Another Tragic Story

[LadyFisher]

Sent to me by email, posted on Dan Blanton's site:

The San Luis story and how you can learn form it.

Posted by Tom Malech on 2006-06-09 17:02:33

For the last two mornings, I have been on the face of San Luis dam going through the turn of events that ended a young and fine
man?s life late Wednesday. Jeff Ketelson, who survived the incident, told me the story of how it happened. This is basically what
I heard. Jeff is the only person who could probably tell us exactly how it happened.

Apparently, Mark and Jeff had been fishing in the safer, less windy areas of the lake when the wind died down. They decided to
make a run for their current favorite spot near the trash racks. For those that don?t know the lake, the trash racks are a series of
structures near the face of the dam. They hooked a few stripers then got into a double. Neither one had notice a small amount of
water splashing in the back of the boat. By the time they realized this, they were drifting close to the dam. They immediately tried
to start the motor and bilge pump and both were failing. After a few minutes they were able to start the motor and decided to get
the boat running fast so they could get the water out. With so much water in the boat, the engine was riding low and when it got
wet, it failed. Soon the boat capsized and they were in four foot waves with the sun going down. For a while they were able to
hang on the boat but the air bubble holding it up disappeared the boat was sinking. They had a small piece of debris and fuel tank
to grab onto. Mark was struggling and Jeff pushed the piece of wood to him and made a swim for the fuel can that was quickly
getting away?Soon after they lost sight of each other and Jeff made it to a cable near the trash racks where he hung on to life
for the next three hours before being rescued just before midnight.

I guess the message here is that not only do things happen fast; they are usually a series of events that create a catastrophic
ending. Mark was not a strong swimmer and was wearing jeans and heavy shoes. Mark?s boat, a 15 ?? Cobia, was not a
?floatable?. Even I assumed it was. It?s easy to say they should have done XYZ. Jeff told me they knew there were some
problems mounting. The thought was that they would be able to take care of it. Not until the boat was capsized did they realize
how serious the situation had become. I asked about the life jackets. He said that when they realized the boat was going to flip it
was too late to grab them. They thought they could float with the float safely back to shore, not knowing it was going to sink.

The whole thing is just a tragedy. I can?t do anything to save Mark at this point. What I can do is tell you that although they look
funny and can be uncomfortable at times, life jackets are usually the difference. When you go out in your boat, pontoon, float
tube, or even a dangerous stream, remember this story. I have made it my personal pilgrimage to make sure more people are wearing their life jackets.

There will be a memorial fund set up for Mark?s 3 month old son, Andrew Mark III or ?Tre?. I?ll get that out as soon as I find out. I have passed on many messages to his wife Lisa, and she said to tell all of you it really helps, so thank you.

------------------
LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL

[lee s]

Tom is a grand guy and has good guys working for him at his store.
It is so hard not to think of "could'a, should'a, would'a" when OUR view is 20/20 hindsight.
It is very easy for most of us to remember that, for the grace of God, there go I. So many of us have "lucked out" with the results of our own inexperience or inattention.
Like Tom says, let's use this tragedy wisely and not make it a wasted one.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Tom and his friend's new family.
....lee s.

[danbob]

It's always a chain of events.
And often, no single part of the chain even seems dangerous or makes one give a second glance, until it's too late.
Hopefully others will learn from it. My condolences to all involved.
DAN

[California Bob]

My condolences and prayers go out to the family and friends. This sad story and the one in regards to the Montville NJ man who drowned in NY State while wading, should keep us both humble and attentive when we are in pursuit of our passion-fishing.

Rivers, Streams, Lakes, and Oceans are much more powerful than all of us. We probably all have stories of near misses that we were fortunate to have made it through.

Once again, the family and friends of these individuals will be in my prayers.