Boat capsizes off of Chincoteague Bay

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  • JohnnyE

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 18, 2013
    9,466
    MoCo
    Hypothermia is a terrible thing, especially in water. IIRC, water takes heat out of you 800 times faster than air does. After the El Toro II sank December 5, 1993 I grabbed the NTSB report. Here is the water immersion survivability table from the report. It's pretty grim.


    Water Temperature Exhaustion
    In or Expected survival time
    Degrees Fahrenheit unconsciousness
    32.2 under 15 minutes less than 15 to 45 minutes
    32.2 to 40 15 to 30 minutes 30 to 90 minutes
    40 to 50 30 to 60 minutes 1 to 3 hours
    50 to 60 1 to 2 hours 2 to 6 hours
    60 to 70 2 to 7 hours 2 to 40 hours
    70 to 80 3 to 12 hours 3 hours to indefinite
    over 80 indefinite indefinite
     

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    MaxVO2

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    *****You don't survive long in water that cold without very special clothing. I did the Polar Bear plunge some years ago for charity and I seriously thought I was gonna die. Anyone with a weak heart that falls into water that cold will probably have a heart attack. Your muscles basically lock up after only a few seconds and it is super hard to breathe from the spasms you get.

    I just cut checks to charity these days and would be happy to take a plunge in Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, etc... where it's a bit warmer than Chincoteague Bay this week.

    RIP to those that perished.
     

    JohnnyE

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 18, 2013
    9,466
    MoCo
    The mid-bay NOAA buoy at the mouth of the South River shows a water temperature of 35.6 degrees
     

    Melnic

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    15,282
    HoCo
    People I know in OC said it was windy today so I'm wondering how choppy it was down there.
     

    Johnconlee

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 8, 2019
    1,149
    Mechanicsville
    Had cousin drown several years ago, sunk the boat duck hunting. He was a life guard and triathlon athlete. Nobody can swim for help in cold water with wet winter clothes on.
     
    My former in laws had a house down there. I know that water very well. If the tide was running hard the current is impossible to swim against even in summer. Add the water temp probably in the mid to upper 30s and the 2 that survived must have an angel watching over them. When the tide is rolling the current travels around 6-7 MPH...they had little chance.
     

    JohnnyE

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 18, 2013
    9,466
    MoCo
    Those who understand can't help but scoff at the ending of the movie Titanic, where Leonardo DiCaprio's character Jack is up to his neck in nearly freezing seawater while conversing with Rose. I can't keep my arm in a cooler of ice water groping for the last beverage of my choosing for too many seconds, never mind being up to my neck in something like that.
     

    Occam

    Not Even ONE Indictment
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 24, 2018
    20,239
    Montgomery County
    Lost my brother in law when he went overboard from his small fishing boat in cold choppy water. The shock to his system killed his 60+ heart in moments, nothing to be done.
     

    motorcoachdoug

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    sounds like there is a lot of good men who have gone to Davy Jones locker because things happen or actions that they took. This is a wake up call to be very careful while you are on the water and I really feel bad for the families that lost their sons yesterday.
     

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