Missing Boaters Found

[wiley]

RIVIERA BEACH--- Three boaters who've been missing since leaving Riviera Beach early Thursday morning have been found.

The 3 men, John Land, Dave Blakeney, and Kevin Woods, were found 80 miles off the coast of Jacksonville early Saturday morning.

Their 32' "Shade Maker" boat apparently broke down and started drifting north. The men are unharmed and should be back home Saturday evening.

The men left Phil Foster Park Thursday morning on a fishing trip and were to return Thursday at sundown. The Coast Guard began an active search after the family reported their boat overdue.

The Coast Guard had been searching an area as far north as Fort Pierce as far south as Fort Lauderdale and as far east as the Bahamas.

*****

For those who may not know that's about a 200+ mile drift.

Guess nobody saw the flares or heard the distress call on the backup hand held VHF the should have had?

[Boz]

80 miles off the coast, and all they had was a hand-held VHF ?

Glad they're all okay, but hopefully the next time they venture offshore (if ever), they are better equipped for emergency situations.

[wiley]

No, no, no. They said the boat broke down which I imagine included the radio?

I was being sarcastic. As in why wouldn't you have a hand-held as a backup? Not like with a 32' Seavee you couldn't afford one.

No flares? There are plenty of folks out in the water this time of year. More than usual.

[Boz]

No, no, no. They said the boat broke down which I imagine included the radio?

I was being sarcastic. As in why wouldn't you have a hand-held as a backup? Not like with a 32' Seavee you couldn't afford one.

No flares? There are plenty of folks out in the water this time of year. More than usual.

Wiley's being sarcastic ? Say it ain't so !

I follow you. Perhaps the VHF was dead. As for the flares, even in my puny little 18 footer, I carry 18 12-ga flares, 6 hand-held, and 6 orange smokes.

Oh well. Like I said - - maybe next time they'll be better prepared.

[wiley]

Exactly... I would hope so.

[skunkedagain]

Were they even within sight of another boat? Did they fire flares? Were the flares seen? You only need three on board, after all, and useless to fire them off if there's nobody who might even see them. Would a handheld VHF even been able to make the haul to the nearest CG tower? Not enough info for me to get sarcastic, but I'm glad they're all OK.

[wiley]

Busiest boating time of year here with the flat seas. I imagine at some point they were near somebody who could have seen a flare or heard a radio. Then again, I wasn't out there.

[wiley]

The phone rang at 4:25 a.m. with the best news Marilyn Land had ever received.

"We have your husband," a naval officer told her.

After 48 hours at sea, John Land and his two longtime friends had been rescued.

Early Saturday, a U.S. Navy frigate spotted the 32-foot pleasure craft Shade Maker carrying Land, 48, of West Palm Beach, David Blakeney, 39, of Royal Palm Beach, and Kevin Wood, 45, also of West Palm Beach.

The U.S. Coast Guard says the blue-and-white center-console SeaVee was spotted about 85 miles east of Jacksonville, where it apparently had drifted in the rapid current of the Gulf Stream. All three men were unharmed.

Marilyn Land said she had only moments to speak with her husband, a contractor, by phone, and did not know what went wrong with the boat.

As soon as Land showers, "I guarantee you the first thing he will do is work on getting his boat fixed," Land said. "I know it. It is his life."

Sometime during the ordeal, while Mary Starrett wrung her hands, her son-in-law's disabled boat passed her Space Coast home.

"John drifted right past me, I guess, in the middle of the night," said Starrett, Marilyn Land's mother.

But, she said, "I knew John's a survivor. I knew if there was any way possible, he'd make it."

Starrett said she's been told the boat lost all power and that they did not own an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB).

"I bet he gets one now," she quipped.

"They had potable (drinkable) water on the boat and it's a pretty big fishing boat," Starrett said Saturday from her home in Indian Harbour Beach, near Cape Canaveral. "They also had water in the cooler when the ice melted. I'm sure they might have been eating some raw fish."

The three had left Singer Island at 6 a.m. Thursday. Relatives grew worried when they hadn't returned by sunset. Around 1 a.m. Friday, they called the Coast Guard.

A jet, a prop plane, and five boats from the Coast Guard, as well as planes and boats from the Bahamian Air and Sea Rescue Association and Royal Bahamas Defence Force, scoured the ocean from Fort Lauderdale to Jacksonville and east to the Bahamas, the Coast Guard said.

The three men were still at sea Saturday afternoon, on their way to Jacksonville. A friend of John Land's was driving up with a trailer to bring him and his boat home and all were expected to return in the early hours.

Marilyn Land said she was overwhelmed by the hundreds of people who joined in the air and sea search.

"Oh my gosh, it has been amazing," she said

[wiley]

Just saw an interview with them. Guy said he was sending out messages on the radio, sent flares and used a mirror. ... to no avail.

[pmagrady]

Hmmmm..... A 200K boat and no EPERB. I don't mean to be hyper critical, but it is a "teaching moment" for those that do not own an EPERB. Don't forget to register your EPERB and give a friend or family member the phone number for the USCG as well as your float plan with your ETA.