PileDriver
Participating Member
- City
- Galveston
Ok my fellow offshore boaters, I am submitting this story as case study of want we could do different. This is a current story as they just found the men this morning. I have changed their names as it is not important, but I think we can learn a lot from the situation.
After reading the story ask yourself what you would do and are you really prepared for such an event?
Two fishermen missing since Wednesday are alive and back ashore after their 23-foot boat capsized too quickly for them to send a May-Day message, they said.
Bob, 29, climbed aboard a manned oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico around 3:30 a.m. today and walked into the galley where oil workers were sitting around.
"Who are you?,'' Bob quoted the surprised platform crew as saying.
Bob said he and his friend, Stan, stayed with their overturned boat from noon Wednesday until about 9 p.m. Thursday, when Bob decided to try to swim to an oil platform in the area.
Both had grabbed life vests as their boat overturned and the Coast Guard cutter Amberjack found Stan in the water around 6 a.m. today. He was about 2 1/2 miles from the rig when picked up.
After he and Stan arrived at a County airport on a helicopter this morning, Bob said something broke on the pair's boat and the vessel flooded before they could react.
Both men appeared badly sunburned but they had told family members awaiting them on shore that they would not go to a nearby hospital for a checkup. Family members insisted, however, and the two were on their way to the hospital by 8 a.m. today.
Bob and Stan departed the a Bait and Tackle Slip Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. in a 23-foot Mako boat. Their plan was to go fishing in the Gulf of Mexico near a popular fishing spot, locally known as the 22 1/2 Fathom Lump (about 40nm offshore).
Prior to departing Bob called his wife and told her that they had experienced engine trouble but were able to make repairs. He then told her that they were continuing with the fishing trip and expected to return between 5 and 8 p.m. Wednesday evening.
As they clung to the boat during daylight hours Wednesday and Thursday, a Coast Guard helicopter and Guard Falcon jet airplane aircraft flew near but did not spot them, Bob said.
"But we knew they were looking for us," Bob said.
Late Thursday, he said. the pair estimated they were within a half mile of some oil platforms and they decided to swim for one.
They hit a strong current that threatened to carry them away, Bob said.
Bob managed to get to a platform as Stan waited behind in the water.
The pair said they were 36 miles offshore when their boat capsized.
"It just flipped over," Stan said.
The boat remains missing.
After reading the story ask yourself what you would do and are you really prepared for such an event?
Two fishermen missing since Wednesday are alive and back ashore after their 23-foot boat capsized too quickly for them to send a May-Day message, they said.
Bob, 29, climbed aboard a manned oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico around 3:30 a.m. today and walked into the galley where oil workers were sitting around.
"Who are you?,'' Bob quoted the surprised platform crew as saying.
Bob said he and his friend, Stan, stayed with their overturned boat from noon Wednesday until about 9 p.m. Thursday, when Bob decided to try to swim to an oil platform in the area.
Both had grabbed life vests as their boat overturned and the Coast Guard cutter Amberjack found Stan in the water around 6 a.m. today. He was about 2 1/2 miles from the rig when picked up.
After he and Stan arrived at a County airport on a helicopter this morning, Bob said something broke on the pair's boat and the vessel flooded before they could react.
Both men appeared badly sunburned but they had told family members awaiting them on shore that they would not go to a nearby hospital for a checkup. Family members insisted, however, and the two were on their way to the hospital by 8 a.m. today.
Bob and Stan departed the a Bait and Tackle Slip Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. in a 23-foot Mako boat. Their plan was to go fishing in the Gulf of Mexico near a popular fishing spot, locally known as the 22 1/2 Fathom Lump (about 40nm offshore).
Prior to departing Bob called his wife and told her that they had experienced engine trouble but were able to make repairs. He then told her that they were continuing with the fishing trip and expected to return between 5 and 8 p.m. Wednesday evening.
As they clung to the boat during daylight hours Wednesday and Thursday, a Coast Guard helicopter and Guard Falcon jet airplane aircraft flew near but did not spot them, Bob said.
"But we knew they were looking for us," Bob said.
Late Thursday, he said. the pair estimated they were within a half mile of some oil platforms and they decided to swim for one.
They hit a strong current that threatened to carry them away, Bob said.
Bob managed to get to a platform as Stan waited behind in the water.
The pair said they were 36 miles offshore when their boat capsized.
"It just flipped over," Stan said.
The boat remains missing.
Actually thinking about a sat phone.
