# Four big men and a little boat **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 2, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-big-men-and-a-little-boat/488043 "2009-03-02T19:24:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-big-men-and-a-little-boat/488043/21 "2009-03-04T18:03:12Z")
It happens. Strange, but it does. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-big-men-and-a-little-boat/488043/22 "2009-03-04T18:13:52Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > The claim that two of the guys simply surrendered after 2-4 hours seems baffling to me. My guess is if he was delusional it’s about the time frame. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-big-men-and-a-little-boat/488043/23 "2009-03-04T18:16:53Z")
Also, when they report the water temps it’s usually taken at the shore line. At 30-40 miles out the water is 100 or more feet deep and will be a lot colder. Add in these guys are pro athletes, which means minimal body fat. When I was a kid I’d be shivering in minutes because I had almost no body fat. We Floridians get weak that way. I doubt the Florida part leads any more to hypothermia, but it is a psychological factor. We think northerners are crazy when they go in water below 80 F. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-big-men-and-a-little-boat/488043/24 "2009-03-04T18:17:48Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > In a few hours? In water that was about 70 degrees? The guys who was pulled out after 46 hours only had moderate hypothermia with a core temp of 89 degrees. If that story is accurate there’s no way it could have been a result of hypothermia. 89 degrees is pretty dangerous, and, according to wiki, the beginning of stage 3 hypothermia: > [@](#): > > Body temperature drops below approximately 32 °C (89.6 °F). Shivering usually stops.[1][2] Difficulty speaking, sluggish thinking, and amnesia start to appear; inability to use hands and stumbling is also usually present. Cellular metabolic processes shut down. Below 30 °C (86.0 °F), the exposed skin becomes blue and puffy, muscle coordination becomes very poor, walking becomes almost impossible, and the victim exhibits incoherent/irrational behavior including terminal burrowing or even a stupor. Pulse and respiration rates decrease significantly, but fast heart rates (ventricular tachycardia, atrial fibrillation) can occur. Major organs fail. Clinical death occurs. Because of decreased cellular activity in stage 3 hypothermia, the body will actually take longer to undergo brain death. People shouldn’t get hung up on the ‘2 hours’ thing. These guys may have started their road to hypothermia well before the boat flipped. You had four big guys in a small open boat that provided no shelter from the elements, save for the console wind screen. Plus, they were fishing and boating, which tells me they were likely drinking alcohol. Alcohol is very bad when it comes to cold weather injuries. When the waves picked up, they were likely getting wet. Plus, the storm was caused by a cold front. There are a lot of factors at play here which lead me to believe they were likely suffering from the cold well before they went into the water. If they weren’t dressed for the occasion, they’re pretty screwed at this point. Perhaps the lone survivor was the only one who was wearing enough clothing to keep severe hypothermia at bay. Plus, as I said before, if he was the only one who managed to stay on top of the hull, then this outcome is completely understandable. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-big-men-and-a-little-boat/488043/25 "2009-03-04T18:19:03Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > My guess is if he was delusional it’s about the time frame. You’d have to think so. The doctor just gave a press conference as said that the guy didn’t appear delusional when he treated him, that he was pretty calm and in fair condition when the CG brought him in. If that part about the other guy trying to swim to a light is true you have to wonder if the light he saw was a rescue boat in the search pattern. That would be a crappy outcome, being so close. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-big-men-and-a-little-boat/488043/26 "2009-03-04T18:20:23Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Also, when they report the water temps it’s usually taken at the shore line. At 30-40 miles out the water is 100 or more feet deep and will be a lot colder. Yup. I looked at the water temps in the Gulf a few days ago when this story broke, and it looked to be mid-60s throughout the area in question. Those temps would explain this outcome without any stretching of the imagination. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-big-men-and-a-little-boat/488043/27 "2009-03-05T01:15:24Z")
my thoughts were drinking and not much insulation (blubber) would help hypothermia set in nicely. hypothermia does do wild things to your mind. the man referenced above is a very good example. sometimes when you are the coldest you think you are burning up and will strip off to cool down. distances at night are very deceiving as well. one of the men could have seen a light that was dozens of miles away, but looked tantalizingly close to him. sounds carry funny on water as well. or in a hypothermic state a person could believe they hear someone and wander (swim) off to where they think the voice is coming from. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-big-men-and-a-little-boat/488043/28 "2009-03-05T13:15:36Z")
> [@TroubleAgain](#): > > Anchoring in heavy seas will get you swamped or capsized. Very sad. ☹ > (I once had the worst nightmare of my life when I dreamed my husband died in a boating accident. Took me days to shake the horrible sadness and loss of that dream.) See I thought that in heavy seas a small boat would get blown way off course or swamped and side rolled if not anchored. Makes sense to sea anchor and hunker down for the storm. Maybe it was a washing machine out there and none of their efforts would have mattered anyway. 3 more for Davy Jones, sad. ---
**Author:** ![JFLuvly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac91a4/32.png) [@JFLuvly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JFLuvly)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-big-men-and-a-little-boat/488043/29 "2009-03-05T13:47:51Z")
A sea anchor is not a steel anchor that sits on the bottom, it’s more like a big bag that keeps the bow or stern pointed to the waves. I don’t think it’s something you would find on most small personal pleasure boats. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-big-men-and-a-little-boat/488043/30 "2009-03-05T15:00:08Z")
Florida resident chiming in and echoing the sentiments that not only is it plausible, it makes a lot of sense. Hypothermia sets in very quickly in 60+ degree water, and with cold, wet clothes and a lifejacket around you, you start thinking that you would be better without them on you. You also think you will be warmer in the water than in the air. God rest their souls and be with their families, but they were insane to go that far out in the Gulf in a 21’ boat. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-big-men-and-a-little-boat/488043/31 "2009-03-05T17:48:19Z")
I wonder why they didn’t send a radio distress signal, if they had a GPS system on board, and if they’d shared their planned itinerary (with specific directions of where they were going and how far out to sea) with anyone prior to their trip, and at what point did the eventual sole survivor settle on top of the upturned boat (and whether any of the others ever joined him up there, or not). It wouldn’t surprise me if it turns out he didn’t manage to get up there (and stay there) until the swells calmed down, and that there wasn’t enough room or bouyancy for all four to share that refuge simultaneously, even if it should be revealed that all were still hanging onto the boat that long. And yep, the combination of barfing and beer would be pretty dehydrating, and debilitating to their senses, even before the boat was upturned. The worst weather I’ve ever experienced on a boat was swells of 6-8 feet (driven by an incoming storm front) in a 23-footer, center console craft similar to theirs. We were all sick from the waves and decided, within the hour of the waves getting that high, to get the heck back to the marina ASAP. That was on the Atlantic side of the Keys, during the summer, and we were relatively close to shore, too. I can’t imagine how awful these guys’ ordeal must’ve been, given their circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-big-men-and-a-little-boat/488043/32 "2009-03-05T18:30:04Z")
> [@chela](#): > > See I thought that in heavy seas a small boat would get blown way off course or swamped and side rolled if not anchored. Makes sense to sea anchor and hunker down for the storm. Maybe it was a washing machine out there and none of their efforts would have mattered anyway. > > 3 more for Davy Jones, sad. If you’re anchored to the bottom, you get swamped by the waves, because you can’t ride them. A sea anchor’s a whole other thing, and as \*\*JFLuvly \*\*said, not usually found on small pleasure boats. Also agree with those who said it was insane to go that far out on a 21’ boat. Especially with an incoming weather front. Ours is 18’ and there’s no way in hell… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-big-men-and-a-little-boat/488043.md?page=1)