Awesome Rescue Story!

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

cf-
Try swimming in a life jacket. It is very much like swimming while towing a bucket. Lots more drag than you would think.
Some folks are naturally bouyant, others sink like stones. But with any effective life jacket on, you'll have to do a backstroke to get anywhere. If I wanted to cover any distance, I'd ditch it too.

I would not try to swim for help in a life jacket.

This is one instance where a SPOT and a cell phone, while not bluewater sailing, could be very useful. But you have to have a ditch bag and waterproof containers for them.

[David_Old_Jersey]

It was "Heroic" only because he made it ashore. If not he would have been an idiot . I would say "Heroic" if he knew that the odds of making it were low, but was willing to go anyway on the basis that the others likely would not survive to the morning - even if he likely would.

But I think much value in pointing out that swimming 5 miles to shore is not usually the best option. When no good options left it is a matter of playing the odds.

But heroic rescue effort or not - he was still an idiot for getting into that position in the first place.

[bengearing]

Originally Posted by psneeld

Kinda like the guy that gets hit by lightning twice...a billion to one or more. PLBs and EPIRBs have proven themselves not only to work 90+ percent of the time but actually provided for rescue in the high 90 percent category. I'll bet my life on one over a 5 mile swim at night in the Chesapeake.

As I said...holding up these kind of examples just shows ignorance to the serious side of safe outdoor activities and survival.

But would you just float there waiting for help if you didn't have one? From what I've read it wasn't even his boat, it was his old man's, so not his fault initially anyway. I haven't stumbled across anywhere saying they didn't have a PLB so maybe they were in shock/forgot about it. Whichever way, I still reckon the bloke is a champion for actually being in the sh!t, either by poor planning/misfortune whatever, and making the decision to go for help. I bet most people would just float there and hope.

[psneeld]

Originally Posted by bengearing

But would you just float there waiting for help if you didn't have one? From what I've read it wasn't even his boat, it was his old man's, so not his fault initially anyway. I haven't stumbled across anywhere saying they didn't have a PLB so maybe they were in shock/forgot about it. Whichever way, I still reckon the bloke is a champion for actually being in the sh!t, either by poor planning/misfortune whatever, and making the decision to go for help. I bet most people would just float there and hope.

Most people would TELL someone where they are going and look for them after dark...you know a BASIC float plan that's not necessarily written down.

Not his fault??? I'm going out with a seventy year old, in a 16 foot boat with the weather calling for probable thunderstorms and I don't ask any questions about safety stuff or if he bothered to tell anyone they were going out on the boat?.....hope you are kidding.....

I seriously doubt they had even the basic safety equipment...as it was never mentioned either....but then I rarely believe much what I read in the media.

If anyone remotely knew they were out there...whose to say a rescue may not have been successful without his daring swim? You know how often in heavily travelled areas like the Chesapeake someone would have found them anyway...like a crabber at daybreak?

I'll bet the Carolina skiff floated just fine even upside down and surely would have supported several members on top and the others half out of the water...

I'll say it again...sure there are situations where swimming for it is a good idea...this one doesn't sound like one of them. The good outcome may have happened anyway, just like statistic say and training tells you to do.

Sure I'd slap him on the back and say helluva swim and buy him a beer then say..."now...ya know better next time?"

[psneeld]

Originally Posted by bengearing

But would you just float there waiting for help if you didn't have one? From what I've read it wasn't even his boat, it was his old man's, so not his fault initially anyway. I haven't stumbled across anywhere saying they didn't have a PLB so maybe they were in shock/forgot about it. Whichever way, I still reckon the bloke is a champion for actually being in the sh!t, either by poor planning/misfortune whatever, and making the decision to go for help. I bet most people would just float there and hope.

No most people would have been saved much earlier because of the hundred things that could have been done differently.

[bengearing]

There's a little too much focus on the prior happenings, maybe we should go find the guy and play 20 questions to get the real truth hey. As I said, all the prior mistakes aside and even if swimming was a bad idea in that circumstance, he showed compassion and a drive to save his family. I think that's what we should be focussing on, not how much they screwed up. Try to find a positive here...it's not that hard. Lives saved, happy ending, beers all round

[psneeld]

look for all the positives you want...I hope any new boaters here now understand putting yourself into a position to have to swim 5 miles at night to be rescued or not carrying something as simple as a $100 waterproof VHF to obtain quick rescue is about as foolhearty as one can get.

call him a hero if you want... it's free in the USA.....I'll reserve that overused word for those that truly are.

[bengearing]

You never know, maybe he came to that astounding conclusion while he was swimming round in the dark. No need to beat him up for it, I'm sure he's beating himself up just fine.

[Ocean Girl]

Well the article is very vague, where is the source of info for all this talk of his lack of communications equipment and such.

I never want to disagree with DOJ, cause he rocks in my book, but hero, plain and simple.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

It was "Heroic" only because he made it ashore. If not he would have been an idiot . I would say "Heroic" if he knew that the odds of making it were low, but was willing to go anyway on the basis that the others likely would not survive to the morning - even if he likely would.

But I think much value in pointing out that swimming 5 miles to shore is not usually the best option. When no good options left it is a matter of playing the odds.

But heroic rescue effort or not - he was still an idiot for getting into that position in the first place.

It's not usually a good idea, but there was a 3 year old child in the water. that changes everything. i'm not going to call him a fool. He saved them all.

[bgallinger]

The generally accepted rule is never ever leave the boat. This guy was incredibly lucky to have survived. Most don't.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by bgallinger

The generally accepted rule is never ever leave the boat. This guy was incredibly lucky to have survived. Most don't.

I think we all know that.

What were the 3 year old child's chances if she stayed in the water all night? Children will develop hypothermia before adults. Also his mother, i think?

Sometimes rules are made to be broken. We just had a LONG thread about sailing in storms, which boiled down to "nothing works all the time. Look at your individual circumstances and then make your best call."

We also had a thread about thinking both in and outside the box. i think the general consensus was that sailors tend to think outside the box.

I wonder who would have been alive in the morning.

The general tendency when driving is to slam on the breaks if you're in iminent danger of collision, but sometimes the best thing is to floor it. it all depends. If you guess right, you get to live another day.

[psneeld]

Pretty good if sitting on top of the perfectly flat bottom skiff that overturned....along with the others that should have pulled most of themselves out of the water and balanced the boat...or even better yet, inside of it had someone had the insight to right an "unsinkable 16 foot Carolina skiff"....

As far as whether or not there was communication devices or not...who cares...they weren't used if available and if not available...well go figure.

It still can't be determined whether or not all would have survived without the risk of the long distance swim...but as I said before...pretty gutsy in general..even more so if he knew the suggestions against doing it...

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by bgallinger

The generally accepted rule is never ever leave the boat. This guy was incredibly lucky to have survived. Most don't.

True but it does hapen. A neighbour of mine used to own a steel trawler working out of Yamba on the NSW north coast. Boat just out after survey inspection, all good with brand new epirb, boat trawling when the trawl got hung up on something as she was turning and the boat turned turtle and sank in about 30 seconds. Not even enough time to grab the epirb.
The deckhand was in the cabin and escaped as she sank . He and the other two floated with the aid of a large esky and then he set out to swim to shore, he could see the reflection of a lighthouse light on the clouds. Took him about 14 hours to reach land and raise the alarm, the other deckhand was located but the skipper was never found.