They called off the search for the 2 football players and their friend

[Pole Bender]

First I would like to send my condolences to their families. My prayers are with them.

Here is my story and what I think happened.

I go off shore fishing each year and I can tell you it can get rough in a hurry. 3 years ago I was off shore and we got a call over the radio to get in there were some straight line winds coming. I had a tuna on and finished reeling it in put my fish and rod up and got hit by a 15 foot wave. The wave spun the boat around and wrapped the anchor line around the prop. Things got real scary as we tried to get the rope free while being pounded by 15 foot waves. Once free we got the motor running and got the nose pointed into the waves. This was in a 40 foot boat and I thought we were going to flip over. This is what I think happened to their boat and it flipped. I always carry a knife for this reason and I will cut the rope!

[FishinBetterThanWorkin]

That is very probable. That would be scary no doubt. They were only in a 21' boat I think. Even scarier though maybe floating in the middle of the ocean in a life vest and rescuers not being able to find you. I wonder if the family is going to resume the search. Very sad situation.

[CrappieKillerJigs]

very very sad...my best of wishes are sent out to their families

[bugman]

They said the water temps were 62 even with life vests its probably too late......sad deal.

[TwainGang]

I heard a charter boat captain that was a new friend of the owner of the boat this morning. He got him hooked on fishing the area. Apparently the guy who owned the 21 footer (Marquis Cooper?) just bought the boat and didn't know about the emergency beacon he should have had on board to send out signals when the boat gets capsized. The charter boat captain friend told him he should get them, and the guy said he would have to get one the next time he went to BassPro (never made it obviously). The guy didn't know as much as he should have when it came to the ins and outs of ocean fishing.

I also heard the lone survivor was interviewed and said the two football players took off their life jackets and decided to swim for it. The third guy hung onto the boat for a while until he too, took off his life jacket to swim away. Looks like the guy with the most common sense lived.

[Pole Bender]

The emergency beacon is called an EPIRB and you can buy a cheap one for $150.00 and a good one for less than $1000.00. I know all about them and would not go off shore without one on board.

[TwainGang]

The emergency beacon is called an EPIRB and you can buy a cheap one for $150.00 and a good one for less than $1000.00. I know all about them and would not go off shore without one on board.

Yep- "Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon"

Goes to show you how little research people do when getting into a hobby. It makes the mistakes you see newbies make at a boat ramp seem minor. That is why boards like this are a valuable source of knowledge- you can ask any question you need an answer to, or just sit back and lurk. I took an online boater safety course on line, passed and got a certificate to print out. I learned a lot about things I wouldn't have, had I not surfed a fishing board and found someone who linked to it.