Phil Merrill - Suicide.

[Don s/v Tellico]

After all the dicsussion here about the merits of lifejackets, falling overboard, etc., and the hours and untold dollars spent searching the bay, it appears that the Merrill death was a suicide. News reports are that there was an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, and the family had noted significant changes in his behaviour in the preceeding days/weeks. Link to the family's statement below.As I learned after a friend took his life, we can't ever put ourselves in the shoes of someone who has committed suicide in order to understand their actions, because we haven't been there. No one has. If we were, we'd be dead. But it's certainly hard to understand that someone who loved his boat and sailing would do such a thing. He had obviously gone to a very dark place mentally.I think most of Annapolis is stunned.

 

[tom]

Probably a lot of drownings are Suicides

I guess that if you wanted to die and didn't want the stigma of a suicide falling overboard would be an excellent way to die. If he had just jumped without the gunshot no one would have ever known. The father of a friend of my son committed suicide on the front porch where everyone saw is death. Apparently he had prostate cancer and his wife had breast cancer and he decided to "check out". It was very hard on his son and the rest of his family. He was a church deacon and active in the boy scouts. His suicide surprised a lot of people. His wife is still alive and seems to have survived breast cancer. It is hard to forgive him for commiting suicide in such a public and hurtful manner. If he had just fallen overboard it would have been much easier on his family. Suicide is bad but putting a gun in your mouth and blowing off the back of your head on the front porch is much worse. If the government makes it illegal to commit suicide ...what will the punishment be???

 

[Benny]

It was very unlikely that ...

that a person who has been sailing for 60 years and was an excellent sailor to fall overboard in relatively mild conditions. After much speculation he has been redeemed for sailing solo without a lifejacket. May our fellow sailor rest in peace.

 

[Joe on Alure]

Interesting Factoid on Drowning

All of this on drowning reminds me of an interesting circumstance: half of the men who drown drown with their fly open.Just thought you'd like to know.Be careful out there.Joe

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Factoid??? Hardly! It's just one more urban legend!

And proof that some people will believe anything.There have been a few--but VERY few...maybe a dozen in the last 20 years. Almost all on inland lakes or rivers, all of whom were on open boats--bass boats etc--alone in a remote location. So yes, it has happened...but the notion that "half the men who drown, drown with their fly open" has no basis in fact whatever...nothing but an urban legend.

 

[NautiDuck]

But it is true

that men are 100% more likely to do something dumb if their fly is down. ;-)

 

[Tom S]

Benny one point to note

The day that Merril went out was not in "relatively mild conditions".In fact is was pretty nasty that day. There was small craft advisories and winds above 30 kts and with the shallow bay and the tides running the other way, a very nasty chop and swells can develop.It wouldn't be that hard for someone to lose a bit of balance and fall overboard in those conditions, compound that with possibly having to leave the cockpit for a second due to a tangle and then especially for someone in their 70's that doesn't have the agility they once had.I was out that day on my C36 outside Oyster Bay on LI Sound and while the boat handled it fine it was still nasty, the swells were large and the seas confused, especially entering a contrarian tide into a harbor. Multiply that by 20+kt winds gusting to 35 kts and I could see mishaps easily happening . I rarely wear a PFD during the day (and I don't want to be mandated in doing so) Also, I was not sailing alone, but if I was solo sailing that day I bet I would have done a "rare" thing and thrown on my inflatable PFD and strapped a waterproof VHF on my belt.JMHO

 

[Tom S]

I agree with Peggy thats an Urban Legend

It was addressed recently on another discussion thread on this bulletin boardhttp://www.sailboatowners.com/forums/rview.tpl?uid=F&rid=2006165181211.38&sku=2006163101002.45&forumabr=as&fno=21

 

[Ross]

Here is a link to a weather underground site

on Kent Island, Md for june 10.http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KMDSTEVE1&month=6&day=10&year=2006

 

[Fred Ficarra]

Legend or not, it serves a worthwhile purpose.

When single-handing and nature calls I wrap myself throughout the rigging. A collision with a submarine wouldn't knock me overboard.

 

[Ross]

Fred, you can sit in the cockpit and make

good use of a tin can and not be at any risk.

 

[Dan Johnson]

Latest news...

was the announcement by the Merrill family that the death was evidently a suicide. His body was reportedly found with a shotgun wound to the head and a small anchor wrapped around one or both legs. Evidently Phil Merrill could no longer live with the cancer that is being attributed to the cause for the action he took.

 

[tom h]

get real

Get real. This is the shortening of understanding life, and what it is. Not to sound too mean spirited but some of these statements crack me up.Annapolis was stunned. In my book, this is bunk. If Annapolis knew he had cancer, it was uncurable, and he was going to suffer a nasty prolonged death, they should have offered him youths-in-asia! But in the sick society we live in, some people refuse to believe, or admit, that people die! And let them do it with peace and dignty instead of a shotgun.Next is: He went into a very dark place in hs mind. This is pure BS. It could have been a very happy occation in his mind! Yahoo, I'm finaly getting over this spiraling sickness and ending it, where I want and when I want.My sister killed herself in a hospital. The doctors could only watch. See, she had a kidney implant many years ago and the meds needed to keep her alive destroy something in your body. It's a long slow inevitable conclusion. You are going to die. It took 15 years, but eventually her bones were as brittle as a hornets nest. She had an appendix attack, which they fixed, but in the process they accidentally "broke" her hip and both femurs. She had broken bones before and they attached pins and all kinds of stuff to keep her from only being able to lie down. Now it was over. They told her there was nothing they could do and that she would be bedridden for as long as she lasted, about a year or so. I asked about amputating her legs and they said "out of the question". So she stopped taking her meds on Wednesday and died in pain three days later. But it was over. Courageous? Hell yes. A dark spot in her mind? Hell no. Were her relatives and family "stunned" Nah. It was coming for years and we all knew it. (my other sister hads it too, and that damned women is going in SLIDING! She's having a ball out of life)So this guy and his family know he is going to die, but not Annapolis. Perhaps he should have put a letter in his papers stating his condition , and what he planned to do about it.We are all going to die, some sooner than others. So, when do we realize life is shorter than we think? Me? I am closing the house up, getting rid of a lifetime of junk (so if I die, my kids won't have to) and taking the boat and sailing to the Keys, then the Virgin Islands, then where ever. I am 54, have no retirement, 100 grand in the bank, and hope to spend it all before I die, sometime in 2046 or so. And in 3046, not one soul will know I was ever on this planet.

 

[Honeyman]

tom h, Cleveland...

right on, right on, my brother!!! We can all only hope to chose HOW we go. As long as we don't cause anyone else to take a risk to "save" us, I think it's a viable option. After several dives (scuba) off a remote reef in the Coral Sea during a vacation with my wife, I told her "if I was ever going to commit suicide, I'd do it right here" I also said I'd make sure and "leave a note or tell someone other than her", so that people would'nt risk their lives trying to save me. We should have a voice in how we die if that is an option, and it should be honored.

 

[NautiDuck]

Come to Oregon!

Here it is legal for your doctor to give you "doctor assisted suicide." No need to blow off your head or die in pain. The doc just gives you an ovedose of pain medication and that's it. If you decide to come here to die please bring your boat and l'll take care of it when you're gone.

 

[Mac Bentley]

Factoid

1 : an invented fact believed to be true because of its appearance in print2 : a brief and usually trivial news item Merriam-Webster

 

[Benny]

Tom, when I said relatively mild

conditions I meant for Mr Merrill's 1988 Bristol 41 ft center cockpit boat. There were small craft advisories that Saturday but various sailors who were out there that day indicate that conditions were not that bad with wind speeds of 15 to 20 knots and waves of 2 to 4 ft. For an experienced sailor on a 41 ft. craft that is good sailing weather. I have sailed both the Chesapeake Bay and the Long Island Sound in a much smaller boat. We weathered a storm in Nyantic and the day after, with the wind still up and 6 to 10 ft waves, we sailed our Starwind 223 into Mystic Seaport where departing boats twice our size were hesitant to go out. It was rough and uncomfortable but not dangerous. We did have a white nukle ride through Plum Gut a couple of days latter. At home we sail an H320 and regularly go out in Tampa Bay with winds of 25+ knots just to hone our skills. I can understand and I'm sure Mr. Merrill's comfort level with those conditions, was very high. Nowdays at 72 people are still very active and experience compensates for loss of faculties. Yes, he could have fallen overboard but I found it unlikely.