3 Texas boaters missing for a week rescued at sea

[CaptnC]

I have not checked 2CoolFishing, which mainly covers Texas fishing. As the folks on that forum raised money and organized search efforts, maybe the 3 men will have some comments on that forum

The guys on 2cool can be pretty harsh at times...this case included. I doubt you'll see anything posted by them on that site. After they were found they (2coolers) went to work on the list of "should have done" to the point that these guys will most likely not post there.

Here is some of thing that I've heard from them mother and sister; The boat turtled within minutes of them noticing the boat was taking on water. I heard they tried to get the boat on plane, but not sure of my source (don't remember). The mother did say one day that the guys did see SAR plane and some fishing boats, but were out of flares. They also tried to get a battery and their VHF out of the boat working, but it was toast already. I also heard they used their fire extinguisher to help hale the rescue boat...they fired it up in the air and it made a white cloud.

What would have shortened their time a drift:

More and better use of their flares

A hand held VHF

Eprib

The fact the CG didn't rely on reports from the family on land that the guys might have went to the area called "Hill Tops" also contributed to the time they spent out there. Some of the guys on 2cool looked up the water currents for the night they turtled and suggested the search be more the SE...which is the direction they drifted and later found. They based everything off the one sighting by a worker on the rig who recalled seeing them before sun set the day of the rollover.

I'm in no way saying the CG wasn't or didn't do their job. Those guys are the best trained SAR in the world and I wouldn't want one else looking for me if I was lost. But they should review the events of this one case to see if it should be part of there SAR criteria so that any known float plan be included for the starting point of a search...especially after a day or two has gone by without any signs (debris) of the lost boaters.

[texrford]

CaptnC

Check page 58 on the second thread, titled Missing Boater's Found, on 2Cool. Curt and James, two of the missing boaters, posted a very brief thank you message under the user name Rebecca81. Based on their message, it sounds like they replaced a bilge pump on the boat recently, and they think its failure caused their boat to flood.

I suppose the 2Coolers are trying to bring out the lessons to be learned, so others can avoid situations like this in the future. I was impressed they were there when it counted, when the three men were lost at sea. Anyway, I am just glad another tragedy in the gulf was avoided, and all are safe and sound.

Edited September 10, 2009 by texrford

[CaptnC]

CaptnC

Check page 58 on the second thread, titled Missing Boater's Found, on 2Cool. Curt and James, two of the missing boaters, posted a very brief thank you message under the user name Rebecca81. Based on their message, it sounds like they replaced a bilge pump on the boat recently, and they think its failure caused their boat to flood.

I suppose the 2Coolers are trying to bring out the lessons to be learned, so others can avoid situations like this in the future. I was impressed they were there when it counted, when the three men were lost at sea. Anyway, I am just glad another tragedy in the gulf was avoided, and all are safe and sound.

Yeah...I had seen that but there were a couple other threads where the arm chair experts started the "they should..." and the "if they had..." before the guys had a chance to do a detail report of what all happened. I was really hoping they would post up, but I knew when I seen those other threads they most likely would never post up their story.

[787337]

Happy that everyone is ok.