR to ensure they have appropriate check-sheets for maritime distress incidents and that they are aware of which Coast Guard command center they should be forwarding the calls."

There was a SOP which apparently was something along the lines of "if we get a call about a boat sinking we are supposed to let the USCG know ASAP" from the perspective of the 911 Dispatch. Apparently USCG was never notified by 911? Don't know who else was to be involved but we know FWC went out and got him and he is OK. God is good - all the time. In addition I've never heard FWC make any sort of a distress call on the VHF; only the USCG so maybe there is a protocol involved that we are not aware of.

Our time would likely be better spent discussing what we can do to make sure we are prepared for whatever event we get into rather than what SAR agency messed up. I think there is some old salt saying about the sea will kill you if you let it. This is a good time to think about your MOB/sinking plan, what safety equipment you carry, and how you can get to it in the worst case scenario rather than when you are getting safety checked. Whoever heard of a floating ditch bag for a 16' stumpknocker in the bay ... but I bet it would have been nice to have last weekend...

[rocket]

First time poster so bear with me. From my understanding the emergency call was made to 911 making it the Franklin Co. Sheriff's office and FWC the primary responders. I think question(not criticism) some on the forum legitimately have is why wasn't the emergency call relayed to the Coast Guard? I know if I was an hour and a half from being able to render assistance I would be calling in every asset at my disposal. I don't know if the USCGC Seahawk was in port at the mouth of the Carrabelle River but even if it wasn't at least a radio broadcast could have been made alerting any boaters in the area of the emergency and to render assistance if possible. Not trying to "Monday morning quarterback" but just saying I would have been on the radio to every agency. Thank God the situation had happy ending but if it had not the investigators would be asking these questions. Also, it was Russell with Tow Boat US not Sea Tow who assisted. I have no doubt that Russell could have arrived on site in well less than an hour and a half if asked to assist early in the process. Again, I'm not criticizing but if it had been me in the water I would want to know ALL available assets were being used.

Good first post.

[MudDucker]

Thank God you are safe and sound Bob! Thanks to the FWC guy who braved the weather to come and get you.

As for the rest of this, it is ALWAYS good to politely review the actions of our government employees to be sure they are up to snuff.

In this case, somewhere the ball got dropped for a BID announcement via VHF. Anything else is pure speculation at this point, but as citizens, we are free to speculate.

The sea is a lady and like any other lady, when she is angry, it is best to stay out of her way!

[river dog]

The incident is included in this week's FWC Weekly Activity Report. You can check it out at www.oysterradio.blogspot.com.