FL FL - Austin Stephanos & Perry Cohen, both 14, Jupiter, 24 July 2015 - #1

[Elainera]

Was there no lifeboat on board?

 

[cuffem]

Was there no lifeboat on board?

I do not think a 19 ft. boat would have one do to it size,we did not have one on the 16 ft.,we never went further than 5 miles and had a GPS.

 

[Dockins]

Was there no lifeboat on board?

I haven't seen mention of any sort of lifeboat. In my experience, I can't recall ever seeing a life boat on a vessel that size. In the marina where we kept our cabin cruiser, larger boats may have a small dingy, but usually not. We had one on the swim platform, but it would be useless if the boat capsized while still attached. I'm holding out hope, as many people have commented on the public fb page about personal triumphs after being lost in the water for many hours.

 

[Ragamuffin]

So sad. I hope they will be found, but honestly I doubt it. Life vests are for that few seconds/minutes you fall overboard/off your jet ski and the boat can circle around to pick you up. In those seas, with those waves - I'm sorry, I think they are gone.

Unless they were rescued by a yacht that had its radio knocked out and they haven't reached land yet...as a remote possibility.

JMO.

 

[Falcon500]

Was there no lifeboat on board?

Lifeboat? Their boat was only 19 feet long.

 

[hotdog4]

So sad, hope the families have some closure soon��

 

[JeannaT]

So sad. I hope they will be found, but honestly I doubt it. Life vests are for that few seconds/minutes you fall overboard/off your jet ski and the boat can circle around to pick you up. In those seas, with those waves - I'm sorry, I think they are gone.

Unless they were rescued by a yacht that had its radio knocked out and they haven't reached land yet...as a remote possibility.

JMO.

That's not true, that life jackets and life vests are for seconds/minutes. They're meant to keep you afloat for a very, very long time if they are strapped on correctly.

 

[cuffem]

That's not true, that life jackets and life vests are for seconds/minutes. They're meant to keep you afloat for a very, very long time if they are strapped on correctly.

I think the old fashion,orange ones become waterlogged after awhile,that may be what she is saying.Theynow have new materials and better construction to last longer.

 

[Unsolved]

After 3 days I am afraid hypothermia would have set in.

Me too. Just to check water temperatures I looked at Ponce Inlet's surf temp for today and it showed "Today's Ponce Inlet sea temperature is 78 °F." Does anyone know if the sea temperature runs much colder on out to sea?

 

[LolaMoon08]

SWFL here and I've been praying so hard for these boys. My heart broke when I heard they had found the boat capsized/damaged and the boys were no where in sight. I know they didn't have a GPS on the boat, but I am wondering about cell phones? I know that after a certain point they most likely would not have cell phone reception, but I am just trying to find hope that they can still be found alive.

 

[WhiskeyBent]

In random "around town" chatter I've heard that possibly only one life jacket was missing from the boat. Again, not sure of the veracity.

 

[cuffem]

Me too. Just to check water temperatures I looked at Ponce Inlet's surf temp for today and it showed "Today's Ponce Inlet sea temperature is 78 °F." Does anyone know if the sea temperature runs much colder on out to sea?

I would assume so,the warm water currents of the gulf stream are close to the shore in Fl.,deeper waters would be colder.

 

[Ragamuffin]

Lifeboat? Their boat was only 19 feet long.

To be fair to the poster, maybe he/she has no experience with boating? In that light, I don't think it's an inappropriate question, even if it seems naive. JMO.

 

[Elainera]

I haven't seen mention of any sort of lifeboat. In my experience, I can't recall ever seeing a life boat on a vessel that size. In the marina where we kept our cabin cruiser, larger boats may have a small dingy, but usually not. We had one on the swim platform, but it would be useless if the boat capsized while still attached. I'm holding out hope, as many people have commented on the public fb page about personal triumphs after being lost in the water for many hours.

bbm - yes that's what I was thinking of. These inflatable ones that are packed neatly and are quite small when packed.

Well, nothing like that has been mentioned so I think we can assume there was nothing of that sort on board.

Hopefully they had their vests on.

 

[Ragamuffin]

In random "around town" chatter I've heard that possibly only one life jacket was missing from the boat. Again, not sure of the veracity.

In the missing poster that came across my twitter, it was only one life vest missing. I saw above that had changed to "life vests". BTW the tweet I saw was a RT from one of the Deadliest Catch boats, the social medial account of the FV Time Bandit. I'm glad such a huge social media presence is RT it.

 

[Elainera]

To be fair to the poster, maybe he/she has no experience with boating? In that light, I don't think it's an inappropriate question, even if it seems naive. JMO.

Thank you! Yes, no experience at all. And English is not my first language, so 'lifeboat' was probably the wrong word. I was thinking of the inflatable ones, they don't take much space when not inflated.

 

[Ragamuffin]

That's not true, that life jackets and life vests are for seconds/minutes. They're meant to keep you afloat for a very, very long time if they are strapped on correctly.

My apologies, JeannaT. I was assuming they were wearing the very basic life vests, the ones local to me in SoCal, which I've used. It's true, I don't know what the boys were wearing. I was commenting solely on my own experience with the difference between the vests used on pleasure boats and serious fishing boats. You are right to question me, and I'm sorry I assumed one way or another.

 

[Unsolved]

More local info:

http://www.news-journalonline.com/a...ing-teens-boat-found-off-coast-of-Ponce-Inlet

I don't know why I'm still reading that the boys were headed to the Bahamas though, since that has been denied repeatedly?

 

[WhiskeyBent]

In the missing poster that came across my twitter, it was only one life vest missing. I saw above that had changed to "life vests". BTW the tweet I saw was a RT from one of the Deadliest Catch boats, the social medial account of the FV Time Bandit. I'm glad such a huge social media presence is RT it.

The Hillstrand brothers are good guys. My uncle was friends with Johnathan, they met while my uncle was working on a ship up in Homer, AK. Another one that's probably pushing info on SM is the Miss Geico team, they're local and also friends with Johnathan Hillstrand.

 

[Elainera]

Question: if a boat capsizes would one try to hold on to the sides as best and as long as possible? Or is that dangerous?