The boys lost in the Gulf Stream...

[bman]

I've been reading the news stories and feel sorry for the parents...
Reminds me how fast things can go wrong when your having fun.

Folks- check your safety equipment. Test your radio. Make sure you can get to your life jackets quickly.
Tell someone where your going.

And if the weather looks questionable be a real man and call the trip off!

[big bend gyrene]

Tack two more recommendations on to Bman's.

1) If you go out the least little distance invest in an EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon ). Realistically if you have the resources to buy a boat with an engine on it, how can you justify NOT spending a few more Benjamins for something that is small, waterproof, and will give emergency responders your exact location in case of emergency.

2) In the event you're on a boat that capsizes, FIGHT WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT to stay with the boat if it's floating. Not judging that it's always an easy thing to do BUT in so many cases floating boats are quickly found due to their size and ability to be spotted. Doesn't take reading too many "survival at sea" books to quickly calculate odds are exponentially better for those who find a way to stay with a boat than those who either aren't able to do so or choose not to do so.

[silverking]

Add one more recommendation for those venturing offshore:
Put together a ditch bag and always have it quickly accessible. Items should include a waterproof handheld VHF, visual and audible signaling devices, bottles of water, high-energy protein bars, fishing line, pocket knife and some white bucktail jigs. A sea anchor should also be deployed to keep the bow into the wind if the boat becomes disabled.

Things can happen very quickly and it pays to have a plan/assigned duties. I've been 75 miles offshore when smoke appeared in the cabin of a 43-foot Viking. While I drove, the crew quickly isolated the problem and avoided disaster. I was also witness to a 55-foot Hatteras that sank in minutes when the diesel turbochargers over-ran and caught on fire. Watching globs of molten fiberglass sputter as it hits the water is not a pretty sight. The owner of the boat escaped with a t-shirt and shorts and nothing else. Didn't even have time to grab his wallet and passport from the master stateroom. These were million-dollar sport fishers and they were certainly not accident-proof.

Here is a good summary from Frank Sargeant, the former Tampa Tribune and Florida Sportsman editor. Let's hope for a miracle and the boys are found alive:


The Lost Boys
By Frank Sargeant, Editor, The Fishing Wire

I've always been a fan of sending kids off on boats to paddle and piddle and learn to enjoy themselves on the water as soon as they are responsible enough to handle it. My own boys were both out on the water in a 10-foot jon boat with a 4-horse Evinrude by the time they were 12, puttering about first the Clermont chain of lakes and then the backwaters of the Little Manatee River, both in central Florida.

This was before the requirements for boating safety certificates, but both could easily have earned one had it been necessary--they knew pretty much everything that I knew about staying safe on the water by the time I sent them off on their own the first time--I had my USCG six-pack license then as a charter skipper, and had the rules down cold. There was, to be sure, some element of danger, but in those days we thought of that element as "responsibility", and the earlier a kid learned it, the better.

They pretty much lived on the water for several summers (until they discovered girls), fishing and swimming and diving and generally learning to love the water as much as their parents--I think the experience was the better for us not always being part of it, for the most part, as they taught their friends what they knew, never got in trouble, and occasionally brought us home a fish dinner.

However, the quiet backwaters of inland lakes or coastal estuaries are a far cry from the open Atlantic Ocean, particularly the region where the Florida Current--popularly known as the Gulf Stream--flows.

The two teens who went missing Friday out of Jupiter Inlet, 14-year-olds, reportedly had plenty of boating experience. They were smart, independent kids, a couple of modern-day Huck Finns. But there are a couple of troubling details being reported in the news.

For one, they allegedly told someone ashore they were "going to the Bahamas" in the 19-foot, single-outboard center console they fished from regularly. What they probably meant that was that they were going to the far edge of the Gulf Stream, where dolphinfish and maybe wahoo and blackfins would be a likely target--actually landing in the Bahamas was not likely on the program unless they had their passports tucked into their swimtrunks.

It would give most long-seasoned skippers pause to take off on a Gulf Stream crossing in an open, single-engine boat of that size, particularly on a squally day, which Friday apparently was. Not to say that plenty have not made the run in boats of this size and smaller--you could do it on a Hobiecat in good weather.

But in bad weather, a 50-foot sportfish might give some unhappy moments to its occupants when the Stream kicks up. Their boat was found capsized, many miles offshore, a likely victim of a squall. These summer storms over the Atlantic can put out incredible winds for short periods of time, over 80 mph, more than any open boat of his size could survive in open sea. According to the coast guard, the motor cowling was absent--this likely means it broke down, the boys were trying to fix it, and the storm overtook them.

The other point of concern is that the parents are reporting they expected to stay in touch with the boys via cellphone, and only became concerned when the cellphones were not answered. But cellphones have very limited range offshore--no boat should ever venture outside 25 miles without at least VHF radio, and for those making open ocean crossings, a satellite phone or single sideband radio is a must to allow communication when things go wrong, as they do with some frequency when you get far offshore. Of course, when a boat flips in big wind and seas, all the electronic gear except possibly a hand-held waterproof VHF is immediately useless.

Some might also wonder why there was not a water-activated EPIRB on board. Clearly, for the families of these boys, the price of that life-saving device, which sends out a beacon that can bring rescuers from many, many miles away direct to your location, would not have been a deterrent. But apparently there was no EPIRB aboard.

As this is written Wednesday morning, the Coast Guard has moved the search to the Florida/Georgia line, following the steady drift of the current to about where they think the boys, if they by some miracle still survive, would be by now.

But a happy ending appears unlikely--as in most marine disasters, a series of small decisions, seemingly of minimal importance, have combined to bring a great misfortune to these families.

And, as is the way of our society these days, it will probably bring a great hue and cry from media and politicians to ban youngsters from going boating on their own. That would add a second sad ending to the first; boats, like firearms, are not dangerous when properly used for their intended purposes by people--including young people-- trained to handle them safely.

[zload]

x2 on both posts

BBG do you have an EPIRB or a PLB? I went the PLB route due to size, cost and being able to use it with little issue on somebody else's boat or a tree stand etc.

I found this article a couple of days ago and realized the running story on most national news sources didn't have the basic story correct, the commercial guy's comments assuming they are correct were especially informative as to the two kids level of experience and ability to evaluate risk, PBP prior to reading that I had assumed they went out in good weather and it turned bad on them that does not appear to be the case based on the news report. Then I saw a couple of You Tube videos of the Jupiter Inlet in rough seas... we don't see that type of inlet issue in the Big Bend and I'm glad...

[big bend gyrene]

Just being a bit lazy on my acronym use, Zload, though my understanding is the units work nearly identically... I do have a PLB indeed, an ACR ResQLink.

One more recommendation to add to the list.. don't gain comfort by seeing that other boats aren't running in from approaching storms. Learned over the years that if YOU feel it's time to run in YOU best listen to your OWN voice versus trusting those around you have any common sense. Just this past week I went scalloping out of St. Marks and watched as clouds built first to the east, then to the west, and finally to the south. Despite having clear skies directly (and only directly) overhead, made the call to run in and was accompanied by one other boat while half a dozen or so stayed put. By the time I made it to the lighthouse (running WOT to get there too) rain was pouring just a 100 yards or so to our south and the storm was throwing lightning just to the south too. Guess the boats that stayed survived but they definitely took some weather I'm glad I didn't stay to face.

[zload]

Not a biggie I talk up PLBs when I get the chance and one of the biggest advantages of the PLB is you can carry it around in your pocket. Since a lot of the members here are into a lot of different outdoor sports/activities other than offshore fishing it has much more utility than some might realize. Maybe that will convince a few people to spend the relatively nominal amount of money involved in purchasing one...

[Salty Gator]

Does anyone have any experience good or bad with different brands of epirbs? Ease / cost of changing batteries is something to consider. No interest in a PLB, only Epirbs.

[zload]

No experience but from what I know battery replacement requires a return to a certified service center(you can't buy the battery pack) not something you can do on your own. I assume they replace seals etc. as part of the service process, I believe they have a 5 year service life before replacement. My PLB battery change will cost $125, I think the EPIRBS are around $250 depending on the brand/model. Sort of like the repack and recertification on a life raft...

ACR Battery FAQs

[EddieJoe]

Does anyone have any experience good or bad with different brands of epirbs? Ease / cost of changing batteries is something to consider. No interest in a PLB, only Epirbs.

Yes. My ACR has been excellent, about time to replace it. The battery replacement is expensive for all of them.

EJ

[EddieJoe]

Not a biggie I talk up PLBs when I get the chance and one of the biggest advantages of the PLB is you can carry it around in your pocket. Since a lot of the members here are into a lot of different outdoor sports/activities other than offshore fishing it has much more utility than some might realize. Maybe that will convince a few people to spend the relatively nominal amount of money involved in purchasing one...

Having either one will do. One thing to remember is that a PLB may float but can't adequately transmit floating, like an EPIRB will. Means that with a PLB you MOL need to have a jacket or boat or something to hold the device out of the water. When by myself I wear an autoinflate pfd and the PLB on my belt, plus connect the killswitch.

EJ

[Dubble Trubble]

Not a biggie I talk up PLBs when I get the chance and one of the biggest advantages of the PLB is you can carry it around in your pocket. Since a lot of the members here are into a lot of different outdoor sports/activities other than offshore fishing it has much more utility than some might realize. Maybe that will convince a few people to spend the relatively nominal amount of money involved in purchasing one...

Having either one will do. One thing to remember is that a PLB may float but can't adequately transmit floating, like an EPIRB will. Means that with a PLB you MOL need to have a jacket or boat or something to hold the device out of the water. When by myself I wear an autoinflate pfd and the PLB on my belt, plus connect the killswitch.

EJ

Amen on the killswitch. I can't help but wonder if one reason the boat was so far out was that they both were thrown out of the boat while running. I heard the engine cover was off, but that could have happened by the rough wave action after it capsized. I feel like if they had been with it when it capsized, they would have stayed with the boat.

[bman]

killswitch

That goes on every time I'm running the boat.

[EddieJoe]

Not a biggie I talk up PLBs when I get the chance and one of the biggest advantages of the PLB is you can carry it around in your pocket. Since a lot of the members here are into a lot of different outdoor sports/activities other than offshore fishing it has much more utility than some might realize. Maybe that will convince a few people to spend the relatively nominal amount of money involved in purchasing one...

Having either one will do. One thing to remember is that a PLB may float but can't adequately transmit floating, like an EPIRB will. Means that with a PLB you MOL need to have a jacket or boat or something to hold the device out of the water. When by myself I wear an autoinflate pfd and the PLB on my belt, plus connect the killswitch.

EJ

Amen on the killswitch. I can't help but wonder if one reason the boat was so far out was that they both were thrown out of the boat while running. I heard the engine cover was off, but that could have happened by the rough wave action after it capsized. I feel like if they had been with it when it capsized, they would have stayed with the boat.

Usually boats that lose their operators and are still running wind up going in a circle until they run out of gas. This doesn't move them up or down the coast much. In this case, I am guessing they might have lost power either during or before being hit by a storm and the boat rolled over. The missing engine cover argues for losing power before the storm. The stream and the elements moved the boat way offshore. Once the boys were out of the boat it was only a matter of time. I hope they passed peacefully, if they passed.

EJ