2- 14 yr olds missing on possible failed Bahamas trip
 

2 kids bought $110 in fuel for a 19 SeaCraft and went out the Jupiter Inlet Friday afternoon and haven't been seen since. Reward is up to 100K. Bahamas is 60 miles away, boat could certainly make it but weather has been rough in the last 3 afternoons.


http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/pa...navtype=outfit

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/ne...r-missi/nm6s9/


Update, 11:10 a.m.: Neighbor and former NFL star Joe Namath joined families of the missing teens in a news conference today to announce that the reward for finding the boys has been increased to $100,000.

The news conference was held at a home in Tequesta and started around 11 a.m., according to Pamela Cohen, mother of Perry Cohen. The family announced a $60,000 award Saturday night, but has since collected more money for the effort.

UPDATE: Coast Guard to search into night for missing Tequesta boys photo
Austin Stephanos is one of two teens the Coast Guard continues to search for Saturday morning. He and Perry Cohen set out from the Jupiter Inlet on a fishing trip yesterday.
Namath and family thanked the Coast Guard and the public for help in searching for the teens.

Family members added that only qualified boaters and trained professionals should be involved in the search.

The search continues north of Jupiter and east of Fort Pierce for the two teens missing from the Jupiter Inlet Friday afternoon, according to Coast Guard officials.

Two additional aircraft from U.S. Customs and Border Protection are assisting the Coast Guard in the search Sunday morning, officials report. Crews have searched about 14,447 miles since Friday at 5 p.m., Coast Guard Petty Officer Mark Barney said.

Tequesta residents Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen, both 14, were headed in the direction of the Bahamas in a 19-foot vessel for a fishing trip when they were reported missing.

The reward money pales compared to the specter of finding those kids alive, that would be reward enough for me. I hope this turns out for the best.

I hope it works out for the kids......the reward might have a negative value if they actually made it to the Bahamas. That could be seen as a ransom/reward if they hold the kids longer, increase the reward type thing.

Boat has been found, capsized 200 miles north.....nobody aboard


The Coast Guard broadened a search Sunday for two 14-year-old fishing buddies missing in the Atlantic for two days while families of the teens narrowed their focus to one hoped-for outcome: survival.

“We are going to find them today. We are going to bring them home,” said Carly Black, the mother of Austin Stephanos.

The teens' boat was found capsized about 70 miles off the Ponce de Leon Inlet near Daytona Beach, the Coast Guard said Sunday afternoon.

Tequesta Police tweeted the boat had "no souls on board."

Petty Officer Steve Lehmann said neither boy was in or around the boat. The engine cover was missing and one life jacket was on board, said Corporal Emir Yildiz, Tequesta police spokesman.

The 19-foot boat will be anchored in place while search-and-rescue efforts continue. Lehmann said the Coast Guard was recalculating its search plans based on the boat's location

Sad. I would trade places with those 2 boys right now and take my chances on being found. Or not.

This is very sad, I just hope and pray there is a good out come.

My thoughts are with these kids... I sure as heck am praying for a good outcome. As a boater this hits home.

Praying they are found ok.

it was unseasonably blowing like Hell here in Naples on Friday out of the West.Had to be big a few miles offshore on the East coast.

Not good conditions for a low transom mounted outboard..

Not looking good.

Very sad but they seem a little young to go offshore in a small boat.

I was working down by the inlet Friday afternoon......we were done by 3 as the weather was harsh. Saturday was a repeat of Friday in the afternoon.

What direction was the wind out of over there ?. I am assuming west as i didnt go down to the Gulf but was in the house and heard it blowing all day Dad mentioned to me that he went to the Gulf on Friday and it was Rough.

Praying for their safe return

blowing hard east.....storms actually ran west to east. That would have pushed them away from shore towards the gulfstream if the boat had propulsion issues.

If they have been in the water for 3 days, hypothermia is going to be a problem for them. They are skinny little kids. I would be losing my mind if I was in my pool for 3 days nevermind 60+ miles offshore.

For those who haven't been offshore, after about 20-30 miles you cannot see shore, you become surrounded by water and other than the sunrise/sunset you have no idea which way is what.

This whole thing is extremely hard to take. I would be beyond devastated if that were my kid.


2 KIDS in a 19 foot boat going to the Bahamas? Do they have parents? Who lets their kids do that? My "kid" isnt leaving the intercoastal by himself till he is in his 20's.

I strongly suspect this was not a parent authorized trip.......

Parents said they were Not allowed out the inlet on the news.

But who among us listened to our Parents. Sad for sure.

Yup... Most of us get lucky and only have to explain a dent in the car, this just sucks.

This is just horrible news. I do hope and pray for the best for all of them.

I do not have children, but given modern technology, they would not be out and about sans a geofence technology on their phones or vehicle(s), boat included. The instant they went out of the prescribed range, I'd know about it.

Number 1 lesson always always always stay with the Boat.

I have a 14 yr old that goes to school with one of the missing kids. She got her boating license (required in FL for anyone born after 1981). She was all excited, so I said great now we can load up the whaler with snacks/drinks and I can drop you and your friends in at the ramp and you can call me when you are done........She screams: REALLY?

My response: Ummmm no!

She just ran the boat last weekend from Palm Beach Inlet (Lake Worth) to Jupiter in 1-2 confused seas (12 miles total). Timing was a bit off, boat was banging a lot (I was a passenger). She got through the inlet and said that isn't as much fun as she thought it would be. She was riding jet skis as a passenger at age 4, running small boats since age 6 but when it is all her responsibility she didn't think it was that fun anymore!

It is possible that they weren't able to once it capsized. Think about it, banging up/down with every wave, not sure you want to be water level with it. Current will move the boat a lot faster than a kid (ever jump off a boat in a current only to find it is really hard to swim back to the boat again).

Boat also had black bottom paint indicating it spent time in the water, probably had growth on it making it really hard to get back on top of it.

I attended a Coast Guard safety seminar once at a boat show and the stories they told were simply amazing. You look like a coconut floating in the water to them during a search. However any light source can be seen for miles when they are searching using infrared (mirror, simple flashlight or pulsing beacon). They showed video of in water rescue and things they saw from several miles away. The lesson was "give yourself a chance for them to find you!" Ditch bag food/water, life raft, EPIRB, quality jackets, portable radio/sat phone, laser lights/high intensity flash lights etc. One coastie mentioned most people have life saving gear in their kitchen (food, water, flashlights, etc).....Why not stock the boat too? Coolest thing they showed was a life jacket with a strobe light that flashes when it gets wet........stupid simple idea but genius!

CG reports 1-3 ft seas, 11-13 knot winds with thunderstorms rolling through


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1Zif50R03A

WOW my thoughts and prayers are with these boys and their families.

Spent 20 years windsurfing in 20 - 30 mph winds Surface current speed in these conditions which is the speed of which the top 3-4 feet of water will travel is 2 knots or more.

In these conditions in 4 hours which was the time after they were reported missing they could have been blown 8 miles offshore by the West winds.

So suddenly you are not just running up and down the coast a mile or 2 offshore in the helicopter looking for them but 8 miles offshore and increasing by the minute, now they are close to getting caught in the Gulfstream and now we have a whole new variable.

On a 30 mile coastal search your search grid is growing at the rate of 1 square mile per a minute.You cannot search that much ground per a minute so you are continually falling behind in your search.

Doesn't matter how slimy the boat is or that you are even on the upturned hull.. Dive under the boat and get a lifejacket and some line to keep you tied near it. A boat is usually always spotted . A Bobbing head not so much.

I did a search and rescue for a sunken jetski 20 miles offshore., Even from the air it is a needle in a haystack and even after you spot the object it is unreal how quickly you can lose site of it again.

I am in no way for a Government for more rules but I think it should be a law that any vessel operating outside a inter-coastal waterway should have to carry a Epirb.

Used one to save my azz years ago.

You can buy them for 300 bucks these days . Whats your life worth?

Very bad news and although it doesn't look good, never give up hope, there is still a chance of a happy ending.

I was caught out many years ago off the east coast of Australia in 30-40 knot winds and breaking seas up to about 12'. My companion was not much of a boatie but had the insight to grab a few lines and tie them to rails and cleats and also make a few knots in the ropes to hang on to if disaster struck. Fortunately things were on our side that day but just wearing a safety vest and and a plan to cling to the ropes made us both feel a lot more at ease.

I have lost a friend at sea and it could have been avoided. Take care, always allow for the worst case scenario before heading out.

Thoughts and prayers for the boys and their families.

Jon.

Ocean was flat on Friday. Storms were coming and going, though, so they could have been caught unprepared.

Hoping for the best but time decreases the odds for sure.

Flat near shore but get offshore 5-10 miles and the 25 mph West winds have you in 8 footers.

How far out is the Gulfstream in that part of FL?

I believe not any further than 8 miles , sometimes closer


WEAK LOW PRESSURE IN THE AREA WILL CONTINUE TO BRING UNSETTLED WEATHER TO THE AREA FOR MOST OF THE WEEK. SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL CONTINUE INTO THE UPCOMING WEEKEND.

.GULF STREAM HAZARDS...NONE.

THE APPROXIMATE LOCATION OF THE WEST WALL OF THE GULF STREAM AS OF JUL 25, 2015 AT 1200 UTC...

18 NAUTICAL MILES NORTHEAST OF FOWEY ROCKS. 21 NAUTICAL MILES SOUTHEAST OF PORT EVERGLADES. 10 NAUTICAL MILES SOUTHEAST OF LAKE WORTH. 9 NAUTICAL MILES EAST OF JUPITER INLET.

THIS DATA COURTESY OF THE NAVAL OCEANOGRAPHIC OFFICE.

West wall of the Gulfstream is 5 nautical miles from Jupiter Inlet

Very sad situation and I hate to be the pessimist but unfortunately I don't believe they will be found allive. So tragic.....

The coast guard and other searchers definitely have their work cut out looking for those kids. God Speed

Terrible news, been watching it on the local news...... Hoping for the best....

By evidence of the boat being found so far North definitely means they were in the stream.

If they are in the water they are up in the Outerbanks by now.

^^^ Sad, but true.

This news has me saddened and terrified! First, I simply cannot imagine floating miles away from shore in the ocean. Forgive my ignorance, but aren't there things out there that eat things much larger than me? Praying for a good outcome, but also praying for the strength of the family....

It's been 4 days 3 nights without water,the same amount of time the sailors on the Indianapolis spent in the water before their rescue.

The boat most likely swamped and flipped within site of land and the boys decided to make a swim for it.

With a 2 knot surface current blowing from the west their ability to swim to the east towards the shore is absolutely futile.

http://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/18939/web

This is a scanner based out of Jacksonville. It plays radio transmissions between Navy (JAX) and USCG. A DSC was chatted about 5 minutes ago off South Carolina.

DSC is a digital selective calling- a distress call from a VHF radio. This could be related to the lost kids or it could be something else going on in the area. The dispatch was requesting ID and/or coordinates from anyone that heard the DSC in that area.