Fly Rod
Commander
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- Oct 31, 2002
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Boaters Lack of Gear Hurt Search.
The Coast Guard Tuesday was unapologetic that it took more than 51/2 hours to locate and rescue two men from 57-degree ocean waters within sight of Cape Ann, where their 30-foot power boat sank rapidly Saturday afternoon.
The men ? reportedly the owner and a prospective buyer of the boat, but who otherwise remained unidentified Tuesday ? were at sea discussing the sale of the Happy Days and had no electronic equipment except a disposable cell phone when the boat began taking water and went down quickly, according to Chief Petty Officer Jeff Hall, spokesman for the Coast Guard's District Boston.
Before the boat sank, the men, ages 63 and 36, were able to put on their life preservers and got off a call, apparently to 911, said Hall. The call came in a 1:35 p.m., but they were not located until around 7 p.m. and were finally picked up by a Coast Guard boat a half hour after that.
"They didn't do too much to help," Hall said.
Chris Sparkman, chief warrant officer of Station Gloucester, said the caller indicated that Thacher Island, "with its the twin light towers," could be seen, but Sparkman added the caller seemed unsure, and said perhaps he saw three towers ? possibly the coal power plant in Salem.
Sparkman said he believed the boat departed from Danvers, which would have taken the men out past Salem.
The Coast Guard launched all three of its rescue boats from Gloucester, brought in one from Newburyport and directed a helicopter and a jet, which was already out, to join the search.
"We had two floating heads out in the ocean, it just takes time," said Hall. "It's a miracle they were alive."
Water temperature was 57 to 58 degrees, which, according to the website boatsafe.com, would have rendered the men unconscious in no more than two hours. Maximum survival time in that temperature water was given as six hours.
The survivors were taken by helicopter to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston with hypothermia.
They were released, and Hall said Tuesday he was trying to contact them to obtain their permission to serve as public examples of how not to go to sea.
"Their names are not releasable right now," he said.
Even if they had a hand-held VHF radio ? allowing an S.O.S. on Channel 16, the universal channel for essential marine communications including maydays ? the close call would probably not have been, Hall said.
He said the one cell phone call mentioned that a party fishing boat was in sight, and with a VHF radio, the location and dire circumstances would have been picked up by the fishing boat and the men would have been taken out of the water relatively quickly."
"We had a hard time tracking the (cell phone)," he said.
Note: You should always do a radio check prior to leaving the dock and again once a couple miles from shore. Just because you hear people talking on the vhf does not mean that you could send a message from yours.
The Coast Guard Tuesday was unapologetic that it took more than 51/2 hours to locate and rescue two men from 57-degree ocean waters within sight of Cape Ann, where their 30-foot power boat sank rapidly Saturday afternoon.
The men ? reportedly the owner and a prospective buyer of the boat, but who otherwise remained unidentified Tuesday ? were at sea discussing the sale of the Happy Days and had no electronic equipment except a disposable cell phone when the boat began taking water and went down quickly, according to Chief Petty Officer Jeff Hall, spokesman for the Coast Guard's District Boston.
Before the boat sank, the men, ages 63 and 36, were able to put on their life preservers and got off a call, apparently to 911, said Hall. The call came in a 1:35 p.m., but they were not located until around 7 p.m. and were finally picked up by a Coast Guard boat a half hour after that.
"They didn't do too much to help," Hall said.
Chris Sparkman, chief warrant officer of Station Gloucester, said the caller indicated that Thacher Island, "with its the twin light towers," could be seen, but Sparkman added the caller seemed unsure, and said perhaps he saw three towers ? possibly the coal power plant in Salem.
Sparkman said he believed the boat departed from Danvers, which would have taken the men out past Salem.
The Coast Guard launched all three of its rescue boats from Gloucester, brought in one from Newburyport and directed a helicopter and a jet, which was already out, to join the search.
"We had two floating heads out in the ocean, it just takes time," said Hall. "It's a miracle they were alive."
Water temperature was 57 to 58 degrees, which, according to the website boatsafe.com, would have rendered the men unconscious in no more than two hours. Maximum survival time in that temperature water was given as six hours.
The survivors were taken by helicopter to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston with hypothermia.
They were released, and Hall said Tuesday he was trying to contact them to obtain their permission to serve as public examples of how not to go to sea.
"Their names are not releasable right now," he said.
Even if they had a hand-held VHF radio ? allowing an S.O.S. on Channel 16, the universal channel for essential marine communications including maydays ? the close call would probably not have been, Hall said.
He said the one cell phone call mentioned that a party fishing boat was in sight, and with a VHF radio, the location and dire circumstances would have been picked up by the fishing boat and the men would have been taken out of the water relatively quickly."
"We had a hard time tracking the (cell phone)," he said.
Note: You should always do a radio check prior to leaving the dock and again once a couple miles from shore. Just because you hear people talking on the vhf does not mean that you could send a message from yours.
