Hobie 16 Owner Drowns at Lake Hefner, OK

Yep.

Another reminder for everyone, and all due respect to the family of the deceased, PLEASE WEAR YOUR LIFE JACKETS.

wow! good lesson, sounds like a pretty cheap repair.

sorry to hear that someone lost their life due to a lack of pfd

yurdle wrote: Yep. Another reminder for everyone, and all due respect to the family of the deceased, PLEASE WEAR YOUR LIFE JACKETS.

They have saved me twice now I have had a long swim back to shore!

why don't people wear lifejackets?

YOU CAN NOT untie the ropes while hanging on the side of a boat dragging across the lake

The image I get of this is rather funny, but I am laughing with you, not at you.
In the first month of owning my first Cat I made some really dumb mistakes, & come from a profession where mistakes cost lives, sometimes hundreds of them.
we purposely flipped my cat in 6' of water to try out the righting line, adjust knots, bag etc. Two of us couldn't get it up, 2 powerboaters & 1 seadoo came by to ask if we were OK. Finally righted it by me hiking out, & my buddy hiking out by standing on my shoulders, damn near pulled my arms out. As we coasted back to the dock in 2 mph wind, thinking this Cat was going to be less than no fun if we couldn't right it, the answer came to me, & it was 100% my fault...I had not put the drain plugs in.
Another time we paddled the last 100 yds as the wind was zip, zero, nada. Pushed the Cat up on my breakwall to check for water, then cracked a beer because it was hot. We had left the sails up to take pictures, & play with rigging. You guessed it, a gust came out of nowhere & flipped the damn boat, banging the front corner of a hull on the rocks. Who is stupid enough to leave their boat with the sails up?
glad to hear that the damage was small, not happy to hear someone lost their life.

yep, Edchris, glad it was minor damage also! we live and learn...or at least i hope i learned!

update on the guy that drowned....the original reports we heard from the police were correct instead of what the media said...he did have his jacket on, but removed it to go after 2 kids (9 & 10) that were drifting away from the boat. he gave his life to save the kids! very sad!

trimantrekokc wrote: he gave his life to save the kids! very sad!

Wow, I assume the kids had pfds and were with him. It would be good to hear more on the story. Sounds like he was doing what he thought best but was not the best decision. Like putting on your oxygen mask first before helping even small ones next to you on the plane. But I dont know all that happened......really sad.

This summer with my recently purchased Hobie 18 I was soloing and went over. Could not right it. Had a power boat help me - as she came up I grabbed what I could, the rear xbar and the main sheet. The wind pulled the xbar out of my hand leaving me with only the very tip end of the main! So as my big arse was being dragged across the like the boat was picking up speed as i was sheeting her in!! All turned out ok after my horizontal rope climb back to the boat and a tow from the Crappie fishermen becuase I was too tired to climb back on. No more soloing - maybe.

http://www.newsok.com/man-drowns-after-saving-two-children-at-okcs-lake-hefner/article/3494500

edited by: yurdle, Sep 14, 2010 - 01:52 PM

http://newsok.com/man-drowns-saturday-at-lake-hefner/article/3494281

obviously a misinformed lisa isn't too bright

This is such a tragic story, I've split this thread into a new topic so more will see it and learn from the story.

Things can happen fast, the wind can be very strong and gusty suddenly on Oklahoma lakes. From this account.
http://www.newsok.com/man-drowns-after-saving-two-children-at-okcs-lake-hefner/article/3494500
it sounds like a combination of inexperience, panic because of the presence of children (who didn't know what to do in case of capsize) and (I'm guessing) unsuitable pfd's that made the two adults think they were better off without them. It was just luck that the 9 year old girl wasn't lost when she unbuckled her pfd.

For other new sailors reading this please learn that wearing good quality pfd's that allow freedom of movement (I'm guessing they were wearing long ski-vest or "may west" type jackets) and keeping them on would have kept this scenario from becoming tragic. They weren't out in the open ocean they could have all just floated until being picked up by the boats that came over to check on the capsized 16.

If you carry children make sure they realize that the pfd will keep them afloat forever and no need to panic just because they are in the water (make sure the adults realize this as well).

Damn, I cannot think of any excuse for an adult to drown next to a boat, that floats and wearing Pfd's. Sad story, good lesson, though I suspect that the lesson may be lost on those who need it most.

So tragic. What a waste. It need not have happened. We were talking this issue last weekend. When we were all younger (20's) we all strapped these lame cushions to our cats to keep the feds happy if they inspected. Of course we were immortal then and given the stupid things we did, in Neptune's favor. The prompt was me jumping up and down on the beach yelling at my 17 year old in his kayak to get his butt back here and put on his PFD. He also has informed me that he is immortal. You can never ever let your guard down on Lake Mi or anywhere.

This is very sad but you can get into trouble fast with these boats. My friend swam 5 feet away to retrieve a glove when we capsized in the gulf and could not swim back fast enough. He is ok because he had a life jacked on and someone from our group picked him up. The trampoline on our boats becomes a sail when we capsize and can push the boat away from you fast.

I was not aware that my youngest son(13) was concerned about about capsizing. I regrettably have not practiced this much as it is very difficult for me to get back on the boat in open water(which I have practiced and right now it really sucks). Anyway 2 of my sons and my wife went out on a friends Inter 20. The winds were between 20-30 most of the day. He sails it solo quite often but had only brought his big sail and we had such goods winds that weekend that he was going around begging for crew members pretty much to hold his boat down for him in the wind. My crew added about 450lbs total between the 3 of them. I was not worried as he is a skilled skipper and they had gone out with him the day before as well. I wasn't going out because I got beat half to death on the 10 mile 2nd leg of the regatta the day before by large waves and high winds. They pretty much made the same trip we had made the day before for the regatta but on the way back they had an accidental gibe they were unprepared for and went over. All in all they got the boat back up pretty quickly and my youngest was the first one back up and actually had to grab the and tiller turn into the wind as the boat was trying to sail off with the other 2 still holding onto the dolphin striker. My wife was holding on a bridle from the top when they righted the boat and it popped up and she nothing to hold onto the boat with so was drifting away with the wind. The skipper probably would have been able to scoop her up pretty quickly but he had a motor boat and mono hull sailboat both trying to help and they kept getting in the way. The motor boat kept coming close the stopping an wanted here to swim to them but they were just blowing away aster than she could finally they were able to tell them to just get out of the way and the skipper scooped her up first try. Between him and my oldest son(16) they were able to help her on without to much trouble.

Lack of PFD could have turned that into a deadly situation but in reality it was not even an experience they remember as a bad one. If anything they were excited to tell the story when they got back.

If the girls had been taught to keep the PFD on no matter what then even drifting off by themselves they most likely would have been fine. I am not trying to belittle this man's actions, he obviously thought he was doing the right thing for the right reasons and it was still heroic even if unnecessary. To bad he didn't have a throw line. That would be the best way to reach a someone drifting off.

To bad he didn't have a throw line. That would be the best way to reach a someone drifting off.

back on a calm day on a small lake i remember swimming along side the boat as it slowly drifted down wind. the three of us were jumping off and hanging on the side of the boat. as the captain with a pair of rookies, i thought it would be funny to act as if i were drifting away. the second i let go of the transom the boat lurched ahead out of my reach and to my suprise, my friend instantly threw me a life jacket. nobody was in danger is was souly for laughs. but i just thought it was interesting that it was second nature to him.

~~ My best friend knows about NOT wearing a PFD... He's not here anymore. The rescue party found it attached to the tramp. He left behind 2 kids and a soon to be ex wife...
I won't go into the story, but some of you guys might have seen it. If ya don't wear it, at least take it with you, ya can put it on if needed ~~~~~~

Part of my taking newbies to sail speech is to tell them not to let go of the boat.

Part of mine is that people get separated from the boat, like it or not. PFDs are the only things that make that work out.

Yes they will get separated I just don't want them to do it on purpose.

we had about 5 knots of wind. i just tell them if we flip get in the water

In my career I've been a passenger in many small helicopters (mostly Jet Rangers). EVERY time before you get into a helicopter the pilot tells you how to enter, how to exit, where not to be, where the emergency equipment is, what to do in an emergency, etc etc. This really helps with any nerves before flight and at least gives you a chance of knowing what to do in an emergency.

When I have new people on my boat (almost every time I go out) I always go through a similar routine.

"Here is a PFD, lets make sure it is strapped on properly, if we capsize stay with the boat, if it happens it will likely be when we are flying the hull, it will go up to almost vertical and when the mast hits the water it will likely go over in slow motion, don't stay on the top hull, when I tell you - make your way to the bottom under the boom, if I fall off the boat turn it into the wind and let out the sheets, etc etc."

This way at least they will be somewhat prepared for what happens if we go over or someone falls off and are less likely to panic. I'm on a small lake so the worst thing that could happen is the boat takes off without me and sails into the shore. Likely some damage but as long as everyone is wearing a PFD (and a wet suit this time of year) no one is going to die.

Also new PFDs every 5-10 years are a must. The newer ones last longer but foam breaks down over time. Those 30 year old seat cushions in your fishing boat probably won't keep you afloat for very long if at all. Also I can't tell you how many hand-me-down kids PFDs I have seen (and owned) that were 15-20 years old and looked almost new.

Regards,
Dave

I think most of this discussion has appropriately moved to the PFD thread, but I'd like to repost the following, written by a friend of mine about Craig, the deceased. As he was new to our community, I had not yet met him, but several others had.

I first saw Craig as he stood on the beach, chuckling as I swum my dismasted H16 back to shore. He mentioned looking for a boat, and, as we all do when sizing up a new sailor, began to quote his credentials of cat sailing in Michigan. He was an aircraft mechanic at Wiley Post, always excited about taxiing some sweet jet or another. He went straight for the beer the following Wed night, meeting me up at the boat club, obviously buzzing, as we all would be, at the idea of picking up a new cat. He was amped to sail on Labor Day weekend, and picked up the boat after a quick, but thorough inspection. His enthusiasm for cat sailing was palpable, I think he would have made a colorful, never boring addition to our beach. Thank you all for your heartfelt comments, his sacrifice will serve to help all of us be safer sailors.

RIP

The sailor who wrote the paragraph above was recently double trapped with me on my 5.2 when a pitchpole separated us from it by almost a mile in a matter of minutes...I completely understand the concern or even panic that the two sailors felt as the children drifted away, possibly very quickly.

Missed this thread, but have been in this situation, several times.

Crew was in a PFD, but not a swimmer, when we turtled, he panicked. After the situation was fixed, he reported "I couldn't get out from under the boat. I pushed away from it, but floated back under it." Duh, the PFD pushes you up. If you want to get out from under a boat, you have to push/swim to the side. This needs to be a drill for sailors, if you don't understand the physics of flotation. My bad, crew was inexperienced, as was captain (me).

Crew was in a PFD's, multiple small children, when the boat turtled. Crew reacted as instructed, stayed with the boat, followed my instructions, no panic. No righting, either, turned out the hull was breached (too many beach landings, hull repairs were not done). But the lack of panic, due to following the Capt's instructions, prevented a worse situation.

Practice, think, & be prepared. You may not get another chance (but fortunatley, I did, more than once).