Two 14 y/o boys missing at sea...Terrible

[Dark Knight]

This is happening where I used to live. I do not know them or their families but feel for them. On the other hand, what the heck are two 14 y/o boys doing at sea by themselves?

http://abcnews.go.com/US/missing-teens-boat-found-overturned-off-florida-coast/story?id=32691143

 

[matt267 PE]

Very sad.

It's scary how fast life can change.

 

[Road Guy]

We watched this story over the weekend- really odd. I know kids that age can be very versed in operating a boat but i think the young age really impairs the decision making process.

Hopefully they will be found.

We rented a 20' center console boat in the keys where the seas are normally easy and we got caught up in a quick storm and i was glad to make it back to the dock..

Does florida have a boating school where you can get a boat license before you are 16?(which even then is too young for the ocean IMO)

The oceans and other places in nature are very unforgiving....

 

[Dark Knight]

We watched this story over the weekend- really odd. I know kids that age can be very versed in operating a boat but i think the young age really impairs the decision making process.

Hopefully they will be found.

We rented a 20' center console boat in the keys where the seas are normally easy and we got caught up in a quick storm and i was glad to make it back to the dock..

Does florida have a boating school where you can get a boat license before you are 16?(which even then is too young for the ocean IMO)

The oceans and other places in nature are very unforgiving....

Am not aware of such a school RG. But the family and friends are saying that both have boating licenses. Without trying to judge them, it seems more like a justification than anything else. As the CG officer said, they are still 14 y/o kids.

For me they had no business to do by themselves in the Atlantic Ocean.

 

[matt267 PE]

I have a boating safety certificate, I teach boating safety classes, and I train with the Coast Guard Auxiliary. Maybe I'm too scared, but I wouldn't go to far from shore in a 19ft boat.

Sadly, no one will likely ever know what happened to these two kids.

Edit:

And none of that makes me an expert or an experienced boater. Bad **** can happen to anyone. But safety can never be overlooked. I am wondering if they had life jackets and an EPIRB though.

 

[Road Guy]

one of my favorite dives in the keys, and I didn't have an underwater camera at the time, but we went to dive the Duane. Apparantly the night before a fishing boat (but a larger one, maybe 30') had sunk directly on top of the Duane, it was really "cool" to see how small a 30' boat looks laying on top of a 327 boat. But it was also telling for comparing which vessels are intended to be out in the ocean in bad weather. It was a dual outboard 200 hp type boat..

(info about the duane dive)

http://www.divespots.com/scuba-diving-spots/florida/florida-keys/key-largo/spots/uscg-duane

Apparently the night before a fishing boat (similar to the one in this story-but a larger one, maybe 30') had sunk directly on top of the Duane, although creepy, it was really "cool" to see how small a 30' boat looks laying on top of a 327 boat. But it was also telling for comparing which vessels are intended to be out in the ocean in bad weather. It was a dual outboard 200 hp type boat..

No one was injured on the fishing boat, but everyone diving the duane that day was ransacking the fishing boat for "treasure"...

 

[Road Guy]

some interesting updates to this story:

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mom-suggests-foul-play-florida-teens-disappearance-sea-n564421

http://www.newser.com/story/224367/pilot-i-saw-missing-teen-floating-on-makeshift-raft.html?utm_source=part&utm_medium=united&utm_campaign=rss_home

 

[SNAPE/SMOTT PE]

Not sure what to think of the whole story.

My heart wants to see them found alive, my head tells me otherwise.

 

[matt267 PE]

Very sad situation.

 

[Road Guy]

odd that the families of the boys are fighting over the cell phone, you would think if there was something on it, even a last picture of the boys having a good time together before some type of accident, they would want to find out?

 

[DuckFlats]

I believe one family wanted FWC to keep the phone hoping they had a better chance to recover the data. I grew up just up the coast from where this happened and was always on the water around cocoa beach. It's a different way of life when you live on the water. We took 12' skiffs into the ocean to fish buoys and jetties and have crossed over from Jupiter inlet to the Bahamas in a 21' boat. It is really sad though. Afternoon storms can roll up out of nowhere sometimes.