High winds. No kill switch. Tragedy

[Lancer6]

http://www.ksat.com/video/index.html

Select vid re missing boater(s?)
My bet is that the prop got him/them.
Not known if alcohol was involved.
Sad.

L6

[Joel]

Doesn't look to good for him at this point. Please post follow ups. Police stated that no one was home at the registered boat owners home. If he was married and had family, where was everyone? Too many unanswered questions at this point. Lets hope he/they all show up.

[Lancer6]

Here's the latest from the San Antonio Express-News:

An avid outdoorsman, swimmer and fisherman, 58-year-old Edward Rangel knew his way around water.
But his family held out little hope on Saturday night as the search for their loved one — who authorities believe disappeared into Braunig Lake — was called off for the second day.
The search at the Southeast Side lake was launched about 6:30 p.m. Friday when several people noticed an unmanned boat circling near the power plant.
The San Antonio fire and police departments and the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife conducted the search.
It was called off a few hours later as conditions deteriorated. It resumed Saturday morning as a recovery mission.
Rangel's family was there as teams plunged the depths of the lake. The family collected the boat and his truck, bringing them back to his mother's house where he moved more than a year ago to help care for her.
“He wouldn't have gone this long without checking in with us,” said Rangel's sister, Dorene Minis. “It's not like him. He would have come back to take care of mother.”
On the day of his disappearance, Rangel helped his mother with her dialysis appointment and then took out his small fishing boat. Fishing is a favorite activity of his, Minis said, and he has been to the lake on many occasions.
At 2:15 p.m. Friday, a ticket was purchased at the lake for his boat with one occupant. About four hours later, a maintenance man at the power plant saw the boat circling, unmanned.
As the search began Friday, officials did not have concrete evidence Rangel was missing. They had not yet reached the family and no one had reported him missing, said San Antonio Fire Department Capt. Joe Johnson, with the Technical Response Team.
San Antonio Police and Parks and Wildlife officials visited Rangel's mother's house but she could not answer the door quickly enough, Minis said.
They soon tracked extended family through effects found on the boat, Minis said.
With little daylight left Friday evening, SAPD scoured the area from the air with thermal imaging devices but that turned up nothing.
Search teams combed the entire perimeter of the lake along the banks, which also yielded no results.
Once darkness fell and winds picked up the conditions became difficult for the nine men searching in the water, Jones said.
At 8:30 p.m. Friday, Jones said searchers found more “personal effects” that had washed up on the shore. He did not say what was found and at that time officials could not link it to the boat. About 30 minutes later the search was called off for the night.
Saturday's search also yielded no results, the family said, but searchers could not be reached for comment.
Minis said she recognizes there is little chance Rangel is alive.
Still, it's hard to think that her older brother, a man she looked up to ever since her father died, could be gone as well.
“We know because of the time that's gone by that he's probably not OK,” Minis said. “But, we don't want to give up that one pinch, that small bit of hope that a miracle might happen.”
End Article




Will report when they recover the body. I'm betting there is some propeller damage thereon.
And that, dear boils and goiters, raises a ?; If one goes o'board wearing a PFD AND the out-of-control boat circles one cannot dive to avoid the boat and/or prop. IF one can skin out of the PFD in time to take evasive action then one might face death by drowning unless one can recover the PFD when and if the boat is no longer a threat. So, it's a Hobson's Choice...death by prop or death by drowning (unless one can make it to shore sans PFD.)
The above raises another ?...Is it better to wear a manually-triggered inflatable and hope you're conscious and can pull the trigger once it's safe to be trapped on the surface OR does being unconscious when you hit the water and unable to trigger inflation, thereby subject to drowning even if the engine is shut off, pose a greater risk?
I've seen a human body that has been "propped", twice in my lifetime, sad to say, and those images are indelibly embedded in my memory.
The first was at a largish reservoir when I was posted to Fort Riley KS and the other was at a lake in Texas. The KS incident resulted in the demise of a lovely young bikini-clad lass who was killed by a FIVE horsepower motor and the other was some drunk who tangled with a 150 Merc. That incident occurred when kill-switches were still a $25 "option" and his friends mentioned that he didn't want to "waste money" on such a "sissy" option.

The quoted article and my own recollections explain why I nag self, if driving, about the kill switch, or rant at whomever else is at the wheel.



Be safe!



Lancer6

[zooker]

i'll amit i've never fell out of a bass boat while it was running. however i have layed down a moter cycle or two..the water at 50mph is kinda like hitting concrete you bounce and rag doll.i have done enough water skiing to able to say this..
the only way a prop can get you is if it is a slow moving boat.a boat moving under plane speeds any faster and you'll get bounced off the hull and thrown aside after you bounce off the water.

the kill switch-which i refuse to use-only stops the boat near by.. if you see 1/2 the idiots i see on any given weekend they would run slap over the top of ya and never lift off the throttle. i know bass anglers who would do this also..

they will find him in 3-4 weeks when he bloats and floats up..this is called CLOSURE a term lancer 6 knows well..

the man died doing what he loved to do... which is what many of us hope will happen and few of us will ever succeed in doing..

zooker

[JB]

ya cant hardly get into A tourney here without a pre launch inspection , one part of which is being hooked to a kill switch or having one present.

[Lancer6]

Zookles,

The vid link shows that the boat is one notch above a pondhopper, barely, and tiller-steered at that. High speed wasn't an issue but maybe not having a secure grip on the tiller was.
Years ago, while underway in a 13' semi-V with a tiller 20 Merc, the rotten wood inside the transom gave way. The motor cocked sideways and the boat darn near rolled. Had I not been able to throttle down in a millisecond, well...you know.

L6

[WTL]

This is exactly like the lightning thread going on right now. Bad stuff happens too often when people go boating. All the problems arent really coming from a lack of knowledge, but lack of will to follow through with safe boating practices.

[aikenyounggun]

thats just not a good situation.... but instead the kill switch is so the boat just dont go 60mph before it hits something... like you, another boat, or the land.

[Lancer6]

Here's the latest. I'm betting the 'topsy will turn up prop injury.

From the SA Exp.-News:


"A body believed to be that of missing boater Edward Rangel was found at Braunig Lake on Wednesday evening.
The Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed an investigator was called to the lake about 8 p.m., although there was no confirmation on the identity of the body. An autopsy will be done to determine the cause of death.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game wardens were not available for comment.
Rangel, 58, disappeared Friday while fishing at the lake. The San Antonio fire and police departments and the parks department launched a search Friday evening after his small fishing boat was found unmanned, circling near the power plant.
Rangel had bought a ticket for the boat and himself at 2:15 p.m., and a maintenance man noticed the boat about 6 p.m.
Officials searched that night and throughout the weekend but found nothing. Several of Rangel's personal effects washed ashore Friday night, and his wallet was found in the boat.
On Saturday, Rangel's family said they held out little hope that he was alive. A sister said she clung to “a pinch of hope” but that it was unlike Rangel not to call and check in with the family."

Sad, especially since a PFD might have saved him if he managed to dodge the prop.
Take notes, guys...Read and heed.
Further; Although I crave an opportunity to do some solitary fishing I believe Mr. Rangel could have been saved if he'd had a partner along. As we age this becomes even more essential.
Braunig is a powerplant lake so the water temps, espcially near the outflow, are usually warmer than on other lakes. Even a few degrees difference can mean life over death IF the person can swim well or wears a PFD AND isn't maimed by the prop.
Again...READ AND HEED, Dammit!
L6

[Lancer6]

UPDATE

This morning I spoke with an investigator with the county medical examiner's office re the death of Mr. Edward Rangel.
He told me that the autopsy revealed NO trauma from the prop or other causes and that the conclusion was "death by drowning." He did add that a heart condition also was discovered and that may have been the cause of him falling overboard.
That reinforces my belief that it's far wiser to have a partner aboard who might be able to assist when an accident or health issue arises, especially if one is past his prime or is known to have health issues.
The fact that Mr. Rangel was not wearing a PFD makes the medical examiner's conclusion all the more plausible.
Interesting thought; The winds were up that evening so even if Mr. Rangel WAS wearing a PFD he might have been able to evade the prop in that such a small and light boat, although circling, would have still been moving with the wind while maintaining a circle. Think about the penmanship exercises in First Grade when you were asked to make a continuous "Slinky Toy" of "O"s across the line on the Big Chief tablet.
The boat would have been describing that same "graphic" as it moved with the wind.
No matter the cause, an avoidable tragedy occurred.

Lancer6

[aikenyounggun]

yeah a guy in a differenrt club my dad fishes fell out of his boat when fishing.... he was old and not in good health but they couldnt keep him off the water