According to local news...........

The missing boater has a 14-year-old son and a 2-year-old daughter. His wife is four months pregnant with their third child.

:( :( :(

From late 4/19:
Several agencies including two dive teams have been conducting searches near Big Bull Creek in the water and by air over the last 24 hours. So far they've confirmed that there was an accident involving two men. Both were in a cigarette boat, which is an expensive speed boat. Both were thrown out. One was rescued and the other is still missing. Police say the call came in just after 6:00 Sunday night. Within hours one rescue was made and a smashed boat was pulled from the waterway, but investigators spent the rest of the evening searching the water for another. Officials believe the two men were travelling down river and hit something in the water, causing the boat to flip several times. Officers say one of the men was rescued and has been treated and released. As for the other man, investigators spent all day searching with divers and by air. They say they're not stopping until the boater is found. In the meantime - officials say as they search they'll also analyze the cigarette boat from the accident to help figure out what exactly caused the incident. WPDE has confirmed that the boater who is missing is John Nance, Junior the owner of the Texas Roadhouse Grill in Myrtle Beach. Investigators say the biggest obstacle in the search has been pin pointing exactly where the accident took place. They say accidents in the water are much more difficult to work than on land.

Not to make light of the subject, but at least the reporters got the boat manufacturer right this time. Normally any boat that's long and skinny is a Cigarette:(

our prayers are with the families
Gods Speed

DNR said it was a 42 footer last night on the news, pretty ridiculous they can't even get that right

:(

As a person who's been chunked out at 65+ mph on two different occasions, I would not have any faith in a jacket that needs to inflate first before it will protect me.

I bounced off the dashboard so hard that it severed my tricep. I probably would have a punctured lung too if I didn't have a real life jacket on. An inflatable vest would have no impact protection at all.

I wear a sturdy life jacket, with leg straps, while boating all the time now (I wear a full racing jacket when doing over 80)....a good all over "tan" or "bothersome fit" means very little when I think about how hard my body bounced off that boat, then bounced off the water and all the physical therapy I had to go through afterwards. And I *was* wearing a full race Lifeline jacket when my race boat stuffed at over 65 mph. It came to an immediate stop and I was thrust into the dash, cartwheeled over the bow, and then landed about 30 feet away after a few more hard bounces.

No doubt I would have been really smashed up - maybe even worse - had I not had my Lifeline on that day. I now only wear a jacket that has some kind of rib protection in the front.


Tragedies like this one are so hard to read about. My prayers to his family and especially to his children. :(

One thing that struck me when I watched the group leave for the Sarasota Poker Run was the lack of vests. I did see a few putting on inflatables but the vast majority were w/o vests. Maybe they waited untill they got out of the harbor. I know everyone was talking about the rough seas and worried about the hardware. Life is more fragile and valuable than an outdrive. My thoughts and best wishes to the family and friends of the missing boater.

I thnk everyone here knows that I've preached (and complained) about safety for a long time. In this case, I really hate being proven right. Poker Run organizers - heal thyselves.

We'll never know if any kind of PFD would have helped here, but could not have hurt. BK's right about the inflatibles not providing impact protection, but on the other hand Lifeline's are not USCG approved. Maybe it's time for Lifeline to step up to the plate and go for the approval process.

My condolences to John's family and friends. Sounds like he was a great guy and a responsible, courteous boater who simply encountered an unsavable situation.

The problem with the Coast Guard rules, is that the jacket must be able to be put on "very quickly" and be uncomplicated in the event of an emergency. They made these rules assuming the jacket would NOT be worn, and would be stashed somewhere, nearby. They wanted victims to be able to throw one on very quickly.

If you've ever put on a Lifeline you'll know it takes a while to get all the buckles and leg straps on properly -- therefore, it won't meet those particular standards.

If Lifeline makes the jacket more simple to put on by reducing the number of heavy straps and metal buckles and zippers, then it loses the "high speed" protection it is famous for.

But the solution is simple.

The CG requires is that an approved jacket be "on board", they don't say it has to be worn. So all you have to do to be in compliance is put a few cheap-o's somewhere on the boat, and you will comply with CG req's, even when wearing your Lifeline or other race jacket.