1 dead, 1 missing, 13 total rescued

[Xavierp]

Trying to understand and learn from terrible accidents
It happened last Saturday on Lake Erie.
Anyone with info on these people and situation: solo boaters? Sailboats? Kids? Etc…

I was in Buffalo that day and was supposed to sail away but checked the wetlands and easily decided it was not a smart move
So what happened?
How and why would people go out in such numbers obviously?

Again I am not pointing fingers. Too serious of a matter
I just want to understand the decision making process of all the people who went out that day, even the ones that came back ok so I don’t find myself in a similar situation

[boatman61]

Any chance of a link to the incident for us foreigners.. the most comprehensive report if possible would be appreciated..

Its okay.. found a report..
https://apnews.com/article/lake-erie...a379e0e59e6e0d

[psk125]

Here's a link. https://www.cleveland19.com/2024/07/...r-mayday-call/ Sounds like there were many overloaded skiffs out fishing all over the lake and several flipped for various reasons. News report clumps them all together and makes it sound like a major event instead of separate incidents. Waves on Lake Erie can be really steep and choppy because it's fairly shallow. Wind can whip them up quickly.

[Nicholson58]

Sounds like the numbers were high because there were multiple incidents.

Early in the season, new and rusty boaters, possibly boats not well maintained. Bad weather, possibly beer? Holiday, everybody with a boat goes out.

[Xavierp]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

Sounds like the numbers were high because there were multiple incidents.

Early in the season, new and rusty boaters, possibly boats not well maintained. Bad weather, possibly beer? Holiday, everybody with a boat goes out.

It was a holiday indeed. And the sun was shining…

I wish I’d know more about the boating accidents so we could prevent them with specific actions / non actions.
It seems, at least to me, that we know little about what lead to incidents. For exemple a famous accident this winter in Whale Cay in the Bahamas where a large sailboat capsized
All we know is that the boat shouldn’t have been crossing that day….
But it d be interesting to know about the moments right before the accident. About the decisions that were made the minutes and hours preceding the capsizing
I just need to talk to the guys that were fortunately saved

[FutureRTW]

I boat Lake Erie, we were on the lake yesterday. "Keep your eye on the sky cause the legend of the lake says the lake has got it's eye on you." Wind and waves can come up in the blink of an eye. Waves might come up over the transom, flood the boat, maybe the bilge pump wasn't checked, it all happens very quickly.

It's basically one of the best fishing lakes in the USA. Thousands and thousands go out every day.

Guys are going out in smaller and smaller boats, limited experience, etc. etc. etc. In 50 years, I've seen it all on that lake.

Oh, and there a lot of shallow areas around the islands. The "reefs" are notorious for damaging boats of the inexperienced. It's a daily occurrence.

Nearly every winter, the Coast Guard has to rescue dozens of fisherman who get trapped on floating ice while ice fishing. It's year round chaos.

[keepondancin]

Read an article that stated 1/3 of boating deaths in thre US occur on the three summer holiday weekends. Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day.

[psk125]

Originally Posted by keepondancin

Read an article that stated 1/3 of boating deaths in thre US occur on the three summer holiday weekends. Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day.

Another point is that, if you look at the accident reports, almost all of them are on powerboats, not sailboats. Incidents involving sailboats seem to be so few that they don't even add up to a rounding error in the overall statistics.
https://uscgboating.org/statistics/a...statistics.php

[FutureRTW]

Yes, these are small fishing boats, bass boats, I dare say some are what we might consider aluminum "dinghies" with tiller steer motors. Not what I want to be in a few miles offshore on Lake Erie.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Xavierp

I just want to understand the decision making process of all the people who went out that day, even the ones that came back ok so I don’t find myself in a similar situation

The decision making process is: people in 19'-24' lightweight, open motorboats with giant outboards who think they can outrun the weather, who don't start running in time or who run for home instead of the closest safe place.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by keepondancin

Read an article that stated 1/3 of boating deaths in thre US occur on the three summer holiday weekends. Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day.

I suspect that's a slight exaggeration.

I read the Minnesota statistics on boating fatalities every year. Themes are similar:

1) The statistics include substantial numbers of drinking accidents with a boating component. Sometimes these involve operation while intoxicated but more typically are drunk people falling off boats and docks, or deliberately entering the water for ill-advised reasons.

2) Paddlecraft (canoes, kayaks, SUPs) are overwhelmingly the most dangerous craft to operate.

3) Nearly all the remaining accidents involve people going overboard in small fishing and duck hunting boats (<20'), from a variety of causes with no consistent pattern. Among these are loss of steering control, weather, loss of balance while moving around the boat or engaging in hunting or fishing, and medical factors.

4) We get a boat fire or explosion with fatalities every few years. We get a sailboat fatality every few years. We get fatalities resulting from running aground and collisions every few years. We get a SCUBA diving accident every few years.

5) About half of the people die with their lifejacket on.

Overall it's an extraordinarily safe activity.

[Kettlewell]

As a rule of thumb fishermen in small open power boats are not very proficient. I had to take a New York safe boating course to get my certificate. It was an in-person all-day class and their emphasis was on the most basic stuff you could imagine. Nobody in the class was the captain of anything bigger than an outboard powered aluminum boat. The instructor was not very knowledgable either. Plus, couple that with a general level of disconnect from nature and you have a recipe for periodic and inevitable disasters like this. These are the same people you watch on the Weather Channel driving down deeply flooded roads during every storm despite the endless warnings about doing so. They just don't pay attention.

[GordMay]

5 boaters found clinging to a cooler in Lake Erie are rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter crew
➥ https://apnews.com/article/lake-erie...e41b9d6d3fc014

Video ➥ https://youtu.be/Z061KHlsX_U

[Xavierp]

Originally Posted by psk125

Here's a link. https://www.cleveland19.com/2024/07/...r-mayday-call/ Sounds like there were many overloaded skiffs out fishing all over the lake and several flipped for various reasons. News report clumps them all together and makes it sound like a major event instead of separate incidents. Waves on Lake Erie can be really steep and choppy because it's fairly shallow. Wind can whip them up quickly.

10 miles off shore, on a 22 footers, with 4 or 5 people onboard, on small craft advisory is completely irresponsible. Still, it is sad.
I also learned that these people, and the missing one, were Amish.
I spent the night in Geneva and they had Amish community members running search parties to locate the poor missing person.
No access, or use of electronics?...

[DLincoln3]

I sail on Lake Erie on a Catalina 36. We are mostly day sailors and pick our weather carefully like most people. My boat is great for Lake Erie, but I am no fool and I'm not going to tell you that it can handle anything that the lake can dish out.

I am a member of a Lake Erie boaters Facebook group where there was recently a very heated argument where one person was very adamant that a specific 25-footish tritoon boat was "very seaworthy" and could be taken anywhere on Lake Erie. I stay out of these arguments, because they can't be won and there is no point in trying to keep people from harming themselves. Some people can only learn through experience.