Report: Improper anchoring caused boat accident ( NFL Players )

[Ghost in the Machine]

In an in-depth interview with the agency, Schuyler gave this account of the accident:

Early that morning, the men went more than 50 miles offshore in Cooper's 21-foot vessel. It was loaded with two large coolers filled with ice, drinks, food and beer. All of the friends were dressed in warm clothes, sweat suits and jackets.

Around 5:30 p.m., they went to pull up the anchor and head back to port, but the anchor was stuck. Bleakley suggested they tie it to the transom and use the boat's motor to pull it loose.

When Cooper tried to thrust the boat forward, the vessel became submerged and capsized, tossing the men overboard. All four tried uprighting the boat by standing on one side of the overturned vessel. When that didn't work, Bleakley swam underneath and was able to retrieve three life vests, a large cooler and a portable, cushion-type flotation device.

Bleakley, who Schuyler has credited with saving his life, used the makeshift flotation device, which has been described previously as a cushion. The other three wore the vests.

The men appear to have tried everything in their power to rescue themselves: Schuyler told the agency they tried retrieving and using flares, but they were wet, agency Investigator Jim Manson said. They got their cell phones, which were in plastic baggies, but there was no signal.

http://my.att.net/s/editorial.dll?bfromind=2728&eeid=6474372&_sitecat=1522&dcatid=0&eetype=article&render=y&ac=-2&ck=&ch=ne

[Lex]

1. Damn it, why didn't they just cut the anchor line?

I've had to cut a few before. Anchors aren't that expensive for a boat that size. Sometimes they won't budge because they've caught on something immovable.

Edited to add: Thanks for the update. I was interested in the followup to that unfortunate event.

[Ghost in the Machine]

4. From what I'm reading, they actually *moved* the anchor rope to the back of the boat..

An anchor costs what... $25 - $35?? I agree, they should have just left it stuck.... I've cut a few anchors before, too... money shouldn't have been an object to these guys...

[Lex]

5. Yes, $25 to $35 dollars.

When they moved the anchor line to the stern and throttled it, I guess that the boat's stern might've gone underwater, and then maybe flipped over (if they really gunned it).

Scares me just to think about it.

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Tragic. Sad story.

[Lex]

6. Yes

I can't imagine how it felt to be that far out with no way to communicate to shore.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. Duplicate. Having that problem a lot today.

[originalpckelly]

7. Oh how sad!

:cry: Those poor guys must have been so frightened, perhaps the anchors should have an auto-breaking line so that something like this couldn't happen? Perhaps if the boat's motor is on, and the anchor down, the anchor could have some kind of explosive bolt at the end that would go off, breaking the connection at the point where the anchor is attached to the boat? That way no one else could die this way.

Boating people, would that work, or does it sound impractical for some reason?

[vadawg]

8. Yup, having a bit of knowledge would make more sense

i honestly believe that shit like this is common sense and should be something one learns almost immediately when one starts boating.

[originalpckelly]

9. Yes, it would work, or yes it sounds impractical?

It sounds like impractical...

Well, we all make mistakes in this world, all humans are fallible, and anything that helps compensate for that should be done, if it's economically feasible.

[Mariana]

15. It's impractical to have an auto-break mechanism.

That anchor line needs to be very strong so it DOESN'T fail when you need it, and it has to be able to hold up in windy or choppy conditions. If it's set up to break, it's a sure thing it'll break when you don't want it to.

Cutting the line when the anchor is stuck is VERY basic stuff and it happens all the time. Honestly if they didn't know that then they didn't belong on the water.

It's also possible that they did know that they were supposed to cut the line but maybe after a few beers they decided to try this because they didn't want to go back in yet.

[Lex]

10. You just take a bait knife and cut the anchor line.

The line itself is just strong nylon cord. It can be cut. It wasn't a huge boat so a large anchor wouldn't have been on it. Just nylon anchor line and an anchor.

Like this:

[flvegan]

11. It really is a tragedy. Considering that was a boat belonging

to a pro NFL player, to not have just severed the line to a $50 anchor just seems senseless.

[undeterred]

12. There was a terrible anchor accident on a lake here

Some young people were out on a small boat and forgot they had dropped the anchor. They started the motor and when speeding across the lake; the anchor became unstuck and flew towards the boat. It hit a 17year old in the head and killed him instantly. He never knew what hit him.

[Lex]

13. Oh no.

That sounds awful. I got underway with my anchor dragging along the bottom once. I figured it out eventually, but I didn't even think about something like that lake accident happening.

[undeterred]

14. They were good kids, not drinking or horsing around

when it happened, and the one who died had a twin brother. Freaky accident and very sad.

[firedupdem]

16. Really sad..I read that earlier. I hate to hear of any young lives

lost. I feel bad for their families.