Three Texas men and their dog were found dead after failing to come home from a duck hunting trip together. ... A small craft advisory had been issued and waves in the area were as high as four feet on Friday, leading Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Karl Alejandre to say that weather may have been a factor in the boat capsizing.In some way, this may be understandable. Carancahua bay, where they had gone to hunt, would seem to be fairly well-protected from things like fetch.
The winds at the Calhoun County Airport, which is nearby, were gusting to 26 MPH that morning. It was cold for Texas, at or just above the freezing mark. The water temps were apparently around the 50deg mark. Hypothermia would set in far quicker than most people might expect, especially if the hunters were wearing waders and they were immersed above the top of them. I'd guess that they weren't wearing life jackets, for doing so would likely interfere with properly mounting a shotgun. Fill the waders with water and one might drown before hypothermia.
When you go into the water, if you're not wearing some sort of flotation device, you're probably screwed.
And if small-craft advisories are up, best to stay on land if one's vessel is a 17' boat.
You're probably right on the absence of life-jackets (even if they were in the boat).
ReplyDeleteMy years of open-water kayaking (year-round) taught me that the last place you ever want to attempt to don a life-jacket is when in the water - - it just wastes energy.
We used to say that a 50 year-old person had a 50% chance of making it 50 yards to shore in 50 degree water. These guys had youth on their side, but were probably cotton-clothed which only aggravates hypothermia. The dog probably had a better chance.
Correct, bear. Last week (also in Texas) we had a father and son (5) drown on a hunting trip in a boat. Neither had the vests on, the kid was found partially bound to a floating piece of wood, the dog made it ashore safely.
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