Aw heck, Richard, I'm sorry you're having to deal with that. I realized after the fact it would have been terrible to see one or more of those three people go underwater and not come back up. I confirmed with them several times that there were only three people on board and no dogs etc. I hope you can come to peace with the idea that you probably did everything you could reasonably do at the time and under the circumstances, and it wasn't your fault they got into that predicament in the first place.
Cheers, Randy ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard N. Bush via CnC-List" <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> To: "cnc-list" <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Cc: "Richard N. Bush" <bushma...@aol.com> Sent: Monday, June 13, 2016 9:01:54 PM Subject: Re: Stus-List Friday Night Rescue Randy, good job; I had a very similar incident here on the Ohio River about three years ago when an over loaded runabout sank and we were the only boat near; there were 6 people on this boat, two adults and four teenagers; no one wearing life jackets, no one could swim and there are a ferocious current running; my wife and I were on my C&C 29 and threw life jackets, boat cushions and anything that would float at them, we rescued five of them and one adult nod not make it; the rescue was made even more difficult because the teenager only spoke Spanish,,,which I didn't! The Police and rescue gave my wife and I a commendation award, but I am still haunted by not getting every one safely on board... Richard 1985 C&C 37 CB; Ohio River, mile 584.4 Richard N. Bush 2950 Breckenridge Lane, Suite Nine Louisville, Kentucky 40220-1462 502-584-7255 -----Original Message----- From: RANDY via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> To: cnc-list <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Cc: RANDY <randy.staff...@comcast.net> Sent: Mon, Jun 13, 2016 4:18 pm Subject: Stus-List Friday Night Rescue Just a little story to share with you all. Went out for a leisure sail Friday evening with my daughter her friend, in Beaufort 4 or 5 conditions. We sailed under main only, and there was a 15" whitecap chop on the water. Hardly any boats on the lake, but one windsurfer really hauling ass. Out in the middle of the lake, we heard some yelling, and looked around to see three PFD-less people standing on a small low fiberglass fishing boat that was going down by the stern. I barely had time to say "shit, they're sinking." Next time I looked, the boat was gone, and the people were in the water amongst various debris. There were no other boats in the vicinity and I realized we were going to have to rescue them as quickly as we could. Started my Atomic-4 without running the blower first, luffed my main, drove to them, and threw out my life sling. Had to circle them three or four times dragging the life sling line by them, before we could get them all pulled in and aboard via the swim ladder. I missed on the first try or two just due to the wind and water conditions and my main flogging. One of them was about 30 yards from the other two, who told me to get the lone guy first. By the time we got the other two aboard, they'd been in the 68-degree water probably ten minutes. Dropped the main, drove to the marina, docked at the launch ramp, and called 911 for the first guy at the request of the second one. I think he was very intoxicated or high on something. He was incoherent and unable to move his body well, and it wasn't from exhaustion. Plus his friends told me to get him first, so they must have known something. Anyway, couple lessons learned. First, my life sling line was not already tied off with the life sling in the bag. It should have been. Had to tell my daughter's friend to tie it off before throwing it out. Second, in all the chaos we forgot to give them blankets when we got them aboard. One went below and my daughter gave them all towels, but they were all at least very cold if not in the beginning stages of hypothermia. Third, don't expect the Chatfield State Park rangers to respond to a mayday hail on VHF 16 - I hailed as soon as I grasped what was happening, to no avail. It was lucky that I was in the right place at the right time. There were no other boats around. These three were too far in the middle of the lake to swim to shore and I don't know if they could have given the conditions (including theirs). And I'm glad we were able to get a line to them before having to witness any of them drowning. Couldn't have done without my daughter and her friend (both 22-ish) - that would have been too much for me to manage alone. After we unloaded them, filed our statements, put the boat away, and drove home, we toasted the good things in life with many dark & stormies and whitecaps. I'd never seen anything like that before, and I hope I don't have to again. Best Regards, Randy Stafford S/V Grenadine C&C 30-1 #7 Ken Caryl, CO _______________________________________________ This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you like what we do, please help us pay for our costs by donating. All Contributions are greatly appreciated! _______________________________________________ This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you like what we do, please help us pay for our costs by donating. All Contributions are greatly appreciated!
_______________________________________________ This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you like what we do, please help us pay for our costs by donating. All Contributions are greatly appreciated!
