A
Anonymous
Guest
PFDs will save lives!
While doing PR for the FAA & member orgs, I insisted that all involved with media or VIP guests wear a PFD during the event along with their guests, (leaders should lead by example as others will follow the example set by their leaders).
While you can't make someone do something (either by suggestion or law) I hope the airboat leadership will continue to stress and lead by example PFD SAFETY at events. Lets strive for the safest safety record of any boating group in Florida. PFD use makes a huge difference in both public perception & life saving.
PW
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http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...,0,6865422.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-lake
Angler's body found in lake
Authorities say a lifejacket might have saved Gregory Craine after his boat sank. A fishing buddy wore one -- and he survived.
Christine Dellert
Sentinel Staff Writer
November 30, 2006
MASCOTTE -- Lake County Sheriff's Office divers found the body of a 52-year-old fisherman in the calm waters of Sunset Lake on Wednesday morning.
Gregory K. Craine had been missing for more than 12 hours after his aluminum boat flipped over Tuesday afternoon.
His fishing buddy, Anthony Williams, 48, of Groveland also went overboard, but he was wearing an inflatable lifejacket and made it to shore.
When divers pulled Craine's body from the chilly waters, investigators concluded he wasn't wearing a lifejacket when his 14-foot boat overturned.
"It was sad . . . just really sad," said Sheriff's Capt. Nick Pallitto, who oversees the agency's divers.
Craine's death is the third boating-related death in Lake County this month -- and authorities note the three victims likely would have survived had they worn life preservers.
"These deaths could have been prevented with a vest," said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Kat Kelley.
Kelley said Craine and Williams fished from plastic chairs placed on the boat Tuesday.
When both slid to the same side simultaneously, the boat flipped and the men fell overboard in the middle of the 30-acre lake, she said.
The metal boat sank quickly. While police tossed Williams a rope and pulled him to shore, they couldn't find Craine.
He didn't know how to swim, Kelley said.
His body was eventually discovered about 10 feet from the fishing boat, near the lake bottom 25 feet down. Investigators estimated the water temperature at 60 degrees.
Originally from St. Augustine, Craine last had an apartment in Orlando.
Officials at the scene said he went fishing to celebrate his son's 29th birthday.
More than two dozen relatives and friends gathered on shore Wednesday morning after divers pulled Craine's body from the water.
"They funneled past him like a viewing," Pallitto said.
Craine's mother from St. Augustine identified his body.
State boating accident statistics from last year show 79 percent of fatalities involved vessels 17 feet long or smaller, Kelley said.
And 69 percent of overboard deaths occurred in calm inland waters.
On Nov. 12, two children, ages 8 and 2, perished when their parents' boat sank in Lake Yale near Eustis. Fish and Wildlife investigators said neither child wore a life vest.
Autopsies showed that they died of hypothermia and drowning.
The parents, both wearing lifejackets, survived, along with a 3-month-infant. The Summerfield father swam the backstroke to shore with his youngest daughter on his chest.
Fish and Wildlife investigators urged all boaters to wear life vests while on the water.
"You just never know what can happen," Kelley said.
While doing PR for the FAA & member orgs, I insisted that all involved with media or VIP guests wear a PFD during the event along with their guests, (leaders should lead by example as others will follow the example set by their leaders).
While you can't make someone do something (either by suggestion or law) I hope the airboat leadership will continue to stress and lead by example PFD SAFETY at events. Lets strive for the safest safety record of any boating group in Florida. PFD use makes a huge difference in both public perception & life saving.
PW
*************************************************************
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...,0,6865422.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-lake
Angler's body found in lake
Authorities say a lifejacket might have saved Gregory Craine after his boat sank. A fishing buddy wore one -- and he survived.
Christine Dellert
Sentinel Staff Writer
November 30, 2006
MASCOTTE -- Lake County Sheriff's Office divers found the body of a 52-year-old fisherman in the calm waters of Sunset Lake on Wednesday morning.
Gregory K. Craine had been missing for more than 12 hours after his aluminum boat flipped over Tuesday afternoon.
His fishing buddy, Anthony Williams, 48, of Groveland also went overboard, but he was wearing an inflatable lifejacket and made it to shore.
When divers pulled Craine's body from the chilly waters, investigators concluded he wasn't wearing a lifejacket when his 14-foot boat overturned.
"It was sad . . . just really sad," said Sheriff's Capt. Nick Pallitto, who oversees the agency's divers.
Craine's death is the third boating-related death in Lake County this month -- and authorities note the three victims likely would have survived had they worn life preservers.
"These deaths could have been prevented with a vest," said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Kat Kelley.
Kelley said Craine and Williams fished from plastic chairs placed on the boat Tuesday.
When both slid to the same side simultaneously, the boat flipped and the men fell overboard in the middle of the 30-acre lake, she said.
The metal boat sank quickly. While police tossed Williams a rope and pulled him to shore, they couldn't find Craine.
He didn't know how to swim, Kelley said.
His body was eventually discovered about 10 feet from the fishing boat, near the lake bottom 25 feet down. Investigators estimated the water temperature at 60 degrees.
Originally from St. Augustine, Craine last had an apartment in Orlando.
Officials at the scene said he went fishing to celebrate his son's 29th birthday.
More than two dozen relatives and friends gathered on shore Wednesday morning after divers pulled Craine's body from the water.
"They funneled past him like a viewing," Pallitto said.
Craine's mother from St. Augustine identified his body.
State boating accident statistics from last year show 79 percent of fatalities involved vessels 17 feet long or smaller, Kelley said.
And 69 percent of overboard deaths occurred in calm inland waters.
On Nov. 12, two children, ages 8 and 2, perished when their parents' boat sank in Lake Yale near Eustis. Fish and Wildlife investigators said neither child wore a life vest.
Autopsies showed that they died of hypothermia and drowning.
The parents, both wearing lifejackets, survived, along with a 3-month-infant. The Summerfield father swam the backstroke to shore with his youngest daughter on his chest.
Fish and Wildlife investigators urged all boaters to wear life vests while on the water.
"You just never know what can happen," Kelley said.