"Monkey Butler" wrote in message
...
On Mar 3, 12:00 pm, HK wrote:
Frogwatch wrote:

This accident with the NFL players off Clearwater where the boat
overturned is tragic. What went wrong? The weather forecast was poor
when they left shore, so what were they thinking? Was it simply a
matter of being too macho to exercise common sense?
Next, once a boat turns upside down, is there any way to right them?
Once righted, would a motor start (assume a 2 cycle).
I'd like to know how the boat was anchored, was it from the stern,
classical mistake resulting in this.
Going offshore with no EPIRB used to be acceptable but today?

- - -

What went wrong?

From the reports I heard yesterday, the guys went 50 miles offshore in
a 21' boat and were flipped by 14' to 16' waves.

What were they thinking? That they were invulernable.

They either were too macho or unaware of how quickly weather can change
on the Gulf or both *or* they were so ignorant of the dangers of small
boating, they thought their craft could handle anything they encountered.

I doubt there is a way for guys in the water to flip right-side-up a
boat like that. Might be able to turn back over an open boat, though.

Would the motor start? Doubtful.

I'm not sure the way the boat was anchored was relevant, since it
apparently was rolled over. Had it been anchored from the bow, it
probably would have been swamped and then it would have flipped.

Back in my Jax days, I would go out 20 miles to some manmade reefs, but
only after checking the weather and listening to the weather channel and
only with a pack of other boats. 18-footer. No ePIRB back then.

Conditions were way beyond the capabilities of the boat for sure. Who
knows how or why they got themselves into that situation.

As an aside, I remember reading a study a while back that showed that
while many boating accidents were reported as capsizes in very few
cases was capsize by waves the actual cause of the accident. Usually
the boat filled with water, either by swamping or by something as
simple as a missing drain plug before overturning. Once overturned I
think your chances of righting the hull are small. I watched a few
guys right an overturned 18-20' runabout and try to tow it fast enough
to get it to drain. Before they could get 10' the thing would flip
back over. This was in 1' chop at most and not in dangerous
conditions. As a matter of fact the had jetskis and were in wetsuits
and kind of goofing around.

Steve P.

Friends Boston Whaler 13' after it flipped and was abandoned during the
rescue was found about 10 miles down current. Even with a big boat, they
could not right the boat and towed it back slowly with it upside down.