On 1/11/14, 3:35 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 1/11/14, 12:09 PM, F.O.A.D. wrote:


About 25 years ago, a friend of mine was out duckhunting on the Bay in
one of those dark green aluminum "duck boats." It was cold as a roomful
of ex-wives that day, and while I don't call the circumstances, the boat
capsized and my friend and a buddy of his drowned. At his funeral, the
comments included remarks from his close friends who wondered what the
hell a married man with small children was doing out on the Bay on a
bitter cold day hunting ducks from a small boat.

Indeed.




A guy I know just died in a boating accident in Westport, CT. while duck
hunting.

He ran the local Monster Shark Tournaments for years and kept his boat
in a slip near mine in Scituate Harbor. Steve James was a very
experienced boater and I was shocked to learn of this accident.

He also recently returned from a trip to Africa, BTW.

I remember he had a nice Blackfin that he retrofitted with Yanmar
diesels, replacing the original gas engines. Boat sat very low in the
water after the conversion.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/01/07/three-duck-hunters-fall-into-westport-river-rescued-first-responders-but-conditions-unknown/f8fD65Go56gVCwzHbhOJFL/story.html





The telling quote from that article:

"At the time of the rescue, the air temperature was just 8 degrees, with
water temperatures of 35 degrees. Authorities did not say if the men
were wearing life jackets or had them on board. They said strong winds
made the river choppy, conditions challenging for a small boat."


Guys who are smart enough to know better, as your friend obviously was,
sometimes think they are physically invulnerable and take risks they
shouldn't. I've seen a few boaters the last week around here towing
their rigs down to the big public ramp in Solomons, and they weren't
watermen...they were recreational fishermen. It's been cold and windy,
and I would guess the water temp is only in the high 30's. They'd be
better off at one of the local firehouse poker games.