Nothing like an invigorating 2 mile open ocean swim to wrap up your Labor Day weekend.
http://www.news4jax.com/news/29088186/detail.html
http://www.news4jax.com/news/29088186/detail.html
Man overboard
- Thread starter Zaphro
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Maybe he wouldn't share his beer so they threw him and his cooler over the side.
Ever read Carl Hiaasen? Born Floridian, editor for Miami Herald and fiction writer? He bases events in his books on real stories that come into the paper and this is one that the Mrs and I would dub "Hiaasen News".
Ever read Carl Hiaasen? Born Floridian, editor for Miami Herald and fiction writer? He bases events in his books on real stories that come into the paper and this is one that the Mrs and I would dub "Hiaasen News".
...and he lived to tell the adventure! Ooo what a lucky man he was! Coolers are not just for beverages anymore. Where was the life jacket or throw ring?
How there happened to be a cooler has to be a good story. How many of us know other means of staying afloat? Any fabric, kept wet, will hold air for some amount of time. Long pants are especially good. Tie the legs, they are already wet, throw over your head to fill with air, and instant PFD. In the Navy our white hat could keep us afloat for hours. Fatigue, holding on in big seas, is the main factor. Still no reason to NOT wear a PFD.
Swimming 2 miles ... why bother with any flotation devise? It seems to me, it would just add to fatigue to attempt to swim while hanging on to anything. Of course Florida is all beach and not much of anything to worry about (except sharks), I think if land is visible, it would be more efficient to ditch the flotation devises and just swim.
This is a weird case and there is undoubtedly much that is not explained. A wave pitched this guy in the water and the boat was not reachable when there were 2 other guys on board? Maybe they never knew he disappeared, but the story doesn't seem to be explained that way. There has got to be more to it ...
This is a weird case and there is undoubtedly much that is not explained. A wave pitched this guy in the water and the boat was not reachable when there were 2 other guys on board? Maybe they never knew he disappeared, but the story doesn't seem to be explained that way. There has got to be more to it ...
Do the math T-bird, a two mile swim will take you around 2 hours minimum, the water temp is not 98.7 so you WILL be suffereing some sort of hypotherema and may not be able to tread water.
It might take me more than 3 hours since I don't swim very fast ...
I bet the water is probably close to 80 on the Atlantic side, 90 on the Gulf side. Swimming obviously raises your body temperature as you expend energy. A two-hour swim will easily ward off hypothermia under these conditions. If anything, the water is warm for a strenuous swim. Hypothermia would only occur after an individual loses the energy to swim and simply lays in the water. Even laying in the water would take far more than a few hours in those conditions.
Considering that the fellow may be an over-weight beer drinker (but we don't know anything about him), losing energy for swimming could occur relatively quickly, but then fat tissue is an effective insulator.
But I also agree that a swim in the open ocean is no piece of cake and if land isn't visible, then it would be difficult to give up any security. At two miles, you might only see land while on top of a swell. but considering that the sun was probably setting while swimming, he would just have to follow the setting sun (if swimming in the Atlantic).
I bet the water is probably close to 80 on the Atlantic side, 90 on the Gulf side. Swimming obviously raises your body temperature as you expend energy. A two-hour swim will easily ward off hypothermia under these conditions. If anything, the water is warm for a strenuous swim. Hypothermia would only occur after an individual loses the energy to swim and simply lays in the water. Even laying in the water would take far more than a few hours in those conditions.
Considering that the fellow may be an over-weight beer drinker (but we don't know anything about him), losing energy for swimming could occur relatively quickly, but then fat tissue is an effective insulator.
But I also agree that a swim in the open ocean is no piece of cake and if land isn't visible, then it would be difficult to give up any security. At two miles, you might only see land while on top of a swell. but considering that the sun was probably setting while swimming, he would just have to follow the setting sun (if swimming in the Atlantic).
-SO SAYS THE LAND LOCKED GUY FROM NEW JOISEY.
(insert face palm here)
This guy was pretty lucky! it was not too rough yesterday, 1-2' and 10-12knts. and lets not forget the current...
IS anyone else surprised the USCG didn't see him and his cooler... (white?)
he's a good advertisement for SOS suspenders...
Well if you think so. there is a large body of evidence to the contrary however. Water can remove a lot of heat and does not get warm doing it given the amounts we are talking about. Hypothermia can occure in 90 deg F water in around 5 hours no mater what your activity level is. In fact the more active the more heat you loose from your extremities which normally (except Navy SEALS who train to "work through" this type of stuff) sets off the hypothermic reaction and shuts down blood flow to the arms and legs...... and you end up needing a float.
I've never underestimated the potential for hypothermia but I have a hard time believing that a reasonably fit middle-aged individual would start to feel its affects if swimming for a few hours at this time of year off the coast of Florida.
Except that an individual who is in poor shape would sap energy quickly by being in the water and therein lies the danger. An able-bodied adult SHOULD have no problem swimming a few miles without shutting down. But maybe we aren't surpised anymore about a population that is going soft.
Swimmers spend far more time in the pool where the water is kept at lower temps to prevent overheating. From my high school days, I remember the water at about 68 and swimming practice was longer than 2 hours.
Except that an individual who is in poor shape would sap energy quickly by being in the water and therein lies the danger. An able-bodied adult SHOULD have no problem swimming a few miles without shutting down. But maybe we aren't surpised anymore about a population that is going soft.
Swimmers spend far more time in the pool where the water is kept at lower temps to prevent overheating. From my high school days, I remember the water at about 68 and swimming practice was longer than 2 hours.
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