Alone in a boat? Wear your PFD and use your troll alone

[spincast]

"FROM/DE: Haldimand County Detachment DATE: 12 September 2010

 

72 Hwy #54 Cayuga, Ont. N0A 1E0

 

MISSING PERSON, PRESUMED DROWN

 

SEARCH CONTINUES(LP10247307)

 

(HALDIMAND COUNTY, ON.) – Haldimand County OPP is continuing the search for a missing 58 year old Hamilton, ON. man on Lake Erie, Haldimand County, ON.

 

On Friday September 10^th, 2010 at approximately 2:30 pm Police were notified of a boat that appeared to be in distress on Lake Erie off the shore of Haldimand Road #49, Dunnville, Haldimand County. Upon arrival officers were able to observe a small boat travelling in circles on the lake approximately 1 kilometre south of the shore line with an operator visibly absent. A second boat operated by a private citizen attended the distressed boat and confirmed that it was unoccupied.

 

A marine search involving Canadian Coast Guard vessels and air craft conducted a search of the water while OPP Emergency Response Team members conducted a shore line search of the immediate area. By nightfall the search had been suspended without success.

 

Investigation revealed that the 14 foot aluminum boat was launched by the owner from a private boat launch at a Horseshoe Bay Road, Haldimand County address at approximately 11:00 am to go for a boat ride and do some fishing.

 

Search efforts are continuing today Sunday September 12^th, 2010 by OPP Marine, Helicopter, Underwater Search and Recovery Unit.

 

Investigators presume the missing man identified as 58 year old Marshall SHARPE of Hamilton, ON. had fallen from his boat for unknown reasons and drown.

 

Information received indicates that the boater was not wearing a life jacket"

 

So easily preventable.

 

 

 

[asdve23rveavwa]

Sad news, most of the lakes we go out on with my 14 fter, I don't wear my PFD. However, we all wore them out on LPB this past weekend. Not worth taking any chances on big water.

[otter649]

I heard on the radio a few years back that some of these drownings are caused by someone (alone in a boat) having

to relieve themselves while trolling & piss overboard and not wearing a lifejacket & the boat hits a wave etc and

it is person overboard while the boat continues on........

[fisher]

I heard on the radio a few years back that some of these drownings are caused by someone (alone in a boat) having

to relieve themselves while trolling & piss overboard and not wearing a lifejacket & the boat hits a wave etc and

it is person overboard while the boat continues on........

 

That is what the "bucket" is for...so you don't have to lean over (oh, and it is also for bailing in the event of an emergency).

[Garnet]

I wear auto inflate. Very comfortable to fish with. Still a little expensive but I'm no ballerina.

[Jer]

That is what the "bucket" is for...so you don't have to lean over (oh, and it is also for bailing in the event of an emergency).

 

 

It's certainly referred to as the "pee bucket" more often than the bailing bucket on my boat.

[ketchenany]

HAMILTON, Ont. — Provincial police say the body of a missing 58-year-old Hamilton man has been recovered from Lake Erie.

 

The search for Marshall Sharpe began last Friday when a small boat was found travelling in circles on the lake about a kilometre from the shore.

 

Investigators say the boat had been launched earlier Friday from a private boat launch at Horseshoe Bay Road in Haldimand County.

 

Police were notified Monday by a member of the public that a body was observed in the water of Horseshoe Bay.

 

An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday to determine the cause of death, which police say is presumed to be drowning.

 

 

 

 

Condolences to the family.

[bigbuck]

Come on people, start wearing your PFD's. I have an inflatable that I bought for $99. They have come down in price and are probably the cheapest insurance you will ever get. Nobody needs to drown.

[markiemark70]

I don't understand why some people still want to risk their own lives. Sadly this will continue for some time based on the attitudes I myself have encountered. Wearing a life jacket is seen as uncool. We are where seatbelts in cars were like 30+ years ago, so there will be many more deaths.

 

I have been snickered at by a lodge owner for insisting that I have a properly fitting life jacket, and most people I have boated/fished with have not worn one. My rule is I will never take off my life jacket while the boat is underway. I will only take it off if we are strationary in a small back bay, and I would never, EVER take off my life jacket if I was alone or with my kids. You just never know what can happen. THe sad truth is almost nothing else on the water will kill you. You can fall out of the boat, knock yourself unconscious and you will survive for days if neccesary (save for cold water) as long as you have your lifejacket.

 

Another lesson is wear your killswitch. I have a friend who was in a zodiac at his cottage in NS. He says he crossed a wake that flipped him from his seat and put him on his knees, then the next wave threw him from the boat. He spent the next 15 minutes with the boat circling and the rotor cutting him up. He had to swim a mile to shore, and luckily some cottager saw him. He had lost a lot of blood and had to get like 30+ stitches in his forearm to close the wounds. The doctors said he should be dead with the amount of blood he lost.

 

Not sure why these things have to happen, but condolences to the family.

[capt bruce]

Probably the only time I do where a PFD all the time is when Im alone duhh?? . Dont Know why maybe Im a big guy thing but if im alone in the boat I never take it off , with guests its when under power I wear, if we are fishing its over there some place , crazy ehh ????

[kickingfrog]

We never think it will happen to us.

[saneryin]

Sad news....

 

just wandering...if a person could swim, will it be hard to climb back to the boat, I mean some bigger one, will not flip over when people is climbing.

 

Another question: if the boat is easy to flip over, such as a canoe, is it possible for a people to climb back to the canoe without fliping it? anybody managed to do this?

[Joey]

Sad news....

 

just wandering...if a person could swim, will it be hard to climb back to the boat, I mean some bigger one, will not flip over when people is climbing.

 

Another question: if the boat is easy to flip over, such as a canoe, is it possible for a people to climb back to the canoe without fliping it? anybody managed to do this?

 

If the person fell out of the boat and it was underway, as it appears it was in this situation, there is no way he could swim fast enought to catch up to it and climb back in.

 

As for the canoe, it can be done, but it is not easy.

[Guest jaeteriusZero]

I wouldn't even touch the great lakes with a 14-foot boat. The waves can get crazy there.

[tonyb]

I spend quite a bit of time trolling solo on Lake Ontario, and I feel confident in my abilities, but not to the extent that I would ignore safety.

 

Solo fishing can be done safely, but I've added the following safety items on top of an already reliable, well equipped boat for the Great Lakes:

 

Mustang Auto-Inflatable PFD - Not cheap at $300 and $75 for the replacement cartridge every 5 years, but it's on me 100% of the time when on the water, and provides a measure of safety if I were to be knocked unconcious in an accident and fell overboard.

 

Kill switch lanyard always attached when underway with the main motor.

 

Autotether ( http://www.autotether.com/at/ ) - Again, not cheap at around $250, but this device has elevated my confidence in trolling safety very much. The device is a remote kill-switch for the kicker motor. It's a fob that I attach to my PFD, and as soon as it gets submerged in water, or at a distance of 15 feet or so it activates the kill switch on the kicker, stopping the boat in it's tracks (except for winds of course) I believe that even in a stiff wind I would be able to swim back to the stalled boat.

 

The Autotether solution could have saved the lives of any anglers who fell overboard and had their boats troll away from them.

 

Be safe and see you on the water!

Tony

 

 

 

 

[bare foot wader]

Sad news....just wandering...if a person could swim, will it be hard to climb back to the boat, I mean some bigger one, will not flip over when people is climbing.Another question: if the boat is easy to flip over, such as a canoe, is it possible for a people to climb back to the canoe without fliping it? anybody managed to do this?

 

 

you can rock a canoe while in the water and get most of the water out and then reboard...it's tricky, especially hard for full figured individuals, but it is a skill that i deliberately practice a few times a season/every new canoe

 

a reboarding device, ie ladder, is required if the gunnel height/height that must be climbed to reboard exceeds 0.5 m

[henu]

you can rock a canoe while in the water and get most of the water out and then reboard...it's tricky, especially hard for full figured individuals, but it is a skill that i deliberately practice a few times a season/every new canoe

 

a reboarding device, ie ladder, is required if the gunnel height/height that must be climbed to reboard exceeds 0.5 m

 

 

Hello, As a member of Marshall Sharpe's family, I can tell you that he was always safe when fishing alone. He was a seasoned fisherman who had fished many times in this location. The weather was warm and clear, and the lake was as calm as glass. He never stood up in the boat to pee - he used a small bucket. It appears that he was wearing his life jacket, but it was not done up and came off . This has been a senseless tragedy for our family. If there is any lesson to be learned from this, I would say always wear a proper fitting life jacket and DO IT UP!!!

[Roy]

Hello, As a member of Marshall Sharpe's family, I can tell you that he was always safe when fishing alone. He was a seasoned fisherman who had fished many times in this location. The weather was warm and clear, and the lake was as calm as glass. He never stood up in the boat to pee - he used a small bucket. It appears that he was wearing his life jacket, but it was not done up and came off . This has been a senseless tragedy for our family. If there is any lesson to be learned from this, I would say always wear a proper fitting life jacket and DO IT UP!!!

 

Thank you for posting this and my sincere condolences on your tragic loss.

[mercman]

Hello, As a member of Marshall Sharpe's family, I can tell you that he was always safe when fishing alone. He was a seasoned fisherman who had fished many times in this location. The weather was warm and clear, and the lake was as calm as glass. He never stood up in the boat to pee - he used a small bucket. It appears that he was wearing his life jacket, but it was not done up and came off . This has been a senseless tragedy for our family. If there is any lesson to be learned from this, I would say always wear a proper fitting life jacket and DO IT UP!!!

 

 

please accept my heartfelt condolences.Losing a familly member is always hard.I promise you that i will always keep my PFD on while in the boat.If anything, you may have saved my life someday.

 

Paul