Article from Wired.

Sort of a "wow, we did everything wrong but still lived" kinda thing.

Drink seawater??? Doesnt everyone know that...well never mind (leans back on chair and slips hat bac over eyes)

I just saw a picture of the two boys on television this evening.

The older one looks in extremely good shape facially for someone that has been on water for six days. His lips seem natural, but the news said they both had chapped lips and sunburn. The younger one seems to have face sunburn, chapped lips, and seems thin, but then I don't know if he had a sunburn six days ago and was thin then. The rescuers stated that the boys were dehydrated and sunburned, but the older one looked awfully good for someone that has endured so much.

I am not an SR qualified individual, but these guys don't seem to have suffered much if at all.

For you qualified SR types, please look at the news footage and tell us if I am misreading the signs.

Bountyhunter

These kids were so clueless they actually thought it was possible to sail across the Atlantic to Africa in a Sunfish in under a week. That makes their decision to drink seawater downright understandable by comparison. <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

What bothers me (again) is the fact that the news article makes no attempt to educate the public as to what they did wrong. Surely any of the rescuers who were interviewed could have provided some useful information about how not to end up in this predicament.

How many things can we spot that they did wrong? Without even breaking sweat, I can point out the following:

1. Didn't check the weather reports before they left.
2. Didn't have a clue about how to navigate.
3. No survival supplies, signalling equipment, or anything else.
4. The "shark attacks" were more likely panic attacks, like hikers who mistake marmots for wolverines.
5. Drank sea water because they were thirsty.
6. Defeatist attitude.
7. After 6 days at sea, they still couldn't figure out which way was west? All they had to do after the weather cleared was point the sailboat toward the setting sun and they would likely have found land.
8. "tried to swim to shore, pulling the boat with them". Oh yeah, sure - the water's too rough to sail, so we'll just swim for it - and drag the boat behind us to boot.
9. Lost their fishing tackle on day 2. How? Carelessness?

Mind you, they were only 7 miles off the coast and Bountyhunter says they were in remarkably good condition for two kids who'd been on an exposed sailboat for almost a week with no food or fresh water. Maybe this was their idea of a joke? Anyone familiar with the area? Is it feasible to sail a Sunfish from Sullivan's Island to Cape Fear and then pretend to be lost so they can be rescued? Seems a little far-fetched, but then again, so is the "official" story.

Exactly my reaction as I saw this story on the TV news last night.

Even the young lady sitting next to me (who is no survivor or even a skilled outdoors person) said "doesn't salt water make you more dehydrated?"

Aardwolfe:

I am more inclined to believe they had done a hoax as a money making ploy or for some sort of sympathy.

Sharks take large seals into the air by attacking from below, so I don't see a little sunfish sailboat as a barrier from a curious shark.

Bountyhunter

They were in a SAILboat. If they had been in a motor-driven craft and run out of gas, etc, I could understand it. But a SAILBOAT??? Once the storm was over, why didn't they just sail toward the west? The last I heard, there was a really large chunk of land they would have hit -- somewhere.

If the Sunfish belonged to their family, it's probably a matter of genetics: stupid, ignorant, careless adults producing stupid, ignorant, careless offspring. Another corner of the the gene pool that needs chlorine (and nearly got some).

And more news media that tells how they drank seawater without the disclaimer that it's a stupid thing to do.

Sue

Okay I'm no sailor but isn't 15' a little small for an ocean vessel? Wouldn't a boat like this be better suited for a lake or bay? How small a boat do people (intellegent, experienced sailors) sail with in the ocean (or even the Gulf of Mexico)? I am quite curious about this as I maybe be moving to the coast in about a year and was considering taking up sailing but I'm not a rich man so I won't be buying any 65' yacht. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

hehe, glad Im not the only one. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

These idiots actually made the front page headline in the Calgary Herald this morning. That's Calgary - Alberta - Canada - somewhere north of Montana. How did 2 morons trying for a Darwin Award in South Carolina end up on the front page here?

Judging by the picture, the 15-year old had very bad sunburn, so I'm inclined to doubt it was a publicity stunt.

But the fact that neither of them knew that the sun sets in the west, and all they had to do was wait till it went down and then angle towards it, boggles the mind.

Oh, wait - they thought they were off the coast of Africa, so they were probably heading East instead <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Hmm, let's see - approximately 1500 miles in 6 days, that would require a sustained speed of over 10 miles per hour for 144 hours in a 12-foot single-sail boat. Looks like they slept through arithmetic AND geography in school.

Was the boat named Beavis & Butthead ?

Dave

Actually, it's even funnier when you do the math properly. "6 days at sea", counting the day they left as one, is only about 120 hours. And the distance they would have to have "drifted" is about 3000 nautical miles, not my conservative estimate of 1500 miles.

So their "drift rate" would have been about 25 knots - 8 knots faster than the famed china clipper Cutty Sark's top speed of 17 knots.

That's one HECK of a 12-foot sailboat <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Aardwolfe:

The picture I saw on television of the younger boy did not seem like a very bad sunburn, but the lips were well chapped.

One of the early statements issued by, supposedly a Coast Guardsman was the question of how the kids ended up where they did because it did not seem to conform to known current induced drift patterns for that area.

I still disbelieve it and think it was some sort of hoax for whatever reason.

Bountyhunter

Something is not quite right. Aside from the story not matching the physics of the 6 day trip, there's the fact that six days with no water - complicated by the ingestion of sea water - will leave you nearly dead. They should also have had much more in terms of abrasions and contusions if they were in the situation they faced. I think they got stoned, fell asleep in the sun, and then went for a boat ride.
It's no "miracle" is a sad, sad case of chronic dumbness.

I want everyone to post in the other forum the dumbest thing you did as a teenager that almost got you killed or maimed. During my Coast Guard service I saw LOTS of stupidity. Note I did not differentiate which side of the SAR it sometimes occured on. Case in point. My Lifeboat Station got a call from a very bored Oregon State Trooper about 3 boys who 'borrowed' the family boston whaler. Basically he was passing the buck, or in Tillamook a load of smelly cheese. My CO started laying out a standard search pattern for our two boats. I remembered it was Senior Ditch Day, ran down the street to the liquor store, asked some kids if there were any beach parties after telling them why. Yes. Back to the station and my common sense, father of 4 boys CO sent the station truck up the PCH with a radio and I ran one MLB up the coast until the truck radioed a frantic "see them" . We found them almost crashing into the rocks with a dead engine. PEOPLE! Coast Guard search grids do not utilise dowsing rods, psychics or a thousand other intangibles. It's a statistical crapshoot at best with hard science. I seem to recall a certain Navy Flight 19 thats still overdue. Those people were ' professionals' The kid's burns are very much in line with what I've seen. Sorry, the real world isn't always Spielberg Nazis Dehydrating into skeletons and then exploding dust. Those burns are BAD. They gargled with salt water and did not drink it. O.K. they did a very dumb, teenage thing. Refer to my opening sentence. Also please research why it's called Cape Fear. Theres really big big ships that went down there without a trace. I'm just glad they're alive and not photos for later generations to ask questions about from pained looking adults. I've recovered the dead ones. I'll take them alive any day, dumber than dumb or not. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Brian, if the fishing boat towed it in, I think there might be a Sunfish for sale right about now. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Sue

Wow, the keyboard commandos are out in force! <img src="/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

Sure they were dumb, but exhibited an amazing will to live and survived.

Isn't surviving the ordeal the desired end result?

Okay, you may now resumed repacking your PSK that you carry from suburb to suburb and are afraid to get dirty. <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Duckear:

Actually, I am one of those that disagree with your contention that surviving the ordeal is the desired end result.

Avoiding the ordeal should be the desired end result.

As far as those that do repack their PSK's as they travel from suburb to suburb, they are more likely to have an efficient PSK than those that get theirs dirty on purpose so that they can falsely claim having endured ordeals as an excuse for not keeping their equipment in good shape. <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Bountyhunter <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Repeating quietlyto myself, my mantra of: don't feed the trolls Brian... don't feed the trolls... <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

If I'm not mistaken, the record for an Atlantic crossing is 12 ft., but keep in mind, that is on the VERY FAR EDGE of exteme. No, a sunfish isn't made for open water sailing, but neither are sailBOARDs which are used in surf sailing all the time. Coastal sailing (which is what these boys set out to do, I'd bet) is done in small boats quite often. The size of the craft wasn't the problem, their poor knowledge/judgement/decision making was the problem, I just hope SOMEBODY learns something from their experience.

Troy

Brian:

I'll give Duckear the benefit of the doubt and assume that he/she is just being emotional. You'll notice I ignored writing a response to the "keyboard commando" remark as it has no relevance.

Bountyhunter

Ya but I know you were tempted. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />