Don't know any details yet but today 2 of my good friends, a woman that I do know quite well and the captian of the boat died of hyperthermia after their boat sank. They were on a fishing trip in the Gulf of Mexico out of Venice.
Unofficially I heard that they were in the water for over 4 hours.
Found this on the internet shortly after I first posted a few minutes ago.
As per NOLA.com
Four people are confirmed dead after a sport fishing vessel capsized in the Gulf of Mexico near the South Pass entrance to the Mississippi River approximately three miles offshore, according to U.S. Coast Guard petty officer Bill Colclough.
The Sea Angel, an offshore crew vessel, found the single survivor sitting on the hull of the overturned pleasure boat shortly after 1 p.m. and immediately contacted the New Orleans Coast Guard.
The sole survivor, whose name has not been released, was brought to the station in Venice where Emergency Medical Services were waiting, but he refused transport to a hospital, Colclough said.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services are investigating the circumstances that caused the boat to capsize. The names of the deceased have not yet been released.
They were on someone elses boat. I only assume it was a charter but don't know that for sure.
I did not mention that my 2 friends are also brothers. The oldest one bought some land and made himself a camp somewhere around Venice about a year ago.
The young lady happens to be my daughters ex sister in law and the 4th person to die was the boat owner....possibly captian.
There was one survivor on the boat and the survivor was the son of the younger brother.
So far rumor has it that there was a mechanical failure with the engine that caused the accident.......but that is yet to be confirmed
I've been at the camp and saw this on tv this morning, and it was in the BR paper. Local scuttlebutt is they hit the rock jetty at South Pass and knocked a motor off, cracked the hull and the boat turned over and partially sank. Ths survivor was atop the hull. Another rumor is they hit the sandbar south of South Pass with the same result. In either case, many of you are familiar with South Pass at Port Eads and know how poorly marked the jetty and entrance are. And this time of year the water temps in the river and in the freshwater plume out of the passes is in the 40s.
I have a couple of calls in to folks who may know more and I'll advise. Tough deal. Sorry to hear it, Harry.
on a rough ish day with andre he pulled a pretty neat trick of kinda sneakin in right at the end of the underwater jetty. when asked if people ever hit it as it was long , underwater and unmarked his answer was "yes".
again...i'm really sorry to hear about that. i find the water temp surprisingly low. its not much colder than that here.
The Mississippi River is very cold in the winter and spring from the snow melt up north. I've seen ice floating in it here in Baton Rouge many times. The sea water is in the 60s and the blue in the 70s now, but the plume of river water will float on the salt out a good ways and stays cold.
No new info on the accident, but all the reports are they hit something and the boat filled, capsized and partially sank. The suppoly boat that picked up the lone survivor reported finding him three miles from the South Pass jetty. They were reported to have left the Venice Marina at 6:30 am and the accident happened at about 7:30; he was picked up by the supply boat at 1:30, so drifting 3 miles in 6 hours is well within reason.
South Pass was jettied in the 1870s by James Eads and since then the channel takes a hard left to the southeast at the end of the east jetty. A hard snadbar is across the mouth of the pass and anyone who goes straight out is doomed, as is anyone who does not know the rock jetty goes underwater and cuts across it. But we don't yet know what happend - they could have hit a low floating log in the middle of the channel, so its all pretty much speculation on my part at this point.
As many times as I've run thru that spot I'm still not comfortable with it and go pretty slow with a hair trigger on the throttles.
Harry, Terrible news....really hits home....all are in our thoughts...BH
1966 31 Bahia Mar #316-512....8 years later..Resolute is now a reality..Builder to Boater..285 hours on the clocks..enjoying every minute..how many days till spring?
as randall said the same water temp. here i cannot belive that until vic roy explain the flow of ice from upsteam cooling the water .i guess all off us yankee`s feel the temp was in the 70`s about now.
harry there are no words i could ever write to describe the loss of a close friend or family . these event`t in life just take another notch out of your soul and it become so hard to repair as you get older and think of the loved ones you have lost-----------amen
Sorry Harry,
Man there have been alot of really FREAK deaths latley, 2 i know of this week here. One a elderly car wreck in a lexus SUV and second a slip on ice by the pool and fall in. Count your blessings and be careful!!
The wake was tonight from 5 to 9. I went by the funeral home at 7 and the line was out the door and around the parking lot. Went riding around town and back to the funeral home at 8:30......stood in line for an hour and half. These guys will certainly be missed.
