Condolences to the families!

Wow, you sure like to judge people. A number of your points are valid, but some are not all that well founded. As one that is pretty knowlegeable in water rescue (everythying from basic life saving to extreme whitewater rescue), I am pretty sure that the lanyards would not have saved them.

Once again, I say I highly recomment lanyards and safety vests. That being said, I would bet that most of us do take MANY casual rides without the ole lifevests strapped down.

I drove all over Center Hill lake today. Yes, I did have that lanyard strapped on. No, I was not wearing a vest. I don't feel that makes me a suicidal a$$.

Two weeks ago I hauled a$$ on a fun fun in Cumberland. I did wear my vest the whole time. It was appropriate for the occasion. Go ahead, judge me if you like.

I do think that is wrong to sprinkle your "words of wisdom" on situations before you know what happened.

this is the same boat, I just saw this boat last week. happened just a few miles north of me. my prayers are with there families.

What the hell was that starting thread all about.....now that made no sense

When I had my scarab panther I always wore my lanyard...as already stated they will hook hard with the nose down....but I will admit to not always wearing them when not running hard now...I also will have a few beers on the water...do I deserve to die for my actions...I think not....

I always wear my vest and kill switches would kill switches have saved them I don't know.But do we know for a fact that the boat did not run over them when it circled or would it have been close enough to swim back to had it not been running.
About 10 years ago when I had my Jet-Ski I hit a wave wrong and got thrown of at about 60.If you have never hit the water a that speed its hard and you will slid for awhile before you go under.I had hit my ankle on the way off and initially thought it was broken.I was able to swim back to the ski using only my hands and crawl up onto it and run back in slow.My ankle was just sprained but I have to wonder had I not had my vest or my kill switch on would this have turned out different.There was nobody around that day I was on my own.
My condolences to the family but everyone needs to start using proper safety equipment

Condolences to the families I am very sorry to hear this.

As long as there are boats people will make bad decisions and their will be deaths and injuries. We all know that both Lanyards and PFD's save lives. If you do not wear them you are taking a big risk. We should all consider that when we are at the helm and when we choose to ride with others.

My main concern now is to learn what happened?

Why did this boat spin out so violently that the bow would go under water?

What happened here with the boat that we can all learn from?

If you drink and drive ,.... you don't deserve to die but if something happens and you would it is your own fault.

That is what Chris ment and i feel very sorry for everyone who ever has an boatingacsident, but i have to agree with what Chris ment.

I am boating also and had stuffed my boat befor and i tell you what ,since then i wear my lineyard and i quit drinking.

Also my prayers for the Families.

I think they tripped and stuffed it ,it came down hard sideways and hooked - ejected them and thats it.

Just my 2cents.
And yes i am shure because of the facts that they did not wear lineyards or lifevests.
Because i am also pretty shure that nothing would have happend to them exept maybe a few markes.
And that is what buggs me when i hear things happening like that.:(

Ditto, nobody knows what happened. Kind of disturbed by Sunkin's comments............. Heavan forbide you ever get in an accident..........

That's what so tragic about this. If you look at the news video, the boat looks fine, and the engines are still idling as if nothing happened. Whenever you hear about a death, you at least expect to see some destruction of something. Yet two lives were gone in an instant. It's so easy to get complacent about safety issues and equipment, because nothing bad happens for such long periods of time. In fact, it's human nature.

My sincerest condolences go out to the families.

Michael

YES! http://www.extremecustommarine.com/S...dproduct=10300

It just taps into your ignition wires.

And I find it being more than typical.

Actually Chris Should be VERY Familiar at that particular place and it´s current ( I know I am years back ) so a lanyard or not does not help much if the persons are unconcius, they will drown there no matter what I´d say even with lifejackets..unless they are true offshore styles with big neck collars then they Might have a chance.

I was planning a stunt years back with a particular High Schools swim team to cross the might Ohio almost at that same point but found the stunt too risky because the current would take you sofar off that the distance crossing it might take you down..or a snag which I believe was the reason for this accident.

Mighty Ohio IMO is no place for a offshore boat speeding at that particular area.... It´s like running in Thames...

So does a brand new 35 Fountain (or any boat in the "right" conditions") at 75mph.... don´t ask how I know but I´m still writing.

On lanyards-

If you fall out and your boat keeps going, it makes it harder for rescuers to find you. You're also risking other people's lives with your now-unguided missile. As mentioned, it's also harder to climb back on board and rescue yourself, not to mention that being run over by your own boat. I keep reading comments about how lanyards may not help you save yourself, ignoring the obvious and most important function they have... keeping the craft from injuring others. This leads me to believe that there's not enough discussion about lanyards. So, what downside exists to wearing one?

On jackets- Do we really need to discuss why wearing one is important? Yet, many still don't. If you don't want to wear them, I really don't care. Unlike the lanyard, it's only you that you're risking. But maybe not- alot of the time I have less-experienced boaters or non-boaters with me. If I'm not wearing one, they'll likely assume they don't need one either. I think there's some implied responsibility there, but that's up to you. I know two people who drowned in separate incidents that 100% would have survived had they been wearing jackets. (one fell in after having a few and trying to take a leak standing on the sunpad- at night of course) I've been to the funerals and have seen their wive's and children's faces and I've seen the struggle they've put up to survive not having their husbands/fathers around. If you don't care about that or your own family, I don't know what to say.

Drinking? Picture yourself in an airport, about to put your kids on an airplane. As you're in line, the captain walks down the entryway, sipping on a Budweiser. Are you going to put your kids on the plane? Hey, he's only had a couple.

My comments are GENERAL and pertinent to so many of the stories we read about each and every season. You're right- no one knows yet why these people died. Since reports say the boat continued onward it can be safely presumed they weren't using a lanyard system. Since it took hours to find them, it's presumable they weren't wearing vests- or at least sufficient vests. If you feel that sensitivity will inspire or inform someone about the safety risks we all are exposed to, you continue on that path. Myself, I'd rather post something harsh and controversial that gets people talking. Sometimes it takes a slap to get someone to wake up. Many times on here it involves a newer boater or a guy moving from a bowrider to a performance boat for the first time. If they hit this thread and any of this makes them safer, then the rest of you can go right on thinking I'm an a$$hole.

These people dying is certainbly regrettable. If nothing else, I feel for their families. If it's determined that their own actions caused or contributed to their own demise, all I can say is that they made their own choices and they paid for them.

Your comments in particular struck me. You completely misinterpreted what I wrote.

To answer your question- no, you don't "deserve" to die. But what you do deserve to do is live with the consequences of your own actions.

I think often about my buddy who drowned. By himself, fell in off the back. Water was kind of cold. He had a few. I think about how he struggled to pull himself up but couldn't. Eventually he wore out and gave up. I wonder what those last moments were like- what he was thinking about. Of course he wasn't wearing a vest- he never did. We joked with him all the time about the coasties dragging the lake for his body. He'd either laugh or make jokes about being a strong swimmer. He was a guy who had gotten lucky so many times that he figured he was too skilled and too sharp to need the things others did. He was my friend and it was very sad but I still can't muster any real sympathy for him. I mostly feel anger about how it hurt his family and his friends.

[QUOTE=Chris Sunkin;2575430] being the insensitive a$$hole that delivers the message.


:D

P.S. Cincy Enquirer confirms that boat was running in circles and that neither occupant was wearing a vest, per ODNR.

Rob is busy getting ready for the Aronow race. It's my week.

Don't know their situation, was not there and am not judging them. I do have sympathy for them. That was a horrible thing to happen to anyone. :(

well said

I just watched the lexington news at lunch....they actually said they were trying to figure out if both people jumped out of the boat or not....come on....

My favorite part of the original news video was when the guy said the boat floated "up" river with the current. Obviously, a very knowledgeable newsman.:angry-smiley-038:

Chris:

You hit this one on the head. There was no need for these deaths and this tragedy represents a complete disregard and lack of understanding of the ballistics of high speed boating, which if allowed to get out of control will spin you out, launch you and your passengers into sharp, or unyielding surfaces in your cockpit, throw you overboard, or barrel roll on top of you. In addition after you are ejected without kill switch's hooked up, your "pleasure boat" could become a death missile looking for a couple of people fishing in a row boat.

Given that set of FACTS, and the previous statement by a poster, and I quote: "No, I was not wearing a vest. I don't feel that makes me a suicidal a$$."

Yep...I'm afraid it does....and hopefully not a dead one someday.

T2x

Since when are the talking heads knowledgeable? :grinser010:

The river was going up on the map. Yea, that's it, that's the ticket.

I took that picture at the Dolphin Inn on Ft Myers Beach. The owner of the boat was staying there for a couple weeks while we were there so we talked to him just about everyday. The docking situation was unique as you can tell in that picture. Nice guy, beautiful Scarab that he had put alot of time and money into.

I talked to Travis, the owner of the Dolphin Inn to confirm his name. He was excited at first and said he was actually getting ready to confirm his reservation this year. Then I had to break the news to him............

RIP :(

I remembered when you first posted that photo on islandpirates, and recognized the boat right away when I saw it on the news.
Beautiful boat.
Very sad outcome to their day of boating.:(

Well said post and I agree with the safety message 100%.

I've been pro-lanyard after losing a fellow waterman (at the time) when he was working the water by himself and fell overboard on his way back in. It was winter and it must have been a pretty awful death. The boat was found still running but he wasn't found for a few days. I think about it every time I go down to his now defunct crabbing and oystering house.

That said, I do feel sorry for them and certainly I feel sorry for the families.

God Bless.

Very sad news indeed. Especially for the Scarab community. If they did in fact drown, no doubt the bodies will surface in a couple of days...

After a double drowning on the Ohio River and a 24 hour search. Recovery crews have now pull a second victim from the water. Earlier Saturday, the other body was recovered. People on the river spotted an empty boat near the 275 bridge between Fort Thomas and California late Friday night. Crews have worked night and day on the recovery effort.

The victims are identified as 40 year old Jerome Colley, Jr. of Cincinnati and
49 year old Rudolph Crandall of New Richmond. Cause of death will be released after an autopsy.

For the victims' families search crews know how important a quick recovery is. Crews worked night and day to recover these two men. Just after 10:00 p.m. that second victim was finally brought to shore. Now his family will be notified. It's a search that's had its challenges but was also propelled forward by strong eyewitness accounts.
"The accounts from Kentucky shore and Ohio shore give us great location to search where the accident happened," says Andrew Hollenback with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
Some may have witnessed the accident, others saw the empty boat from the shore, and they have given investigators good information to work with.
"People, with modern day age GPS and technology on the boat will mark that stuff and call into us...really been helpful to us," says Hollenback.
This green buoy marked the general location where sonar equipment picked up the second victim. But making the recovery in these murky waters even with a dive team, isn't easy.
"When we send down a diver they're not always sure they're looking east or west. They can get disoriented and get off the pattern we were hoping for," says Hollenback.
The big question surrounding this double drowning is simple what happened? What made the men go overboard?
"Like with anything rumors start flying, we'll still investigate that...right now though, it's a one vessel accident," Hollenback says.
So, how do investigators fill in the blanks? With those very important eyewitness accounts and by going back to accident scene.
"Even when people left a boat, still evidence on the boat..we see what that tells us...put the two together and see what we come up with," says Hollenback.
The boat has been impounded. Investigators will check it out to see if anything on the boat may have contributed to the accident. Investigators say life preservers were available on the boat but neither victim was wearing one.
VIDEO: http://www.local12.com/mediacenter/l...com&navCatId=5

Personaly I've always avoided the Lanyaed/Vest topics but this one rattled my cage a bit.
I think about how many times I go to Claudios and have no vest on nor do my passengers and this thread made me think hard about ending up in the drink with no vests,
as far as a Lanyard is concerned my boat doesnt have one but after reading this its coming!
Bottom line there is always the chance that these two men might still have been killed by the accident but a vest and lanyard would drop them odds considerably.
My buddy is putting the engine back in my boat this week and I'm having him install a lanyard also period!
As Chris hinted to, my daughter and family dont deserve to stand over my casket and grieve for a mistake that could have been prevented.

My condolences go out to all involved with this and or any accident.

All Accidents can be prevented. Just stay home and hide in the basement. But that isn't much fun. Alot of the thrill comes from taking the risk. It then comes to be a calculation of how much fun vs. how much risk. This sport isn't for everyone and neither is motorcycling or car racing. There are those of us who believe we have the skills and knowledge to get away with it. And sometimes we are abruptly reminded how fragile or close to the edge we are.
It is a continual evolution with forward and backward steps. Nascar is much safer now then it was in the 50's & 60's.

Guess my point is, accidents happen and we need to learn what we can from them and then teach others how to increase their odds of survival. And that for the most part DOES happen on this site. A year ago there was another lanyard thread, and reading those posts have influenced me to always put it on. I also tell everyone I know who doesn't visit this site to use it. Just to let some of you know that there is positve reactions to these discussions.
So let me say this process does work. However on this site I think there is a little preaching to the Choir going on as there is rarely any argument.

Next how do we get to the people who don't visit to use them?

Very good point made there.

How do we get more people to - fit lanyards to boats that don´t have them - and - get people to use them who forget to - or just think it is uncool, or irritating to be tied to their dash with fiddly little clasp on a messy piece coiled up plastic rope ?

C´mon Livorsi, Eddiemarine, Rex and the rest of you suppliers of cool jewelry for powerboat junkies - make a good quality, race style, functional lanyard. Use a coily line that doesn´t tangle so easily.
This has got to be a good product idea.

Actually the one supplied with my Mercury Racing installation kit is really good (made of some sore of fabric coated plastic)...but, what wasn´t so good was the little plastic clasp on the end of it. I found a really nice 2 1/2" billet aluminum clasp (carabiner?) that was sold as a key ring novelty in a camping store. It is much easier to use, hooks in and out real smooth. Fitted an eye on the dash where it rests when not in use, and if I should forget to hook the lanyard on, I hear the irritating sound of the aluminum against the dash to remind me.

Looping a lanyard around your arm is pretty inconvenient, and probably even dangerous...and hooking into you shorts isn´t too clever either. Another good reason to wear a lifevest, PFD or whatever will hold your head above water should you become unconsciuos (which is pretty likely if you hit anything on the boat on your way out, or hitting the water, with your head, which usely is up front, when you fly!).

I have a stainless loop fitted on all six automatic lifevests on my boat (any one can end up at the wheel, and it should be easy and obvious where to hook into).

Finally, this year I hung a SPARE lanyard onto the bolster leg nearest to the switch.....in case the other one is in the water attached to the driver!

Lanyards make pretty useless theft deterents, anyway!

Preaching done!

Good points wildcard but one of the reasons for looping to the wrist is so the you become aware of it. This point was brought up by Brad S with Tres' driving school. I have always worn mine on my wrist and it becomes much like a seatbelt in the fact that you are aware of when you are not wearing it. When i get in any of my boats the first thing i put on is the lanyard and is almost a subconscious action any more. It amazes me how many people still dont use them though.

If you have ever had an immediate family member die in a crash, believe me, none of you would ever go without a lanyard and PFD. It leaves a permanent mental scar for life.

Michael

Very sad news indeed :(