Coast Guard ends search for boat carrying 20 from Bahamas to Florida

[KBDick]

Bimini is the favored jumping off point to bring migrants, drugs, etc to Florida. I think we will start hearing from friends and family of these missing folks that they were on this boat.
Smugglers are very greedy and will load as many people as they can charging thousands for the trip. With the Gulf Stream moving north at 2-3 knts, the remains may be far north of Florida by now.
Very sad situation.

[GreenWave]

Originally Posted by jtsailjt

I’m not aware, what wind direction and strength has there been this week? If anything more than about 15 knots out of the north they wouldn’t have a chance in an overloaded boat like that.

Let’s be clear. That boat should never have 20 people on it outside of a small lake or at the dock.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Hardhead

I thought that too - but you'd think there would be more details from worried families at this point. I can't imagine the captain's idiocy of loading 20 people for that trip. A smuggling captain would presumably like to keep floating as well...

True enough, what makes me skeptical about the people Smuggling is the Coastguard knowing how many were on board..
No up to twenty people but a definite 20 people.
Also smugglers don't give a monkeys whether the boat makes it or not.. they've got their money and the skippers are free lance boat owners making a fast buck..
No skin in the game once the cargos loaded.
In the Strait of Gibraltar fast ribs leave Morocco in groups of 5 to 10 loaded up then fan out banking on speed and the fact only one or two can be chased.. acceptable wastage.

[endlesspursuit]

While I agree with everyone 20 people or so on a boat like that is beyond stupid. I just checked weather history for Palm Beach on Monday 12/28/2020 and the winds were Se to Sw all day at 15 mph or less. So heading to Lake worth would give them a following sea of some sort going with the current the whole way. I think it creates more questions than answers.

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by endlesspursuit

While I agree with everyone 20 people or so on a boat like that is beyond stupid. I just checked weather history for Palm Beach on Monday 12/28/2020 and the winds were Se to Sw all day at 15 mph or less. So heading to Lake worth would give them a following sea of some sort going with the current the whole way. I think it creates more questions than answers.

I agree that light wind out of the south raises more questions than answers. I wouldn't want to have 20 people aboard that boat unless we were tied to the dock, but it sounds like the winds/seas weren't an issue in this incident. It could be as simple as someone aboard saying "hey look at that" leading to everyone rushing to one side of the boat to get a better view, causing them to take on water, or possibly something more nefarious, we'll probably never know though unless the boat is found still floating, which seems unlikely at this point.

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by LittleWing77

That's eZACtly what Chotu is saying.

The lack of boating knowledge was astonishing.

Situations such as this are why so many of us (Chotu and myself included) continuously urge newbies to get out and actually sail, take ASA, RYA and/or Power Squadron courses, get some actual experience under your belt before buying a boat blind.

If you're new to the boating/sailing life, you DO NOT know what you don't know...

This is a horrendous story and far more than just a "cautionary tale".

LittleWing77

I'm (painfully) aware of the consequences of wind direction when crossing the Gulf Stream but since I'm not in Florida didn't know what he meant when he mentioned "recent conditions." You and Chotu seem to think the wind was out of the north but Endless Pursuit checked Palm beach weather records and said it was out of the south at less than 15. Depending on which of you is correct, that could have huge implications as to why they disappeared.

[Mainstreet]

I have not, as of this date Jan 11 2012, heard of any reports in the news of missing persons by families or relatives that would relate to this tragedy! I would have thought that at least those people were friends if not related and that their parents/children/friends etc would have reported them missing. So far I haven’t read anything identifying them in the media at all. Seems strange.

[cdy]

I am with Mainstreet on this - living in Florida - I have heard very little on this other than 20 missing - but no follow up on who these people are - where were they going - seems strange - were there actually 20 people - were they human trafficker's - normally would be a lot more local press coverage - but very little

[ben2go]

20 people onboard I sure she was riding low. My bet is on a wave over the side swamping the boat and taking everyone and everything down with it. Fish cleaned up the floaters.

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by cdy

I am with Mainstreet on this - living in Florida - I have heard very little on this other than 20 missing - but no follow up on who these people are - where were they going - seems strange - were there actually 20 people - were they human trafficker's - normally would be a lot more local press coverage - but very little

I did hundreds of overdue searches in my time in the Coast Guard. A handful we actually found in distress. A good chunk of the rest were found when they got home from the bar they stopped at after a day of fishing. But another good chunk of them were cases like this where we never heard about it again, no obituaries or further information, the case just disappeared. So I tend to agree with you. It's highly likely that 20 people didn't actually die crossing from the Bahamas. Either there never really were 20 people or the 20 people didn't want to be found when they arrived at their actual destination.

[landsend]

Are you serious?

[gonesail]

a boat like a Mako is hard to sink. there is a lot of foam in the hull. it can capsize but still float just at the surface. impossible to hold on to in rough seas. it could be in the gulf stream headed to the north atlantic

[HeywoodJ]

A troll post by a first time poster in a two-year-old thread.

And even at one knot the boat could have drifted 365x2x24 > 17000 nautical miles. Oceanmotion says the odds are pretty good that if it is still floating it is in the central Atlantic gyre.

[DougR]

20 people on a 29 footer.........no problem..

Two days ago the USCG, customs &border patrol and the Martin County Sheriffs Dept (FL) apprehended a 50’ sport fishing boat in the St. Lucie Inlet near Hutchinson Island with 78 illegal Haitian immigrants aboard. Sheriffs dept said it was the largest such apprehension ever in this part of the coast.

[Scorpius]

Originally Posted by DougR

20 people on a 29 footer.........no problem..

Two days ago the USCG, customs &border patrol and the Martin County Sheriffs Dept (FL) apprehended a 50’ sport fishing boat in the St. Lucie Inlet near Hutchinson Island with 78 illegal Haitian immigrants aboard. Sheriffs dept said it was the largest such apprehension ever in this part of the coast.

Well, considering that a fifty-footer has probably over four times the tonnage and four times the carrying capacity of a 29-footer, I'd say there WOULD be a problem!