Thrown off the Boat

[crazyoldboatguy]

The only time I ever fell off my boat was when it was on the hard. Trying to clean the deck I pulled some garden hose up and took a step backwards. I don't remember what happened next because I had a head injury and was knocked unconscious. I chalked it up to the fact that the boat wasn't moving and so it threw me off balance. Obviously, a PFD wouldn't have helped much.

Gotta be careful on deck. Assume you will be tossed around. The USCG will comment that some guys are found in the water with their zippers open - a sign that they were likely peeing off the transom. That discussion occurred on a different thread, tho.

It took me 6 months to recover from my shattered collarbone. My head is fine. The Admiral isn't too sure about my brain.

[Neeltje]

Personally, I think people should refrain from having sex on the dive platform unless the boat is at anchor, but that's just me.

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by onestepcsy37

S/v illusion, ever hear of the gulf stream?

Sent from my GT-P3113 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

It's a town in Palm Beach County.


That you think the current effect is that close to shore and that fast is indicative of the typical internet expert so prevalent here isolated from reality.

[s/v Beth]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

It's a town in Palm Beach .

No it isn't!!
It's a brand of trailer! Ah good one too!

[pete33458]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

It's a town in Palm Beach County.


That you think the current effect is that close to shore and that fast is indicative of the typical internet expert so prevalent here isolated from reality.

Actually, Hallandale Beach is just N of Miami and S of Ft Lauderdale, but still, even if you make minimal assumptions and start from the far northern end of Key Largo (it's called "Largo" for a reason...), Hallandale is around 45 nm, which puts their average SOG at better than 3 kt, not bad, who needs a boat?! Pete

[BandB]

Wifey B: I am most curious about the "rest of the story" though. We'll probably never know.

Well, like all good webbers, we should just make up one.

Man's statement to press: "We were boating naked as we always do when offshore. I was at the helm but saw her bending over the stern of the boat, as if looking at something. So, I was unable to resist the rear of the boat, thought I'd step back just for a second. However, as I did, I heard or imagined a call. It was strangely for a "doggy". I know not whence it came but I felt compelled to follow that call and before I knew it I guess we'd gotten carried away, literally, over the transom and into the brink. In the comfort of our position in the water, the warmth, the wetness, it was a few moments before we realized our boat was leaving us."

Woman's statement to press: "I was innocently minding my own business, leaning over the transom looking at the water, perhaps petting my cat at the time, I don't recall, when for no apparent reason he turned and rushed to me. I didn't know he was coming as I was back to the helm. Perhaps it was something he saw. I don't know. You know how men are. Perhaps it was the speed of the boat but he came to me hard and soon we were overboard. I tried to tell him the boat was leaving us but again his mind just seemed elsewhere."

Moral of the story: Dogs and cats upon a boat can be dangerous if allowed to take over.

[avb3]

Originally Posted by BandB

Wifey B: I am most curious about the "rest of the story" though. We'll probably never know.

Well, like all good webbers, we should just make up one.

Man's statement to press: "We were boating naked as we always do when offshore. I was at the helm but saw her bending over the stern of the boat, as if looking at something. So, I was unable to resist the rear of the boat, thought I'd step back just for a second. However, as I did, I heard or imagined a call. It was strangely for a "doggy". I know not whence it came but I felt compelled to follow that call and before I knew it I guess we'd gotten carried away, literally, over the transom and into the brink. In the comfort of our position in the water, the warmth, the wetness, it was a few moments before we realized our boat was leaving us."

Woman's statement to press: "I was innocently minding my own business, leaning over the transom looking at the water, perhaps petting my cat at the time, I don't recall, when for no apparent reason he turned and rushed to me. I didn't know he was coming as I was back to the helm. Perhaps it was something he saw. I don't know. You know how men are. Perhaps it was the speed of the boat but he came to me hard and soon we were overboard. I tried to tell him the boat was leaving us but again his mind just seemed elsewhere."

Moral of the story: Dogs and cats upon a boat can be dangerous if allowed to take over.

Oh boy, there are so many nuances in this post of yours, if I picked up on them, I'd have to ban myself.

[onestepcsy37]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

It's a town in Palm Beach County.


That you think the current effect is that close to shore and that fast is indicative of the typical internet expert so prevalent here isolated from reality.

I lived and sailed in south florida for 25 years, kept my sailboat in key largo for 10 years, and crossed the gulf stream, both racing and cruising, for the past 35 years.

And your gulf stream experience is... ???

Sent from my GT-P3113 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[BandB]

Originally Posted by avb3

Oh boy, there are so many nuances in this post of yours, if I picked up on them, I'd have to ban myself.

Wifey B: hehe....whatever do you mean? In the tradition of Mae West, Groucho Marx, and Johnny Carson. But I kept it clean.....unless you have a dirty mind, then I can't be responsible for you.

My hubby just shaking his head. Well, we're about to dock, then lunch, then this afternoon basketball and tennis. Tennis requires more balls to play than basketball.

[BandB]

Originally Posted by onestepcsy37

I lived and sailed in south florida for 25 years, kept my sailboat in key largo for 10 years, and crossed the gulf stream, both racing and cruising, for the past 35 years.

And your gulf stream experience is... ???

Sent from my GT-P3113 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

The average speed of the gulf stream is 3.5 knots and the fastest on the surface is 4.9 knots. So, certainly possible although still the story sounds odd still. Not that they were in the water and rescued, just as to the where and how.

[pete33458]

Originally Posted by BandB

The average speed of the gulf stream is 3.5 knots and the fastest on the surface is 4.9 knots. So, certainly possible although still the story sounds odd still. Not that they were in the water and rescued, just as to the where and how.

Not sure where you get your information, but I think there may be some confusion. The average surface speed in the center of the gulf stream is, indeed, generally taken to be about 3.5 kt. This is not the case for the outer edges of the stream, and certainly not near shore, where these folks fell off of their boat. The conventional estimate for waters inside "the edge" are 1/2 kt to 1 kt max. Here is a look at what the region looks like right now, nothing over 2 kt, even in the center of the stream, near shore waters less than 1/2 kt. So there has to be something amiss in the story, whatever that may be. pete

[BandB]

Originally Posted by pete33458

Not sure where you get your information, but I think that the people that sail here on a regular basis would disagree. The average speed in the middle of the gulf stream is, indeed, generally taken to be about 3.5 kt. This is not the case for the outer edges of the stream, and certainly not near shore, where these folks fell off of their boat. The conventional estimate for waters inside "the edge" are 1/2 kt to 1 kt max. Here is a look at what the region looks like right now, nothing over 2 kt, even in the middle of the stream, near shore waters less than 1/2 kt. pete

Mine was from the NOAA. But I did not check to see how it was today as you did.

How fast is the Gulf Stream?

I boat in the gulf stream a lot myself (I imagine more than you do but that's really irrelevant) but don't measure the current and as I'm not sailing, don't really feel it's impact as greatly as a sailor would. I don't know how far out they were when they started. They ended up 7 miles out, which right now you are correct that would be right at the west wall of the gulf stream in the Hallandale area. As I'm in Alaska at the moment, I didn't check as you did to see the current speed.

At 2 knots as you show, their story becomes more suspicious. Again, not the part about being in the water and needing a rescue, just the details as given. The 14 hours, while possible, is still very high as well. And where their boat ended up seems a bit odd too although I've not ever done anything to know the float pattern. I would have just thought it would have headed in or out, not continued parallel to shore. Perhaps it was on autopilot, but then how was it stopped?

[pete33458]

Originally Posted by BandB

Mine was from the NOAA. But I did not check to see how it was today as you did.

How fast is the Gulf Stream?

I boat in the gulf stream a lot myself (I imagine more than you do but that's really irrelevant) but don't measure the current and as I'm not sailing, don't really feel it's impact as greatly as a sailor would. I don't know how far out they were when they started. They ended up 7 miles out, which right now you are correct that would be right at the west wall of the gulf stream in the Hallandale area. As I'm in Alaska at the moment, I didn't check as you did to see the current speed.

At 2 knots as you show, their story becomes more suspicious. Again, not the part about being in the water and needing a rescue, just the details as given. The 14 hours, while possible, is still very high as well. And where their boat ended up seems a bit odd too although I've not ever done anything to know the float pattern. I would have just thought it would have headed in or out, not continued parallel to shore. Perhaps it was on autopilot, but then how was it stopped?

Just to make things even more confusing, the NOAA data is in statute miles per hour, not nautical miles per hour. Nonetheless, I think we all agree that the numbers just don't add up...

[BandB]

Originally Posted by pete33458

Just to make things even more confusing, the NOAA data is in statute miles per hour, not nautical miles per hour. Nonetheless, I think we all agree that the numbers just don't add up...

I did convert their numbers I used to knots.

[Scot McPherson]

You know, just to add another wrinkle to this thread.

They were "treading water" for 14 hours...I would very well suspect they were not "near shore", otherwise I suspect they'd have been on their backs and slowly swimming home. If they were strong enough to tread for 14 hours (which is amazing), they were strong enough to swim a gentle pace on their backs.

What's that mean?

They very well may have been in the center of the gulf stream. It's not that far out in the Key Largo Miami area. In fact it's about 30-50 miles out. Not exactly far.

Just for the record, I lived in North Key Largo for 15 years. Done MANY hours on and under the water in that area fishing and scuba diving, boating into the atlantic side of the island from Angelfish Creek, and I am very familiar with the waters there.