No need to be so dramatic about it. OK, we get it...his post was in bad taste and he made a half ass attempt at an apology. We are all entitled to our own opinions about what may or may not have happened and the obvious outcome. But guess what ? I'm getting a little sick of hearing you preach about GOD. Sure, I feel badly for these guys and especiall their families. But that doesn't mean we can't discuss what happened, how it happened and try to prevent it from happening again. But understand something....GOD is the reason they are not home having dinner with their families right now. GOD had a plan for them and it was obviously not what anyone would have wanted. Yes, it was a terrible tragedy. But bad things happen to good people and it's becasue of GOD'S will. The only thing we can do as humans is be prepared, make wise decisions and hope for the best.
:party-smiley-004:

Threads about occurrences like these are too predictable. Criticize-offend-apologize(maybe)-judge-repeat. Like most forums, I suppose.
I guess I just judged, huh? :snide:

Quite simply, my thoughts and prayers for these boaters and their friends and families.

I went back and edited my post to take out my heartless comment. It was uncalled for.

My heart goes out to the families of those involved in this tragedy.

They called off the search tonight...devastating...absolutely devastating. I hope they died with some sort of peace :(

Same story two weekends ago after the Miami Boat Show PR. Dumped 75 gallons in, ran back with two other boats but I had to run WOT to stay with them. Ran inside up to Stiltsville then outside to Haulover, at Govt Cut needle was bouncing on E, brought boat to idle in 2-3ft sloppy chop, gauge popped back to 1/4. Only 7-8 miles to Haulover but that is a nasty inlet on a outgoing tide. Palms were sweaty all the way until I hit the ICW thinking I may run out at any minute. Got back to Haulover ramp and needle was resting on E. I will know when I fill the tank next how close I got to running out.......

Mr. BoneCrusher, Nice name by the way, I am sorry again for upsetting you.. My feelings are "my feelings".. These accidents are becoming either more frequent or getting more publicized.

One day everyone will have to have some type of safety course or something...

Yes I do agree with Jassman, there are situations that come up that "WE" can't predict. But Again, ( I know you won't like this) 4 guys in a 21 foot boat.... How many miles out???... I don't care if it is calm... That is far for a center console 21 foot boat... Better steps "could" have been taken... I do feel horrible for the families, friends, of anyone that loses loved ones...

So again.. I do apologize for getting your temper flared up... and you are right this about losing some fellow boaters.. I just think 'SOMEONE" needs to put some strong input on boater safety.... We are losing too many to accidents that "MAY" be prevented..

What's the word from the survivor? Is he talking?

Exactly...I wanna know what happened. They were under anchor in heavy seas when the boat was flipped and they got tossed. Were they lost ?? Were they drunk ? Were they out of gas ?? Did they have engine trouble ???

This is the most I have found:

Life Vests

Schuyler was “very exhausted and somewhat groggy” during his conversation yesterday with the Coast Guard, Close said earlier today. The survivor told authorities the four men weren’t wearing life jackets when the 21-foot boat flipped at around 5 p.m. New York time on Feb. 28 but immediately swam under the boat and were able to don the vests, Close said.

“We haven’t been able to have any more detailed conversations with Mr. Schuyler due to his physical and medical conditions,” Close said in his final news briefing before suspending the case.

I have read about 15 diferent articles... This is One more:

Kevin Smith, a Florida native, said he has been fishing off the coast as far as the men were in boats smaller, the same size and larger than the 21-foot watercraft that capsized.

"The No. 1 thing when you're out there is, you have to respect the water," he said. "I know those guys had safety vests. I'm trying not to even think about it. That's a tough way to go."

The four friends left Clearwater Pass early Saturday in calm weather, but heavy winds picked up through the day and the seas got heavy, with waves of 7 feet and higher, peaking at 15 feet on Sunday. A relative alerted the Coast Guard early Sunday after the men did not return as expected. The Coast Guard said it did not receive a distress signal.

Close said some family members asked about continuing the search on their own, which he discouraged but said the Coast Guard wouldn't prevent.

"I can't emphasize this enough," Close said. "We do not want any additional search and rescue cases resulting from people who are outside their experience level."

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission may be heading out Wednesday to recover the boat, which was still on the water.

Schuyler told the Coast Guard the boat was anchored when it capsized. The four friends were able to put on life vests and huddle together, but eventually became separated, he said.

Schuyler was dehydrated and showing symptoms of hypothermia, but his condition was upgraded to fair on Tuesday. Hospital officials said he didn't want to talk to the media.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mmareno (Post 2813488)

IThe four friends were able to put on life vests and huddle together, but eventually became separated, he said.

Hospital officials said he didn't want to talk to the media.

---

Sounds fishy....no pun intended.

Whats that they say about hindsight,it's 20/20.

Bottom line is one guy is still here and if he says they dropped anchor on a perfectly good boat when it was rough and it took on water and captsized then it was their fault, if the boat was inop then they should have rapped a jacket or something around the anchor and put it in the water but not on bottom and hoped the current would drag them along so they werent just getting tossed around, they make an anchor that does that but I dont know anybody that has one. Or maybe they do like me on my fishing boat and just leave the anchor tied to the cleat and the boat was hit by a wave and when it flipped the anchor fell out and set itself. I would have to think we will learn atleast 80% of the truth in the next few days.

In Oct. 2002 I was caught in the Gulf Stream going to the Bahamas in my 42 Sonic, was fine one minute then started getting bad real bad we were at the halfway point when it got real real bad. 15-20 footers no lie. It was me and my wife best friend and his girl. The girls were holding on to the back of the seat kneeling on the floor and crying so loud I could hear them over all the other noise, all I could think about was not seeing my kids again we took so much water over the bow and in our faces I could barley see from the salt water in my eyes and I still dont know how the bilge pumps kept up. We stuffed it so hard one time it tore the bow light off. It wound up taking 5 hours to get from Lauderdale to Bimini. thats 50 miles. By the time we got there I could not open my hands and they wanted me to fillout the customs paper work, both my shoulders had knots so big they hurt for a week. All the glass in the coolers was broken like $500 worth, the microwave, the refridgearator, the TV, something hit the Elec. planel and smashed it and alot of the hinges were broken. I put the boat back together as good as I could with duct tape to finish our 2 week vacation. When I got back to the Sonic plant I told them I needed to leave the boat for some repairs. They took one look at the inside and had to go get Jay Ross to look at it. He asked me if I worked for Consumer Reports. We told them the story and when we were done they told us that a 32 foot boat went down at around the same time and place and all 6 people were lost. Jay told me not to worry about the boat and that he would fix it for me. I left the boat there till March when I and 2 best friends went back down to go back to the Bahamas my wife will never go again unless I buy a ship. The boat was better than new and he didnt charge me a dime. So I know a little about the fear and horror they went though and if I wasnt in a 42 foot boat that was built for the ocean we would have been dead.

I hope they rest in peace and maybe some others will be safer.

Lapseofreason great post...lot of good info...thx

Prayers for the families.

Updated: March 3, 2009, 9:30 PM EST CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) - As the four fishing buddies huddled together in the dark, clinging to their capsized boat miles off the Florida coast, a helicopter's light shone down upon them.

Tragedy at sea Photos: The search for Marquis Cooper, Corey Smith and William Bleakley has been called off. Here are images from the Coast Guard's rescue of Nick Schuyler, the sole survivor of the ordeal.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Photos: Corey Smith and Marquis Cooper left the world too soon. We look back at some of the images of them on the field.
For a while, as the boat drifted in the rough seas, Nick Schuyler could even see the city lights from shore. But the men drifted away as the hours passed, Schuyler told a friend after he was rescued, with the two NFL players aboard disappearing first, leaving him and his college football teammate hanging onto the hull.

"The waves were just so much. They never got a break," said Schuyler's friend, Scott Miller.

The Coast Guard called off the search Tuesday for the other three: Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, free-agent defensive lineman Corey Smith and former University of South Florida player William Bleakley, three days after their boat capsized Saturday.

Miller said Schuyler told him from his Tampa hospital room that the men initially hung together, trying to come up with plan. Bleakley swam underneath the boat and retrieved three life jackets and a cushion.

Easygoing and an avid fisherman, Bleakley gave the others the vests, Schuyler told Miller, and at least intially was the one clinging to the cushion.

"Will was there as long as he remembered," Miller said. "I want everyone to know Will's a hero in this whole thing."

Bleakley and Schuyler were former South Florida teammates, and the 24-year-old survivor had helped Cooper and Smith train at a gym.

After scouring about 24,000 square miles of ocean, the Coast Guard said it had done all it could to locate the men. Capt. Timothy Close said officials were sure that if there were any more survivors, they would have been found.

"I think the families understood that we put in a tremendous effort," Close said. "Any search and rescue case we have to stop is disappointing."

Bleakley's father appreciated the Coast Guard's effort.


The Coast Guard has suspended its search for Marquis Cooper, left, and Corey Smith. (Getty Images)

"I think they were not to be found," Robert Bleakley said.

Schuyler told rescuers after they plucked him from the ocean Monday that the boat was anchored when it capsized.

"He said basically that Will helped him keep going," Schuyler told Miller. Miller said he had also known Bleakley since the sixth grade. Eventually, Bleakley also got separated from the boat, leaving Schuyler alone.

Shortly before the search's conclusion was announced, the missing men's family and friends embraced and sobbed outside the Coast Guard station. They left without talking with reporters.

"He'll be an inspiration for me for a long time," Robert Bleakley said later of his son. "He always has been. I told everybody, I call him my hero."

Lions running back Kevin Smith called Corey Smith "a good, quiet guy, who always put in an honest day's work."

Kevin Smith, a Florida native, said he has been fishing as far off the coast as the four men, in boats larger and smaller than the watercraft that capsized.


Nick Schuyler, the lone survivor, was rescued 35 miles off the coast on Monday, clinging to the overturned vessel. (Cliff McBride/Tampa Tribune / Associated Press)

"The No. 1 thing when you're out there is, you have to respect the water," he said. "I know those guys had safety vests. I'm trying not to even think about it. That's a tough way to go."

Close said some family members asked about continuing the search on their own, which he discouraged but said the Coast Guard wouldn't prevent. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission may be heading out Wednesday to recover the boat.

The Coast Guard hadn't had more detailed conversations with Schuyler "due to his physical and medical condition," Close said. Schuyler was in fair condition and told hospital officials he didn't want to speak to the media.

Cooper, 26, was selected in the third round of the 2004 NFL draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers out of Washington. He played 26 games for the Bucs in his first two pro seasons, then led a nomadic NFL existence.

Cooper and Smith, 29, became friends when they were teammates at Tampa Bay. Smith signed with the Bucs as an undrafted free agent in 2002, and spent last season with Detroit before becoming a free agent. The former North Carolina State standout recorded 42 tackles (28 solo), three sacks and 10 special teams tackles in 2008, his best NFL season.

Bleakley, a 25-year-old former tight end from Crystal River, Fla., was on the USF football team in 2004 and 2005. He had one reception for 13 yards in his career, which also included some time on special teams.

Stuart Schuyler said his son is an instructor at L.A. Fitness and had helped train Smith and Cooper.

boating tragedy
 

Big heavy guys on a small 21 foot boat in rough seas go up to the bow to pull the anchor. Boat nose dives into a wave swamping the boat. No EPIRB, no time to trigger the MMSI. Tragedies can happen quickly.

I saw on the news that they are going to retrieve the boat today. The white/silver contender with tripples they showed on FOX 13 is my neighbors

An even more bizzarre tale.

"Schuyler allegedly told investigators that Cooper and Smith took off their own life jackets in a "bizarre story," according to the St. Petersburg Times.
"We were told that Nick said the two NFL players took their life jackets off and drifted out to sea," said Robert Bleakley, father of William, 25, told the newspaper.
Schuyler said that two to four hours after the boat tipped over in rough waters, one of the two NFL players decided he'd had enough. A few hours later, the second one did the same thing.
Schuyler also said that Bleakley's son, who had stayed hanging on the capsized boat with Schuyler, told him he saw a light in the distance and decided to try and swim for it, the paper reported.
"I think he was delusional to think he could swim someplace," Robert Bleakley said.
Ray Sanchez, Cooper's cousin, said the Coast Guard told him the same thing, but he cautioned that Schulyer might not be recalling the incident clearly after such a traumatic experience.
"We're not 100 percent sure where his head was at," Sanchez told the St. Petersburg Times. "He'd been through a lot.""

http://news.aol.com/article/missing-nfl-players/363480

Any word on the men..

Reading this sent chills up and down my spine. Did the weather reports you looked at not say anything about bad weather that day? Jay certainly went the extra mile for you, and he is to be commended for building such a strong boat. And I think you are a hero for bringing your ship and its precious cargo through that storm alive.

You've been on OSO for what, 20 years and you never told this story before??

??? Can't find anymore or anything new about this??

There is an article this morning in the Chicago Tribune. I think you can look it up online. Sad story and you always wish that things were done differently.

Here?

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/03/05/boa...vor/index.html

Wow 200 boats in 5 months capsized.... What in the world do people do in FL?

Does the water turn that nasty that quick there?? WOW that is a lot of boats capsized. Really sad!

That 21' Everglades had a LARGE T-top wtih 4 point mounting. That seems to be a small boat to have that heavy of a rig up high.

Anyone think that contributed to the roll-over? 4 bigger guys plus that weight in even medium seas would be 'interesting" .

So sad.

I agree,,looked top heavy !

But my prayer go out to the famalies, realy sad :party-smiley-004:

Fairly wide boat, built to be stable with fishermen walking around on it.. T top doesn't add much weight, I can carry one around by myself easily. and the radar dome on it was also really not that heavy, what 45 lbs or so?

I heard on the Bubba show this morning that it was a rental boat they were using. The pounding from the waves also was tearing them up trying to hang onto the boat and the lone survivor received many bruises to his kidneys and liver from the pounding.

Sad no matter how you look at it.

Very Sad...

Things can get nasty pretty quick And thats one small boat.

I have been in some nasty weather even here in LI sound and cant even Imagine how nasty it gets out there.

Feel really bad for these guys it can be pretty humbling out there alone in rough seas never mind on a boat thats turtled.

wondering if its gonna go down from under you any minute.

Gotta feel for these guys.

Been reading some articles I can find about this.. It seems a lot of small boats head out in calm water, then in about 2-3 hours it is 10+ foot seas.

I googled some articles about missing boats in FL and it has happened 200 times in the last few months

That is SAD!!

Very sad ships whould get bounced around it that kind of water!The news claims they removed life vests and floated away??I don't want to start anything but that Everglades boat should not run way off shore!

New info from Schuyler (the survivor) in PEOPLE magazine.....

You read People Magazine?

Schuyler did a great interview on Jim Rome yesterday.

he is also going to be or just was just on Ophra. don't watch the show just heard to promo for it:D

Right....

He's doing a book tour of all things.

Looks like it's been nasty as well.

http://www.examiner.com/x-426-Sports...eceased-boater

Everybody has different ways of dealing with grief, especially the grief that is brought on by a horrific tragedy like this one. It looks as though Schuyler has internalized his emotions, not even talking to his family about it. However, it is unfortunate that he has chosen to write a book so soon after, as it sends the wrong message to people who don't understand.

He should talk to the other victims' families now too. They need to hear from him.

Nah......but the wife is religious about it though....even has the iPhone app. :D