FL FL - Ace Kimberly & his 3 kids missing off coast near Englewood, 21 June 2016

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LolaMoon08 said:
None of this makes sense to me at all. I am really sad for the family, but simply don't understand why the father took the boat out into the Gulf when it was in such bad shape? Why did he not do weather research prior to going out? And why didn't he just drive the boat down to Fort Myers instead of taking it out if it was in that bad of shape? Maybe they don't have a vehicle? Does the brother have a vehicle? Speaking of the brother, I am really stunned that he waited so long to report them missing.

It's so tragic.
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This is tragic. This is the third fatal marine incident we've had in this area in just the past few days. A swimmer went missing and drowned off the Boca Grande gulf-side beach, and then a fisherman died in a collision with another boat on the other side of Boca Grande. And now this family.

Sailboats of that size may or may not be very trailerable, depending on the specific sailboat. Even the ones that are trailerable, though, at that size they usually require a special permit, which are something of a hassle to get, and they require a pretty large and powerful tow vehicle. And given that the family lived on the boat, they probably didn't have a trailer for it or a vehicle suitable for towing it even if the boat itself was trailerable.

The decision to take it by water to Fort Myers for repairs would be understandable if the boat was seaworthy and if the weather was good. Based on the Coast Guard's statement about it being in bad shape.... I don't know what kind of bad shape they mean. Boats can be in terrible shape in many ways and still be fully capable of a day trip of that distance. Or it could have been in the kind of bad shape that means it shouldn't have left the marina.

I too am shocked that the brother waited so long to report them missing.
 
kaen said:
I was thinking about area where they found the body and area where they saw the flare, not the picture of the boat. (sorry if I was unclear.) I think I recall that the flare mention was on a timeline. from Coast Guard press release:
At 2:26 a.m. Thursday a Jayhawk crew and a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium boatcrew witnessed a white flare while conducting the search. http://d7.uscgnews.com/go/doc/4007/2858246/

An hour and 11 minutes after they found the latest kayak. And body was found this late this morning.
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Sorry I was unclear too, I'm not sure I can finish a thought today. i haven't had a chance to check much but haven't seen anything about the location of the flare sighting, other than they were directing searchers to the area. The only additional information I've found regarding the search that isn't at your link is that the second body was found about four miles from the first body (that was 37 mi west of Sanibel).

They just confirmed that what appeared to be a sailboat mast 101 miles west of Fort Myers wasn't a mast.

#UPDATE @USCGSoutheast crew investigated sail boat mast confirmed false report; was crab pot, fishing gear.

That was the first update on Twitter in over 5 hrs.
 
sonjay said:
The decision to take it by water to Fort Myers for repairs would be understandable if the boat was seaworthy and if the weather was good. Based on the Coast Guard's statement about it being in bad shape.... I don't know what kind of bad shape they mean. Boats can be in terrible shape in many ways and still be fully capable of a day trip of that distance. Or it could have been in the kind of bad shape that means it shouldn't have left the marina.

I too am shocked that the brother waited so long to report them missing.
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RSBM

Sounds like you nailed it.

WFLA quoted a family friend as saying the boat was "water worthy, but not seaworthy," that it couldn't handle rough seas.

The NWS marine forecast discussion released in the wee hours of Sunday included: "A noted easterly wind surge is expected to support cautionary to near advisory level winds over all the waters from this evening into Monday morning. ... Otherwise, scattered marine thunderstorms will remain possible today and tonight, which may locally enhance winds and seas." (Currently version 34 but it'll shift.)

From the link drjones posted this morning (BBM):

"Six-foot waves," said Alana O'Reiley, a sailing instructor. "Think about a 6-foot person. Then waves are coming at you, and they're rolling waves. They are dangerous."

Boaters near the Coast Guard station on Fort Myers Beach said Sunday storms created particularly rough conditions, and it was a busy afternoon with many out celebrating Father's Day.

SeaTow captain Tom Carter, in fact, said he had to rescue a couple whose boat was having engine trouble.

"Wind in excess of 30 knots due east and it was rough," Carter said. "The initial call was they were about 3.5 to 4 miles off of Bonita Beach, and with the currents and the wind they ended up being 8.7 miles due west of Wiggins Pass."

That same wind and those same currents are likely what Kimberly and his family were dealing with on their southward trek.​

http://www.nbc-2.com/story/32277362/3-minors-1-adult-sought-at-sea-by-coast-guard#.V2x-CLsrKWi
 
Sooooooooooooooooo.

We can find a small boat and bodies


But not a plane??

I'm confused how they are finding these things in a sea... where there was a squall line...


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Tssiemer said:
Sooooooooooooooooo.

We can find a small boat and bodies


But not a plane??

I'm confused how they are finding these things in a sea... where there was a squall line...
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What they've found has been floating on the surface. They use software that takes into account factors like currents, weather, and last known location, and it gives them a very general area to search. They started searching Tuesday night and found the first items, the debris field, midmorning Wednesday.
 
Pretty disgusted with the brother. Had he called the coast guard right away, there's a great chance this story would have had a happy ending. It was a DAY TRIP yet the brother waited TWO DAYS to call someone? His brother and family don't show up (after saying he's in rough seas, on a not so in shape boat no less) and the brother waits TWO DAYS??!! Wtf??


"Kimberly’s brother became concerned when his sibling called at about 3 p.m. to tell him he was experiencing 6-foot seas and thunderstorms about 37 miles offshore near Englewood. He wanted his brother to send him some weather reports. That was the last time the two spoke. The brother in Fort Myers called the U.S. Coast Guard on Tuesday to report the family was missing."


Apparently he wasn't *too* concerned.

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anonypotomous said:
Pretty disgusted with the brother. Had he called the coast guard right away, there's a great chance this story would have had a happy ending. It was a DAY TRIP yet the brother waited TWO DAYS to call someone? His brother and family don't show up (after saying he's in rough seas, on a not so in shape boat no less) and the brother waits TWO DAYS??!! Wtf??


"Kimberly’s brother became concerned when his sibling called at about 3 p.m. to tell him he was experiencing 6-foot seas and thunderstorms about 37 miles offshore near Englewood. He wanted his brother to send him some weather reports. That was the last time the two spoke. The brother in Fort Myers called the U.S. Coast Guard on Tuesday to report the family was missing."


Apparently he wasn't *too* concerned.

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Yeah, but dad had a phone too...
 
anonypotomous said:
Dad? Ace's dad? I don't follow.


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I think that's 'dad' as in Ace Kimberly, captain of the vessel. He's ultimately responsible for the fate of his boat. He had a phone and he could have just as easily called the Coast Guard instead of his brother. IMO
 
BayouBelle_LA said:
I think that's 'dad' as in Ace Kimberly, captain of the vessel. He's ultimately responsible for the fate of his boat. He had a phone and he could have just as easily called the Coast Guard instead of his brother. IMO
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True, but what does that have to do with his brother waiting two days?

Maybe Ace's phone went out of range, if there were 6 ft waves, who knows what happened. Having said that, yes he could have called the coastguard. Maybe he tried.


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anonypotomous said:
True, but what does that have to do with his brother waiting two days?

Maybe Ace's phone went out of range, if there were 6 ft waves, who knows what happened. Having said that, yes he could have called the coastguard. Maybe he tried.


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It has nothing to do with his brother waiting two days, never said it did. I was just explaining who 'dad' was.
 
Just totally my opinion...It sounds like the Dad knew what he was doing and purposely did this to his family. He had many choices... like ride the coast down, wait until the weather cleared, etc. instead he gambled all their lives. 30+ miles is beyond help to come.
 
savagewoman said:
Just totally my opinion...It sounds like the Dad knew what he was doing and purposely did this to his family. He had many choices... like ride the coast down, wait until the weather cleared, etc. instead he gambled all their lives. 30+ miles is beyond help to come.
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I think you're confusing the point of last contact with the debris field. The debris field was found three days later. It was 30+ miles west of a point 35+ miles south of the presumed point of last contact.

He'd have not been able to reach his brother via cell phone from 30 miles out, there's no cell reception.
 
The Coast Guard hasn't released any new media advisories or press releases. No tweets either. The latest was last night about what was thought to be a mast actually being a crab pot and fishing gear.

Re: cell phones. They've found at least three. One was in a first aid kit tied to a life preserver and two were in the bucket with the birth certificates. There was also a GPS in the bucket.

Re: the water jugs. Right at 0:09 in the "more items found" video here (currently the top video) there's a close up of the jugs. The one on the left is definitely almost full. The bottom one appears to be.

It's hard to tell what could have been prep for an emergency and just normal organization/precautions while living on the water.

I don't know if it's been mentioned that they also found a used signal flare in the debris field. CG photo here; what an unused Orion flare looks like here.

Again, nothing yet from the CG yet but WINK reporter John Trierweiler just tweeted the CG will hold a briefing "shortly".
 
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