Coast Guard ends search for missing boaters...

[big dog cowboy]

ray:

 

[WoodysGirl]

NICK SCHUYLER “ALIVE AND TALKING,” BUT NO WORD ON THE OTHER THREE

Posted by Mike Florio on March 2, 2009, 1:13 p.m.

Updating prior reports, the St. Petersburg Times reports that Nick Schuyler is “alive and talking” after being rescued while clinging to the overturned hull of what apparently is Marquis Cooper’s boat.

Schuyler is being taken to Tampa General Hospital.

There’s no word on the status of the other three men that were on the boat — Cooper, Corey Smith, and William Bleakley. We are praying for good news, but the facts suggest at this point it would be an even bigger miracle than the discovery of Schuyler.

 

[FloridaRob]

water temp in the Gulf is about 68 degrees.

 

[Rampage]

water temp in the Gulf is about 68 degrees.

wow that's it! those football players probably swam back to shore if the water is 70 degrees

 

[goshan]

Regardless, if they have life vests on, Navy type or not, they will not sink.
So there is hope because they haven't found bodies yet.

Also, I thought almost all life preserves would keep you afloat without having to tread water--but I am certainly no boater.

 

[peplaw06]

This is an unbelievable story. Hope they find the other 3.

 

[jobberone]

It isn't great news unless they found the rest of them.
Lets hope they have their life vest on and they are floating nearby.

Tell that to the family and friends of the one they found. And if they found him they could find the others.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

water temp in the Gulf is about 68 degrees.

68 is an average mean, I would assume. That means that the temp will fall lower in the evenings and rise in the day. Most people believe that a person who spends significant time in the water dies from drowning but really, it's hypothermia. There are three different stages of hypothermia but essentially, the average person, depending on water temp, has a certain amount of time before there body just shuts down. In waters with a temperature of 68 to 70, your probably talking about maybe two day, maybe less, if you have a good vest. If you don't, that means your treading water and your body shuts down much quicker. The more you swim or struggle, the more heat your body turns out and the quicker the effects of Hypothermia set in. Eventually, you just lose the ability to opperate your body.

 

[jobberone]

Regardless, if they have life vests on, Navy type or not, they will not sink.
So there is hope because they haven't found bodies yet.

Also, I thought almost all life preserves would keep you afloat without having to tread water--but I am certainly no boater.

It will keep you afloat but in really rough seas you can get pounded. Never been in the water with just a life vest on in open water but I've been lost for awhile at sea with my BC on. It's amazing how fast I was taken away from eyesight of the boat. Obviously they found me but I can see where really rough seas could be a problem. And that was only 3-4ft seas.

The currents will likely take those three and keep them relatively close. There is still hope for them.

 

[Vtwin]

I've heard the waves were up to 8'. In the shallow Gulf those would be pretty close together. There is a school of thought that advocates getting away from the swamped boat in that scenario. The idea is that you are in more danger of getting smacked too hard by the boat bouncing around in the waves.


Ideally you would have a 100' or so of line attached to the boat as a painter. You stay with the boat (more visable to rescuers) but stay away by holding the line.

Holding on to that upside down hull in those conditions would have been almost impossible. Hopefully the other three were able to stay together for warmth and support.

There is still hope.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

It's amazing news that they did find one of them at the very least thus far. That's great news. I thank the Lord for that blessing.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

It will keep you afloat but in really rough seas you can get pounded. Never been in the water with just a life vest on in open water but I've been lost for awhile at sea with my BC on. It's amazing how fast I was taken away from eyesight of the boat. Obviously they found me but I can see where really rough seas could be a problem. And that was only 3-4ft seas.

The currents will likely take those three and keep them relatively close. There is still hope for them.

The problem is that while a vest may keep you afloat, if it does not support your neck and your head, you will have to expend energy to keep your head out of the water. More heat escapes out of your head then anywhere else on your body. If your head is in the water, the effects are more dramatic. Even if your just treading water, the body will cool more quickly if your head is in the water as opposed to out. That only heightens the effects of Hypothermia.

 

[goshan]

Just read on twitter that they were all in the water together with life jackets holding on to the boat and became separated. He said somewhere around 2AM (assuming he meant Sunday AM) they were separated.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

68 is an average mean, I would assume. That means that the temp will fall lower in the evenings and rise in the day. Most people believe that a person who spends significant time in the water dies from drowning but really, it's hypothermia. There are three different stages of hypothermia but essentially, the average person, depending on water temp, has a certain amount of time before there body just shuts down. In waters with a temperature of 68 to 70, your probably talking about maybe two day, maybe less, if you have a good vest. If you don't, that means your treading water and your body shuts down much quicker. The more you swim or struggle, the more heat your body turns out and the quicker the effects of Hypothermia set in. Eventually, you just lose the ability to opperate your body.

It will fluctuate especially the surface temperature but not by much. The specific heat of water is extremely high.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

The problem is that while a vest may keep you afloat, if it does not support your neck and your head, you will have to expend energy to keep your head out of the water. More heat escapes out of your head then anywhere else on your body. If your head is in the water, the effects are more dramatic. Even if your just treading water, the body will cool more quickly if your head is in the water as opposed to out. That only heightens the effects of Hypothermia.

they also lose bouyancy after an extended period of time

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

they also lose bouyancy after an extended period of time

lol who told you that? density is density.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

lol who told you that? density is density.

I read alot of WWII books, about the disaster of the USS Indianapolis etc. etc.

life vests aren't meant to support you for days

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I read alot of WWII books, about the disaster of the USS Indianapolis etc. etc.

life vests aren't meant to support you for days

that was before plastic and thus foams when life vests were dependent on pockets of air of liquids that were less dense. Foam does not have that issue.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

that was before plastic and thus foams when life vests were dependent on pockets of air of liquids that were less dense. Foam does not have that issue.

life vests aren't made of plastic

 

[jobberone]

The problem is that while a vest may keep you afloat, if it does not support your neck and your head, you will have to expend energy to keep your head out of the water. More heat escapes out of your head then anywhere else on your body. If your head is in the water, the effects are more dramatic. Even if your just treading water, the body will cool more quickly if your head is in the water as opposed to out. That only heightens the effects of Hypothermia.

If they have life vests on then they are Coast Guard approved. Those do have keep your head out of the water even if unconscious. That small of a boat would have had life vests but not a raft most likely. Those are expensive and fairly large and not often carried by a boat that small. Boats that size get out 20-50 miles all the time in good seas. In the Gulf that's deep blue water.

You can stay alive indefinitely in water 70+ degrees. I'm not used to water that far south so I can't say they would or wouldn't get hypothermic as typically blue water in the Gulfstream is significantly warmer than coastal waters. I have no idea how far out they are. They have a decent chance of being found alive if they have proper vests on. Let's hope so.