http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060531/od_nm/boat_dc_1
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> Man drowns trying to save toy boat
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> Wed May 31, 9:49 AM ET
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> MIAMI (Reuters) - A Florida man drowned after jumping onto an inflatable
> raft and paddling out to the middle of a lake to try to retrieve a
> stalled, radio-controlled toy boat, police said Tuesday.
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> Another toy boat punctured the raft, causing it to deflate rapidly, and
> the 31-year-old victim could not swim, Miami-Dade Police said.
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> The accident occurred Monday evening at a park northwest of Miami where
> the victim and several friends were racing the remote-controlled boats.
>
> “I think it was all purely accidental. It’s a fluke,” said Detective
> Joanne Duncan.
>
And whoever said this was a safe sport? Be careful out there…
Yeah… that is what I use for our rescue boat and setting marks because of the convience. (no dragging around and storing an aluminum boat) Atleast we have one that has triple bladders so that if one is punctured you are not doomed. What a shame… it didn’t say if it was power or sail, that would be interesting to know as well.
Imagine how the nitwit feels that ran his boat in the inflatable and caused the thing to sink.
As a former volunteer Water Safety Instructor Trainer for the Red Cross, (as well as small craft , etc.) - it makes me insane to visit Wal-Mart (and similar stores) and see the Shit they sell to unsuspecting individuals as inflatables. The walls are (usually) of very thin vinyl, and are seldom reinforced around the areas where oarlocks are fashioned. Seams are seldom double “welded”, and the cost is so low as to intice folks to buy them.
Now, based on the posted story, if a sailboat boat was stalled, it means there wasn’t enough wind to blow it to shore. Yet, another sailboat was going fast enough to puncture a hole? Doesn’t compute. I might believe if powerboats were involved as that is a different story.
Regardless - my point was why stores would even sell crap like this - especially knowing the possibility of liability, especially here in the US. It is just another reason why as an instructor, I always trained lifeguards to “suggest” that parents shouldn’t rely on inflatable tubes that go around a child’s arms for swimming support or protection. Also we never allowed any life-rings, or sit-inside inflatable items made of thin vinyl in any pools that I guarded or managed. I make these points, in the hopes that readers here will spread the concerns of safety to others pondside who they may see making use of one of these cheap (but dangerous) objects. We have the ability to point out to other sailors, as well as the public, how tragic the use of one of these becomes.
I guess it is just one of my private and personal wars - with the hopes education and pointing out the obvious will save a life. Interesting the man didn’t even think to don a lifejacket - but then again … a Darwin Awards candidate perhaps?
I had it confirmed earlier this afternoon that it was indeed powerboats. Doesn’t make any difference to the family… but …
I was young and stupid once and sailed without a lifejacket on my Force 5, and were it not for the fact that my girlfriend at the time was a Playboy centerfold runner-up… I would not be here. When I went in the water, the mainsheet fouled and it was blowing nicely… so the boat drifted away from me. I was too busy laughing at her trying to handle the boat to realize that she was drifting away that fast, and by the time I started swimming for the boat it became apparant that I could not catch it, and went into life saving mode. All she had to do was stand up in her bikini and wave her arms once , and there were about 35 boats there in 20 seconds.
It’s a bad thing all around… because these are the kind of things that will come back to haunt us all when communities and city governments begin denying the use of park lakes/ponds because of liability insurance requirements. It’s sad to say because of this family’s loss… but we all have a reponsibility to act in such a manner that we don’t wreck the situation for the others, and going out on the water without some form of CG approved floatation device is just irresponsible.
Miami-Dade County police on Tuesday were investigating the death of a man who drowned while trying to retrieve a remote-controlled boat from a lake at Amelia Earhart Park.
Benjamin Pierre, 31, of Miami, was part of a group racing radio-controlled boats at the northwest Miami-Dade park Monday evening, authorities said. When his boat ran out of fuel, he got on an inflatable raft and tried to paddle to the middle of the lake to get the boat, said Miami-Dade Fire-Rescue spokesman Lt. Jesse Casales.
One of the other radio-controlled boats hit and punctured the raft, causing it to sink. The person who was operating that boat jumped into the lake to try and save Pierre, who could not swim, Casales said.
Pierre went under the water before rescuers arrived. Miami-Dade Fire-Rescue divers found his body in 20 feet of water, about 25 feet from shore, Casales said.
A few months ago, a group of us were out sailing at our regular club site which is in an open part of a marina.
You can see from the photo attached the finger of the outer floating walkway in the distance behind me.
That walkway/ jetty is not attached to the shore as yet, maybe some time in the future.
A moments inattention and my AC15 is against that walkway with the breeze pushing the boat against it, making it impossible to sail off.
Bugger, now its caught on something sticking out from the jetty and wont move. Nothing for it but to launch the dinghy and row out to retrieve the yacht. It was not blowing hard, around 6-8 knots, but it was resonably cold so I was dressed in foulies over my track pants and jumper along with a beanie (woolen hat) and gumboots (rubber knee length boots). Snug as a bug in a rug, as we say.:darth: I am not a good swimmer, 20 metres max then puff and blow. So, I always wear a lifejacket, or buoyency aid, ever since learning to sail as a child. No problem, row out to the jetty, see that the boat is caught by the shrouds so come alongside and attempt to free it. Gust of wind blows off my beanie, (hand knitted by my wife) shit, dont want to lose that, so make a grab for the hat over the side.
Woops… too far, the bloody dinghy rail goes under and water comes pouring in, o shit, shit, shit, now im in trouble, the bloody dinghy is sinking with me in it. Im right alongside the jetty so dump my transmitter and sodden beanie on the walkway and grap the edge with both hands. Hanging on with water up to my armpits and the dinghy buoyency keeping it from sinking whilst heaving myself up and laying on the jetty with the dinghy painter in my hand.
Safe… but shaken at my brush with death.
Fully clothed, with sodden clothing and boots full of water I reckon I would have been too heavy to be kept above water by the lifevest.
Breath back and heart rate back to only slightly racing, I hauled the dinghy up on the jetty and emptied the water out, relaunched the model which had been stuck alongside through all this, relaunched the dinghy, carefully got in and rowed back to shore. (Our dinghy has captive oars, which are great.)
What pissed me off more than anything, was that all the other sailors had no idea of the drama that was going on not more the 100 metres from them sailing around blissfully.
Since my incedent the club has made a rule that if anyone is out in the dinghy, racing will be held up, until they are safely ashore.
It was all my own fault, but that is mostly the case with drownings, nobody sets out to drown themselves, just stupididty mostly.
Read this and think about that bloody stupid, but lucky Kiwi, next time you are tempted to go out without a lifevest. And don`t.:witch:
Yes he was a ‘plastic deck hand’ on his pretend boat who fell over the side and pretended to drown. The crowds of hobbiests pretended to shout & scream as the pretend lifeboat was launched but unfortunately it didn’t get to the plastic man before his pretend drowning. The hobbiests and their pretend plastic men off their pretend boats will be attending a pretend funeral of the pretend plastic man on a pretend day next week! :lol: