cigdaze
04-10-2009, 08:08 AM
After tragedy in the gulf, boater safety is on an upswing
By Brant James, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, April 10, 2009
ST. PETERSBURG — Bob Peters knew enough about the Gulf of Mexico to realize he didn't know enough about the Gulf of Mexico. These waters wouldn't be the same as the lakes of Duluth, Minn., where he spent many summers.
"I figured I'd grab my education on the way to getting the boat," said the 57-year-old retiree from Atlanta.
That mind-set seems to be spiking locally after three boaters died in what was supposed to be a routine fishing trip.
Participation in area boater safety courses has jumped. Safety devices, especially the electronic tracking beacons known as EPIRB, are selling briskly.
"Our classes are 50 percent larger than last time," said Jeff Eckhart, lead instructor for St. Petersburg Sail and Power Squadron. "Some of the people are wondering, 'If I was in that situation, what could I have learned that might have made a difference?' ''
Nick Schuyler, a former University of South Florida football player, was the only survivor of a Feb. 28 accident that took the lives of former NFL players Marquis Cooper and Corey Smith and former USF football player Will Bleakley.
The 21-foot boat swamped in heavy seas after a series of mistakes stemming from a lack of training and experience by Cooper, the boat owner, said a report from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Among the errors: going far offshore with bad weather imminent; insufficient flotation or emergency site-location devices on board; no written plan of where they were heading; inadequate length of anchor line; tying that line to the stern of the boat and gunning the engine in an attempt to loosen a stuck anchor. That maneuver tipped the rear of the boat and enabled a wave to sink it, the report said.
People enrolled in boater safety courses "are asking about those mistakes," said Jim Troiano, an instructor with Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 78 in St. Pete Beach. "I am a weather specialist, so we reviewed the probable errors that were made and how to correct them."
Peters planned to take a 13-week course before the February tragedy, but said it "reinforced the reasons I was doing it."
"They did some things anyone with training wouldn't do," he said of the four boaters. "They would have benefited from a class, certainly."
Troiano said his classes have doubled in size since the accident.
The Power Squadron, CGA and Merchant Marine Captain Association provide most instruction to amateur boaters in the area. Classroom sessions range from $25 to $50 for the three groups. The MMCA charges $30 to $50 per hour for onboard instruction.
Jim Withers, manager of West Marine in St. Petersburg, said sales of EPIRBs — emergency position-indicating radio beacon — have increased up to 30 percent. The devices transmit a signal that the Coast Guard uses to find a boat during an emergency.
"I must have had 200 people asking about them right after the accident, off the cuff, because they were curious about how they worked," Withers said.
Some of those questions, Withers said, came from longtime fishermen who were unaware of EPIRBs and were "sent in by their wives and told they weren't going out anymore without one."
The devices, which range in price from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, are not a cure-all, said Capt. Marti Heath of the MMCA.
"There has been such a focus on EPIRBs, and as important as that is, there is no substitute for actually sitting and learning," she said.
The usefulness of a beacon is greatly enhanced by identifying an emergency contact on a registration card and always providing that person a float plan, Heath said.
The EPIRB aboard a scallop boat that sank off the coast of Cape May, N.J., on March 24, killing six, was unregistered in the federal database, possibly delaying the search by two hours, according to the Coast Guard.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/article991090.ece
By Brant James, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, April 10, 2009
ST. PETERSBURG — Bob Peters knew enough about the Gulf of Mexico to realize he didn't know enough about the Gulf of Mexico. These waters wouldn't be the same as the lakes of Duluth, Minn., where he spent many summers.
"I figured I'd grab my education on the way to getting the boat," said the 57-year-old retiree from Atlanta.
That mind-set seems to be spiking locally after three boaters died in what was supposed to be a routine fishing trip.
Participation in area boater safety courses has jumped. Safety devices, especially the electronic tracking beacons known as EPIRB, are selling briskly.
"Our classes are 50 percent larger than last time," said Jeff Eckhart, lead instructor for St. Petersburg Sail and Power Squadron. "Some of the people are wondering, 'If I was in that situation, what could I have learned that might have made a difference?' ''
Nick Schuyler, a former University of South Florida football player, was the only survivor of a Feb. 28 accident that took the lives of former NFL players Marquis Cooper and Corey Smith and former USF football player Will Bleakley.
The 21-foot boat swamped in heavy seas after a series of mistakes stemming from a lack of training and experience by Cooper, the boat owner, said a report from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Among the errors: going far offshore with bad weather imminent; insufficient flotation or emergency site-location devices on board; no written plan of where they were heading; inadequate length of anchor line; tying that line to the stern of the boat and gunning the engine in an attempt to loosen a stuck anchor. That maneuver tipped the rear of the boat and enabled a wave to sink it, the report said.
People enrolled in boater safety courses "are asking about those mistakes," said Jim Troiano, an instructor with Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 78 in St. Pete Beach. "I am a weather specialist, so we reviewed the probable errors that were made and how to correct them."
Peters planned to take a 13-week course before the February tragedy, but said it "reinforced the reasons I was doing it."
"They did some things anyone with training wouldn't do," he said of the four boaters. "They would have benefited from a class, certainly."
Troiano said his classes have doubled in size since the accident.
The Power Squadron, CGA and Merchant Marine Captain Association provide most instruction to amateur boaters in the area. Classroom sessions range from $25 to $50 for the three groups. The MMCA charges $30 to $50 per hour for onboard instruction.
Jim Withers, manager of West Marine in St. Petersburg, said sales of EPIRBs — emergency position-indicating radio beacon — have increased up to 30 percent. The devices transmit a signal that the Coast Guard uses to find a boat during an emergency.
"I must have had 200 people asking about them right after the accident, off the cuff, because they were curious about how they worked," Withers said.
Some of those questions, Withers said, came from longtime fishermen who were unaware of EPIRBs and were "sent in by their wives and told they weren't going out anymore without one."
The devices, which range in price from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, are not a cure-all, said Capt. Marti Heath of the MMCA.
"There has been such a focus on EPIRBs, and as important as that is, there is no substitute for actually sitting and learning," she said.
The usefulness of a beacon is greatly enhanced by identifying an emergency contact on a registration card and always providing that person a float plan, Heath said.
The EPIRB aboard a scallop boat that sank off the coast of Cape May, N.J., on March 24, killing six, was unregistered in the federal database, possibly delaying the search by two hours, according to the Coast Guard.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/article991090.ece