Missing Sailor & Family, Sanibel Island

Feb 20, 2011
7,990
Island Packet 35 Tucson, AZ/San Carlos, MX
Dad and three teenage live-aboards on a 29ft boat? Somebody had a history of poor judgment (and it was not the kids).
To be fair, sounds like better accommodations than a sizeable part of the world endures.

Very sad ending.
 
May 20, 2016
36
Clark San Juan 30 Blaine WA
So Sad I just hate hearing these story's especially with kid's involved I hope they are found Safe and this ends up to be a Happy Rescue and Not a Tragic one My Heart goes out to the Family. I am Truly Saddened by This and Pray they are alright.
 

Gunni

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Mar 16, 2010
5,937
Beneteau 411 Oceanis Annapolis
To be fair, sounds like better accommodations than a sizeable part of the world endures.
We're not the rest of the world, we're supposed to be an example to the rest of the world. Keeping those kids in those kinds of conditions should have cost that father custody.
 
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Nov 6, 2006
9,885
Hunter 34 Mandeville Louisiana
Sad indeed.. but I won't condemn the guy because we don't have any good info about the boat or the skipper's skill level of if he might have been incapacitated in some way.. The report of "repairs" could mean anything from a keel separation to having engine oil changed.. we don't know. The violence and travel speed of some of our "pop-up" thunderstorms here on the Gulf Coast can be amazing.. usually short lived, but certainly to the same ferociousness as the infamous line that got "WingNuts" in the Chicago-Mac race a few years ago.
 
Jan 6, 2010
1,520
Guys,

I was REALLY angry at first so, I did not post a reply.
I then read what you guys posted & decided to add my own take on this.

I sail out of the Tampa Bay area & consider the Gulf, as MY backyard.
Along with this NEEDLESS LOSS OF LIFE, from what I have read in the debris field discovered,
there were at least 5 lifejackets floating........WTF really?
When the last communication spoke of 6 foot seas & deteriorating conditions, is this not the time to have all aboard wearing life jackets NOW & more importantly...........BEFOREHAND?

Add to this, in the past two weeks, three other people have died in MY backyard.
These could of all been avoided sans the STUPIDITY!

Making the trip south out of Sarasota, one need only be 2-3 miles offshore for most of the trip.
Three teenage children are now lost for what I cannot fathom why. They were most likely not
wearing lifejackets in reported dangerous conditions for a 27 footer.

So, you need ask yourself, "Could this have been avoided"? I would think so. The water temp is 80°+/- so, exposure should not have played a cause. Where was his LL position, I do not know. There was however, a late season cold front moving in on Sunday but in my area 40 miles North, the winds would not have created the seas he reported. He may have been caught in a local moving band/squall & down here in Florida sometimes, winds can get up to 50 MPH for some time, mostly short-lived.

I am angry, because in the last two weeks, a total of 8 people were lost because safety steps had NOT been implemented beforehand. I now feel for the families & their lose. Children should NEVER DIE & not,
in my backyard.

We can & should DO BETTER! I hate Darwin Award winners.

Just my take on this guys.........

CR
 
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Jul 27, 2011
4,989
Bavaria 38E Alamitos Bay
Accidents like this might be avoided if skippers understand the risks, which regrettably this skipper evidently did not. Lacking a VHF radio, it's not likely that he got a marine weather report b/f leaving, although possible. If he had, he might have, or should have, chosen to go down the ICW instead along the coast. His brother should have called the USCG to report the call from the skipper of this distressed vessel when he got it. Lacking a VHF radio, the skipper should have asked his brother to call the USCG and report his situation as "deteriorating." There are a number of things that might have been done if the risks had been understood, etc. One cannot second-guess them all. But, it appears that the skipper did not recognize the danger of his situation or surely he would have instructed all aboard to don life jackets.
 
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Jul 4, 2015
436
Hunter 34 Menominee, MI; Sturgeon Bay WI
okay, so the captain's on deck and the family is huddled below in the cabin which is buttoned up hatch boards in place etc.

The boat capsizes and the cabin floods. What are the thoughts about wearing PFDs in the cabin whether water activated or foam on preventing egress from the cabin. I know this is been discussed before
 
Jul 27, 2011
4,989
Bavaria 38E Alamitos Bay
A 29-foot sailboat is a fairly seaworthy craft. I knew a guy who, for example, sailed his Ranger 29 from St. Petersburg, FL to Cuba, explored the Cuban coastline, and returned. Of course he was British, and maybe that means something. It's hard to imagine a 29-footer capsizing in only 6-ft seas unless there is something else at work (poor-condition?). The boat should be good to at least 9 ft. However, some of these storms pack very dangerous micro-bursts which could dismast a vessel under sail.
 
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Feb 6, 1998
11,667
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
Guys,

I was REALLY angry at first so, I did not post a reply.
I then read what you guys posted & decided to add my own take on this.

I sail out of the Tampa Bay area & consider the Gulf, as MY backyard.
Along with this NEEDLESS LOSS OF LIFE, from what I have read in the debris field discovered,
there were at least 5 lifejackets floating........WTF really?
When the last communication spoke of 6 foot seas & deteriorating conditions, is this not the time to have all aboard wearing life jackets NOW & more importantly...........BEFOREHAND?

Add to this, in the past two weeks, three other people have died in MY backyard.
These could of all been avoided sans the STUPIDITY!

Making the trip south out of Sarasota, one need only be 2-3 miles offshore for most of the trip.
Three teenage children are now lost for what I cannot fathom why. They were most likely not
wearing lifejackets in reported dangerous conditions for a 27 footer.

So, you need ask yourself, "Could this have been avoided"? I would think so. The water temp is 80°+/- so, exposure should not have played a cause. Where was his LL position, I do not know. There was however, a late season cold front moving in on Sunday but in my area 40 miles North, the winds would not have created the seas he reported. He may have been caught in a local moving band/squall & down here in Florida sometimes, winds can get up to 50 MPH for some time, mostly short-lived.

I am angry, because in the last two weeks, a total of 8 people were lost because safety steps had NOT been implemented beforehand. I now feel for the families & their lose. Children should NEVER DIE & not,
in my backyard.

We can & should DO BETTER! I hate Darwin Award winners.

Just my take on this guys.........

CR
I will hold my comments & thoughts other than this..

Please remember this story, and try to actually consider those of us who strongly support, discuss and continually promote SAFE boating practices.

Remember that we are always the ones who get lambasted every single time we suggest doing things correctly, having the proper gear or suggesting against doing something that has not been proven to be a safe practice especially when it may cost a tad bit less than doing it safely, correctly or to the accepted safe boating standards....

There is really no excuse for this tragedy and it is a good reminder that cell phones or iToy's are simply not replacements for proper marine equipment.

No VHF..? I would hope this is untrue but it appears it may be. Responsible skippers should not be relying on a cell phone & their brother from 30+ miles off shore, for weather reports. A WATERPROOF VHF should be a bare minimum it will also get you free NOAA weather updates. Sadly at least one of the children had their life cut short while trusting their father. A real preventable tragedy IMHO...

I would ask all the seasoned vets on this forum and others to PLEASE STOP promoting the "Just do it now, you'll be fine" attitude because insanity like this is the result.
 
Mar 27, 2016
52
Corsair F-24 denver
Talk about use of a drogue on Cruisers Forum in those conditions. I didn't get a look at the top of the kayak but it looked like a standard kayak and not a sit on top kayak from the image. A standard kayak could have functioned as a drogue in those conditions if a secure enough attachment was made to it. I think it was mentioned somewhere that they were towing those kayaks. If so, that can be bad idea in those kinds of conditions because they fill up with water so easily and act as a drogue even if you don't want them too. Perhaps they were cut loose for that reason. Maybe they were carried on deck.
 
Oct 9, 2008
1,739
Bristol 29.9 Dana Point
Am not going to adamantly second guess yet, as all of the story is not yet available.
However, I do not understand the no radio thing. If it is true.
You can get a brand new basic radio for $150. A good one. Don't even need to scale the mast, as the ant can be attached to the stern rail.
$ for a VHF should be allocated long before kayaks. --- if the no radio thing is true.
A radio combined with a GPS, which even his phone likely has - including free apps that enable displaying coordinates, or even just a $100 basic Garmin handheld, would allow a fairly routine rescue.
Unless the boat rolled and drown everyone instantly, in which case any previous distress call may have been useless, depending on rescue arrival time. Maybe even life vests would not be a guarantee, given the sea conditions and potential violence of the boat's demise. One body was apparently found wearing one.
Many things not known yet. Not everything at sea is preventable, or survivable. Yet a radio, coordinates and life vests would help a great deal, if deployed and used properly and before a catastrophe.
 
Mar 27, 2016
52
Corsair F-24 denver
There was a report of a bucket found containing a number of things including cell phones, GPS and birth certificates. Perhaps the report meant no functioning VHF radio--as an in a dismasting took out the antenna.