10/9/2022 3 Boaters rescued in Gulf after 28 hours

I give links below to the various accounts (some apparent contradictions, as usual), which y'all can read, but after a quick skim, here's my ETS summary:

The boat sank 10 AM Saturday after taking on water when the waves picked up. Boat went down quickly - got life jackets on, got out one VHF message, lashed ice chests together, and that was about it.

Tried their cell phones throughout the day - no service.

Relatives called them in overdue that evening.

Coast guard flew over ca. 2AM - tried to signal with flash from iPhone - no luck (full moon).

Next day, got service for a moment, texted screenshot of the position on Google Maps (no coordinates) before phone died.

I think power management on the critical iPhone was one thing they did pretty well on.

What helped

- Their life preservers
- An impromptu raft made from coolers (may have helped them with spotting, if nothing else)
- they had a waterproof case for the critical cell phone.
- critical cell phone had enough charge to get text out ca.
24 hours later (kept in "airplane" mode for the most part)
- were able to drive off shark by poking it in the eyes

Good fortune:

- enough time to get life jackets on (which apparently they were not wearing, per their account and their pre-event photo)
- drifted into an area with cell coverage
- were spotted visually in the day absent any strong visual
signature enhancements, especially the lone swimmer far
from the impromptu raft

Bad fortune

- Their VHF distress call before the boat went down got no response.
- Wind and current prevented them from getting to the oil platform they had been next to.

What could have helped:
- PLB would have been really useful (GPS coordinates + homing signal)
- SEND like inReach or SPOT would be good, too
- Including the GPS coordinates with the emergency text
(lots of ways to do that - Compass app, Google maps, etc., though none insanely straightforward. I have a free iPhone app called "My GPS Coordinates" that is very straightforward).
- Signal mirror (was full moon that night, sunny on day of rescue) would have made spotting them easier.
- some potable water in the coolers, or sun protection.


Links:

(1) https://people.com/human-interest/friend...ice-led-rescue/

(2) https://abcnews.go.com/US/shipwrecked-boaters-detail-rescue-shark-infested-waters/story?id=91326232

(3) https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/15/us/boaters-rescued-gulf-of-mexico-first-person/index.html

(4) https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/...exico-louisiana

(5) https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy...ght-off-sharks/

(6) https://www.today.com/video/boaters-who-...rs-150457413677

(7) [ includes video with coast guard]
https://www.dvidshub.net/video/860117/coast-guard-rescues-3-overdue-boaters-offshore-empire-la

https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7456623/coast-guard-rescues-3-overdue-boaters-offshore-empire-la
https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7456624/coast-guard-rescues-3-overdue-boaters-offshore-empire-la
https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7456627/coast-guard-rescues-3-overdue-boaters-offshore-empire-la
https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7456630/coast-guard-rescues-3-overdue-boaters-offshore-empire-la
https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7456631/coast-guard-rescues-3-overdue-boaters-offshore-empire-la

https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7457435/coast-guard-rescues-3-overdue-boaters-offshore-empire-la

Wow! What a harrowing ordeal.