Spokane has yet another missing from a boating accident

[Gary D.]

Suspended the search because of cold and zero vis???? hmmm..........

There is more to it than just cold zero vis.. That's just what the news reported. That little lake isn't much more than a big weed infested pond. They have a good hard working team.

You get a body tangled up in a few feet of weeds in a cold zero vis lake they are very tough to find safely. So give them credit where credit is due. Sounds like they did the right thing calling for the SS.

Gary D.

 

[PWCPD Diver]

Very sad about the man....my hear goes out to his family.

My husband is CG Reserves, and I'm UCGAUX. I go out on regular CG patrols in our area, and well... It's too bad that the recent CG Boater Education Initiative was deleted from the recent final version of the CG and Maritime Transportation act of 2006. 44 of 56 states and territories have some level of boater proficiency requirements. Does Washington have boater requirements? Just curious. California does NOT have any proficiency requirements for boat ownership, except the money to buy it...:shakehead

Semper Paratus!! I just recently got out of the USCG Reserves after 16 years.

 

[Boat Chick]

Semper Paratus!! I just recently got out of the USCG Reserves after 16 years.

Where were you serving Reserves? My husband is at the San Pedro unit, boarding officer and cargo container inspections Me, I get to go out on patrols on my PWC

 

[uncreative username]

There is more to it than just cold zero vis.. That's just what the news reported. That little lake isn't much more than a big weed infested pond. They have a good hard working team.

You get a body tangled up in a few feet of weeds in a cold zero vis lake they are very tough to find safely. So give them credit where credit is due. Sounds like they did the right thing calling for the SS.

Gary D.

Trust me, I know far too well what it's like to do a search in cold water, zero vis, and several feet of weeds. Sounds like a great opportunity to effectively use a jac-stay search pattern, especially because the object your searching for is well over 1 m long.

 

[Gary D.]

Trust me, I know far too well what it's like to do a search in cold water, zero vis, and several feet of weeds. Sounds like a great opportunity to effectively use a jac-stay search pattern, especially because the object your searching for is well over 1 m long.

There are only three types that can be used in conditions like that. In order they are:
1. Side Scan
2. Jackstay
3. Free dive it. A totally luck oriented crapshoot I don’t recomend.

Gary D.

 

[Tagerisatroll]

Now why would Washington and Idaho want to do something like that? Educated boaters, drivers and anyone that goes in or near the water could put us out of business. In all the years I've been doing this one, maybe two of the 257 recoveries were wearing PFD's. If we reduced that by 99% I'd be out of work! I'd be very glad to be unemployed.

Boaters seem to have huge checkbooks and very little brains. They don't realize that when motor vehicles collide everything stops and we go clean up the mess. In water related accidents nothing stops but we still have to clean up the hide and seek mess.

Do you have the power to issue citations? Here in Idaho the Aux. doesn't. They have to be issued by the CG who is never here, us or a private citizen. The Aux. is out there trying to promote boater safety and get people's attention but the have less rights than a drunkin dirtbag.

Gary D.

I pretty sure Washinton states sherrifs reserves have the power to issue ciations, also I'm pretty sure they have a manditory PFD law, and DWI law on the water. Yeah its really to bad I grew up in Richland Washington, next to the Columbia River and there is always a couple of water related fatalties a year, people just don't have the proper respect for the water and its even worse with jetski's. You see these eight year old kids zipping down the river at 60mph if they hit something its splat.

It really is to bad when the dive rescue is called out.

 

[Gary D.]

I pretty sure Washinton states sherrifs reserves have the power to issue ciations, also I'm pretty sure they have a manditory PFD law, and DWI law on the water. Yeah its really to bad I grew up in Richland Washington, next to the Columbia River and there is always a couple of water related fatalties a year, people just don't have the proper respect for the water and its even worse with jetski's. You see these eight year old kids zipping down the river at 60mph if they hit something its splat.

It really is to bad when the dive rescue is called out.

We were referring to the Coast Guard Aux. not having the power to issue citations not LEO's.

The problem with most states is that they pass laws like BUI, PFD's and speed but do nothing to make boater safety training mandatory. You might get a break on your insurance if you take a class but that's about it.

They never call the team out for good things even Krispy Creams.

Gary D.

 

[uncreative username]

There are only three types that can be used in conditions like that. In order they are:
1. Side Scan
2. Jackstay
3. Free dive it. A totally luck oriented crapshoot I don’t recomend.

Gary D.

Actually, you can also use a linear ray very effectively in long grass (actually, it would be easier than the jac-stay). Depending on how close you are to shore, a parallel search would be pretty easy, and in water about 20' deep or less, a boat-tended circle search wouldn't be too hard.

 

[Gary D.]

Actually, you can also use a linear ray very effectively in long grass (actually, it would be easier than the jac-stay). Depending on how close you are to shore, a parallel search would be pretty easy, and in water about 20' deep or less, a boat-tended circle search wouldn't be too hard.

What are you referring to as the Linear Ray?

Any pattern where the line is going to be moving with the diver would be out in that lake. It isn't a lot of grass but thick going everywhere bush like weeds. You might be able to pull a yard or two and that would be it.

We have a nice system that can be run from a small boat or even remotely from the shore but again in those weeds it wouldn't work. These are very thick and heavy weeds that a rope just isn't going to go through.

Gary D.

 

[Boat Chick]

Now why would Washington and Idaho want to do something like that? Educated boaters, drivers and anyone that goes in or near the water could put us out of business. In all the years I've been doing this one, maybe two of the 257 recoveries were wearing PFD's. If we reduced that by 99% I'd be out of work! I'd be very glad to be unemployed.

Boaters seem to have huge checkbooks and very little brains. They don't realize that when motor vehicles collide everything stops and we go clean up the mess. In water related accidents nothing stops but we still have to clean up the hide and seek mess.

Do you have the power to issue citations? Here in Idaho the Aux. doesn't. They have to be issued by the CG who is never here, us or a private citizen. The Aux. is out there trying to promote boater safety and get people's attention but the have less rights than a drunkin dirtbag.

Gary D.

No, Auxilarists can't issue sitations, however, we track how many boaters, kaykers, etc. we talk to, and things we have "observed" or any rescue situations we have assisted with (to date, man rescued after he fell off his 32F sailboat right off San Juan Rocks, first on the scene after a small plane crashed in the ocean, flipped Sabots in the mouth of the harbor, towing when requested, fishing in no fishing zones, talking folks through the steps to get back on their PWC after they've fallen off, etc.) to and it goes in our final ops patrol report when we send in our CG orders report. Half of the kayakers don't have a PFD in the kayak, and have no clue they are required to have one. The only people that are required to WEAR it while on board are kids under 12. We can however, call Harbor Patrol or the CG if we see a dangerous boater, and we take pictures as well. I would say we have more rights than a drunkin dirtbag, and that is in how we interact with the boaters, kayakers, PWC operators. A lot of them get to know us when they see us on patrol, stop to say hi, let us know they've put PFD's in their kayaks, and are for the most part, very respectful of us. We also work well with the Harbor Patrol in our area. We have called Harbor Patrol a few times when we have seen something that needs their attention, and they gladly respond to take care of the situation.

Not all CGAUX flotillas have the same attitude with the boaters they interact with. I'm lucky that I'm in a good flotilla where we actually have full boater safety classes, and actually have respect from most of the boating community (I am leaving out those folks that say "I don't have to have a PFD, I'm not motorized" that's when we hand the the Fed and ABC's of boating books to them and tell them to read them.) It's a $150.00 fine per person...kayak, outrigger, dinghy, boat, whatever. Now, getting them to take them out of the nice pretty zipper bag is another story.