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Sorry to hear this. I was
Sorry to hear this. I was going by as the individual was taken from the water. So sad, thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends.
Prayers for what?
Yeah, I'm going there. No doubt alcohol was involved. Too many boaters think that drinking and boating are the perfect mix. So I have to ask: what are prayers supposed to accomplish? Here's what most likely happened: friends got together and took "the boat" out. Everyone got shit hammered and thus didn't even notice when the [now] deceased went in the water. There are no prayers for this, just human stupidity and ignorance. And if you want to know my background on this, it's 15 years (and counting) in the Coast Guard, and personally dealing with way to many situations exactly like this to count.
What's the rage and callousness supposed to accomplish?
Prayers are for the family, the sorrow and regret his friends feel, and to hope it doesn't happen again.
Jerk.
He's the guy who pulls the bodies out
Few people appreciate fishing dead people out of the water when they could very easily have not been dead.
Prayer may be comforting, but it doesn't fix stupid or the attitude that such events are fated by God and not predictable by reality. Life jackets and sober captains are far superior.
Anyways....
Anyways....
Correction: he's the guy who speculates about what happens
There's a lot of "most likely" in there, Swirly, and no actual knowledge. I agree completely about the dangerous stupidity of boating while drunk, but unless and until such is established in this case, it's inappropriate.
Have you ever found a floating body?
I'm guessing not. I also bet that you have never pulled someone out alive only to have them die later.
I'll tell you straight up: it leaves a mark.
Look at the statistics on drowning and boating accidents: odds are pretty high that Matthew is right.
So you know what happened?
So you know what happened?
ouch
For a lot of people, prayers offer comfort & focus to those left behind, regardless of the circumstances of the loss. Offering them indicates a compassionate nature, at least an impulse to offer reassurance. It's humane & kind to bear witness to others' grief.
If you want to know my background on this, I'm an atheist. I can't offer prayers, but I know people are hurting today because of this accident. I feel for them.
Compassion is free.
You must be a hoot at funerals.
In my moral universe, people who find themselves on the wrong end of fate, and the friends and families they left behind, are deserving of compassion. Even if it was their own doing. Even if "they should have known better."
What does prayer accomplish? My personal belief is that prayer opens your heart to compassion irrespective of whether or not there's anyone up there listening.
I want you to think about the family and friends of the deceased reading this thread (which they will, I guarantee). I want you to think about them hearing you, without information, accusing the deceased and his friends having been stupid, ignorant, and drunk. And I want to ask your own question back to you: What is that supposed to accomplish?
Or he could have had a heart attack, fell off.
Last I checked, Coast Guard credentials don't make you a Medical Examiner.
Insert "pat on the back".
Insert "pat on the back". You knew what you signed up for sir. Thank you for your service Mr Perfect.
Well aren't you just a breath of fresh air!
I'm pretty sure everyone on UHub knows you're a Coastie, you mention it in a lot of your posts. I don't care what you think "most likely happened". Yes, booze is a factor in a great deal of boating accidents, not all.
You of all people should know; things can go very wrong, very fast on boats. I'm not going to judge the deceased because I don't know what happened. It was windy out and quite choppy yesterday. One BHC cat boat wave, and the guy could have slipped on the back deck and fell in. I could make up lots of scenarios, too.
All I know is, it must have been terrifying for the other passengers, the passing by boats who assisted, and for the first responders. You can even omit the prayers part, thoughts are with the family and friends of the deceased. I hope you are able to mask your discontent when responding to emergencies.
Thanks for your service.
Drinking
Matt, you shouldn't have "gone there".
The driver was not drunk. I happen to know some people involved in this situation and the driver was tested and was not drunk.
Way to jump to conclusions.
Which Coast Guard sector keeps you so busy?
Matt, very shameful comments about a decent man and lifelong, safe boater. My experience as a police officer on the water is that the Coast Guard wouldn't know Rainsford Island (Boston) from Reykjavik, Iceland. Understandable since the USCG tends to recruit nationwide and the small boats in Boston, Merrimack River, Hull etc. are operated by enlisted kids, many from the southern states. Not a clue. "Dead Men Tapping" is a great summer read for anyone who wants to learn of the incompetence.
Very curious at your 15 years experience of pulling drunken bodies from the sea. Really? We (local and state police) usually revived them or had them bagged and tagged at the dock before the USCG got underway. Of course the USCG makes no BUI arrests because the federal court in Boston won't hear those cases and the USCG has no jurisdiction in state courts. If you wanted to decrease drunken boating, why not talk to your superiors rather than passing it off to us?
By no means do I disrespect the many brave men who served in the USCG, the organization that suffered the highest per-capita losses of any US military branch in Vietnam. As John Kerry was taking selfies of mosquito bites during his six-week tour with the Navy in the 60's, our Coast Guard was losing great men in the rivers and deltas of 'Nam. Pretty sure the current crop isn't pulling too many bodies from Boston Harbor though. I would love to hear about your 15 years of retrieving floating bodies. I must have missed you.