A Speck in the Sea

Quite a story Marty, thanks for sharing. The lobster men in Maine don't bother to learn how to swim, they'd be dead from hypothermia in 15 minutes or so. This guy was very lucky and very smart, as were the great folks looking for him.

Charlie
 
Great story - you have to admire that guy, to have the presence of mind to figure for drift. Ups and downs - I appreciate that kind of roller coaster ride in a survival story.

Thanks for the link, Marty.
 
I don't know much about it, but I can't help wondering why they don't have a portable EPIRB or at least some kind of harness when working alone on deck at night. Some of the comments following the story are interesting and instructive.
 
What a story of survival, and individual ingenuity to helps save himself. Marty most of the commercial guys think that items such as an EPRIB would slow them down--and often going overboard has injuries--but now the PLB are the size of deck of cards, and can cost $200. Some of the guys don't have that $200…they live hand to mouth. But I agree, it is something that every waterman should have.

As for the safety harness, it would hamper their movement on deck. We wear them in racing boats, etc--but our chores are a bit different--and we set our boats up just for that type of gear…again, a good idea,but most would not use it.
 
And, the safety harness probably have killed him. Being dragged behind an open sterned boat for hours would have been less than pleasant! :cry

Charlie
 
Yes but as Bob points out, the PLB's are cheap now. For $200-300 in a PLB and $100-$200 in a self inflating PFD he could have been located and saved in probably less than 2-4 hours. An autotether kill switch and or autotether screamer would have stopped the boat and or alerted the sleeping crew to him going over. Again that's an investment of a few $100. While many of these guys live hand-to-mouth, most of the ones I've met have enough cash in their pockets to knock several back at the bar near the marina. It wouldn't take too many skipped beer and whiskey shooters to pay for a PLB and lightweight, low profile PFD.
 
Not to push this critique too far, but I think it may be instructive to recognize that the idiom "familiarity breeds contempt" may also play a role. It can be a teachable moment for all of us in our daily work, and in our daily lives, certainly when driving, as well as around our boats. Stay focused on the task at hand.
 
Marty,

Thanks for posting this. Great story, and incredible resilience. Shows what can happen when we don't just "give up and give in." Good thing that water was 72 degrees cold, and not 45 though. The story did not mention it but he did have his daughters to go back home for.

Harvey
SleepyC:moon
 
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