There was not much for 3 guys to hang onto.
Posted on 03/07/2009 8:52:19 PM PST by metmom
Two days before NFL player Marquis Cooper took a doomed fishing trip with three friends in Florida Gulf Coast waters, a friend urged him to buy a life-saving device used to locate boats in distress.
Cooper hadn't heard of the gadget, an emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB). And he didn't purchase one before his excursion on Saturday, according to the St. Petersburg Times.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
True EPIRBs are now on the 406 Mhz band. That band is monitored by satellite. You buy the beacon, register the beacon, activate when you need it. Expected detection by satellite within 15-20 minutes. Some have a GPS built in that transmits your location as well.
WATER TEMP (Degrees in Fahrenheit) EXHAUSTION SURVIVAL TIME
32.5 or less Under 15 min Under 15 TO 45 min.
32.5 to 40 15 to 30 min 30 to 90 min.
40 to 50 30 to 60 min 1 to 3 hrs.
50 to 60 1 to 2 hrs. 1 to 6 hrs.
60 to 70 2 to 7 hrs 2 to 40 hrs.
70 to 80 3 to 12 hrs. 3 hrs. to indefinite
Over 80 Indefinite Indefinite
WATER TEMP(Degrees in Fahrenheit)
-———————Exhaustion-——Survival time
32.5 or less——Under 15 min——Under 15 TO 45 min.
32.5 to 40———15 to 30 min——30 to 90 min.
40 to 50————30 to 60 min——1 to 3 hrs.
50 to 60————1 to 2 hrs.-——1 to 6 hrs.
60 to 70————2 to 7 hrs———2 to 40 hrs.
70 to 80————3 to 12 hrs.——3 hrs. to indefinite
Over 80-————Indefinite———Indefinite
Last time I went out in a boat in winter some 15 years ago, I almost died. Went across Sardis Lake to the boat ramp in a 12 foot john boat.
Took 20-30 minutes in reality, but seemed like forever. Temperature in the 20’s and I really thought I was gonna die. Never been so cold in my life. Brother was driving the boat and I realized if it flipped, we were as good as dead.
Finally got the the boat ramp and as he drove the boat up the trailor, I couldn’t get my hands to work to clip to the boat and we kept falling off the side. He finally pulled around and made another run, then ran forward and clipped it, so we could be pulled out.
Didn’t have hypothermia, but it took many minutes in the car with the heater blowing before I felt warm again. I also remember the pain as my fingers warmed up. I know God was looking out for me that night and I swore I would never do anything like that again and I haven’t.
There was not much for 3 guys to hang onto.
Problem was in the planning. Most young guys think they are bulletproof. Add NFL to the equation and realistic planning is out the window. Nothing else mattered once they set foot on that boat, ill prepared for what lay ahead. RIP.
On our family vacation to the Grand Canyon my daughter and I chatted for a few minutes with one of the rangers who patrol the trail. She informed us that the vast majority of people who get in serious trouble there and end up needing assistance to get out are young men in the something-like 17-34 age range (Don't quote me, it's been a few years). They think they're tough, they can do it, this'll be enough water, etc.
Mmmm. I wonder. Did they take turns on top of the boat or were three of them always in the water? Might explain some things.
I have learned that one cannot carry too much water. I carried two canteens and some electrolite pouches in my butt pack. plus I drank as much water as I could before hitting the sector.
Water, socks and toilet paper.....
Wow!
I thank God you made it out of that lake okay!
See ya’,
Ed
Me too!
I have an even better close call...me and a friend were sitting on the cliffs at Hope, Alaska, looking at the sea ice.
There was a small island out in the Sound and we were debating whether to cross the sea ice and have lunch on the small island.
We decided not to, and just ate our lunches on the cliff.
Well, an hour after our conversation Breakup started happening, and the sea ice began violently breaking up.
That little island was completely awash with ice floes and raging water...if we had been either walking across the sea ice, or had made it to the island, we would have both gotten killed by the sea ice breaking up.
That was soooo scary!
Ed
How cool!
I lived in a little cabin on the banks of the Kenai. My address was Milepost 36.5, Seward Highway...a few miles up the road from a knife maker named IRBI.
Stood for I’d Rather Be Independent.
That trail we built down in Seward stands out as one of the most enjoyable times of my life, seconded only by the times I was assigned to Trail Patrol when I didn’t have to build ‘em, I just patrolled them.
Do you live in Alaska still?
Ed
Thanks, Catbert...it was fun bringing that memory back...scary as it was!
Ed
I figured it probably had to do with hypothermia. I wasn’t all the familiar with the symptoms, but that would explain their actions.
I’ve never lived there. For a while I was going up there almost every summer though. I’d move to Alaska if I thought I could stand the cold and dark in the winter.
And I’ve bought a knife from that knifemaker. Small world indeed.
Yeah, winters were hard to live through...the Northern Lights made it palatable, though!
But man...getting up in pitch darkness, seeing the sun barely creep above the hortizon around noon, only to set again in a few scant hours, it was hard.
But summers were great, you’d walk outside at 11 pm and it was still bright outside!
Ed
How cool!
You actually bought a knife from IRBI!!
I went in there many times but could rarely afford to buy anything.
Neat guy, though...typical Alaskan.
Ed
If they haven't already stopped they will soon no longer monitor 121.5 as the emergency frequency. Don't recall the details, but it's not the freq of choice, or at least won't be in the future. Times they are a changin’!
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