[Paddle] compass...

[Chad Skaggs]

    Here's a story from ajc.com, the on-line edition of the Atlanta 
Journal-Constitution. It may answer some of Cyndi's questions.

Chad, in cold Decatur, Ga.


Bodies of Ga. teens missing on kayak trip found

FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/28/05

SUWANNEE, Fla. ­ Two Georgia teens who disappeared Saturday on a school 
kayaking trip in Florida were found dead today by the Coast Guard in the 
Gulf of Mexico.

Darlington High School students Sean Wilkinson of Acworth and Clay McKemie 
of Rome, both 14, were found today, said school spokesperson Dr. Jim Hendrix.

A Coast Guard press release said a Coast Guard helicopter and a vessel from 
the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission located the two 
teenagers about 8 miles offshore around noon. Their kayak was located 
overturned about 3 miles away, said the press release.

The boys became separated from their school group during the kayaking trip, 
authorities said.

Coast Guard crews, wildlife officers and police searched throughout the 
night Sunday night and into Monday. The boys were last seen Saturday in a 
green kayak in an area about 100 miles northwest of Tampa, and they were 
thought to be wearing blue life jackets.

The boys had not been seen since they set out with eight other people who 
traveled to Dixie County from Darlington High School, a 915-student private 
school in Rome, for a kayaking and camping trip. This was the eighth year 
the school had taken the kayaking trip to Florida.

The group had headed north in the Gulf of Mexico and intended to skirt the 
coastline for 4 1/2 miles until arriving at Coon Island, where they planned 
to spend Saturday night, said Capt. John Burton of the Florida Fish and 
Wildlife Conservation Commission. The group, which included several kayaks 
and canoes, was led by a motorized catamaran raft.

During the trip, the choppiness of the water and the inexperience of the 
kayakers led some boats to get separated from the group, Burton said.

As the catamaran neared Coon Island, a chaperone on board began circling 
back to try to round up some of the lagging boats. But the boat's motor 
quit as it began to get dark.

All but one of the kayaks tied up to the raft, as 2 to 3 foot waves 
developed in the gulf amid scattered rains and high winds, Burton said.

About 9 p.m. Saturday, one of the chaperones, with a teenager, began 
searching for the missing kayak because they thought they saw a light in 
the distance.

But they became lost as well, and the two paddled for three to four hours 
until the chaperone was finally able to use his cell phone. He called his 
wife in Georgia, who then called the Coast Guard.

A Coast Guard helicopter located the six kayakers tied up to the raft at 
about 3 a.m. Sunday and a rescue boat brought them to shore. About an hour 
later, the helicopter located and hoisted the kayak with the chaperone and 
teenager aboard.
-----------------
















At 07:07 PM 2/28/2005, you wrote:
>i wonder if the poor boys even had a compass in the boat ... at least
>perhaps they would have known to paddle N, could have hit "land" hopefully
>.... sigh. Wonder what actually "killed" them??? Was it cold? It wasnt THAT
>cold, was it??? drowning? shouldnt they have known how to swim??? Oh, in
>high waves, if they had cockpit boats, they could have filled up with
>water.  OIC. But did they know how to swim?? They perhaps coulda held on to
>a boat? At dark it mighta been hard for the poor young things.
>
>cynthia m brown
>cynmoon at earthlink.net
>
>
>
> > [Original Message]
> > From: Kenn Martin <kmartin at infoteam.com>
> > To: <paddle at paddletally.org>
> > Date: 2/28/2005 5:38:59 PM
> > Subject: RE: [Paddle] Teen-agers lost on Florida Gulf kayaking trip
> >
> > --On Monday, February 28, 2005 4:24 PM -0500
> > Floyd.Gene at mail.dc.state.fl.us wrote:
> >
> > >> Hi folks,
> > >>
> > >>     No doubt you know of this. Below is the URL for an AP story which
> > >> moved this morning.
> > >>
> > >>     http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/02/28/kayakers.lost.ap/index.html
> > >
> > >> While I can certainly understand Cindy's feelings, my feelings tend
> > >> to  follow Gene's.  I was out this weekend and the weather was
> > >> terrible.  You can maybe fault the leaders for taking on a trip
> > >> above the skill  level of some of the paddlers, but the weather was
> > >> certainly a factor.
> > >
> > > Weather can often be checked and planned around, and trips can be
> > > cancelled with no loss of life. There is nothing to be gained by
> > > proving how brave you are by leading a bunch of inexperienced kids
> > > out on open water when the forecast is lousy. At that point, I'd
> > > rather them be sitting in front of the Xbox.
> > >
> > > I'd like to find out what the forecast said when the trip leaders
> > > checked it as I'm sure they did; if they didn't, then I will be
> > > highly upset.
> >
> > Very true.  I knew about the rain ahead of time, but the winds and
> > waves were probably some of the worst I've ever encountered.  I didn't
> > stay out for long.  I don't typically go out when the forecast is bad,
> > but was already out camping.  It is one thing to handle the predictable
> > waves from boat traffic (say on the intracoastal at Oleta River SP) and
> > another to handle the unpredictable waves and strong wind gusts I saw.
> >
> > I was not being callous and certainly not suggesting that the incident
> > not be investigated, but rather that I'm not one to jump to blame
> > someone without knowing the details.  There is too much of that in our
> > society.  Bad things happen; some are avoidable and some are not.  The
> > group leader did appear to be experienced.  That in and of itself is
> > certainly not enough to exonerate him, as he certainly could have made
> > mistakes.
> >
> > We should certainly be grieving for the loss of young life and praying
> > for the families and the community.
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Paddle mailing list
> > Paddle at paddletally.org
> > http://lists.infoteam.com/mailman/listinfo/paddle
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Paddle mailing list
>Paddle at paddletally.org
>http://lists.infoteam.com/mailman/listinfo/paddle