02-27-13 MEDFORD, OR 3 S. Ore. men swim to shore when boat flips over The Jackson Co. sheriff's office says 3 southern Oregon fishermen swam to shore after their 16-ft. drift boat flipped over in the Rogue River. The sheriff's office says the boat hit a rapid and then a tree on Wed. (02-27). Sheriff's spokeswoman Andrea Carlson says 58-y/o Mark Orsenkranz of Ashland, 63-y/o Dennis Jarvi of Talent and 62-y/o Walter Sokolowski of Medford used a sandbar to climb out and started walking back to their vehicle. Medics said the men were cold but unhurt. Read full story here.
02-27-13 OCEAN SPRINGS, MS Dad found dead, son still missing after ill-fated kayak trip Friends and relatives of the Rainer family remain hopeful that search teams will find Nicolas alive. The 22-y/o is still missing after disappearing during a kayak trip with his father. Ken Rainer's body was found in the overnight hours off the coast of Ocean Springs near Davis Bayou. Boats comb the water looking for signs of life. A USCG chopper is doing the same thing from the air. Friends of the close knit family say the father and son loved being together and meant a lot to everyone they met. A spokesperson with the Dept. of Marine Resources said a shrimper found the father and son's 2 kayaks adrift Wed. night (02-27). Read full story here.
03-01-13 JENSON BEACH, FL Man suffers burns in Jensen Beach boat gas explosion A man was flown to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami Fri. evening (03-01) with burns after a gas explosion on a boat off the Jensen Beach causeway, said Doug Killane, spokesman for Martin Co. Fire Rescue. Rescue crews responded to a 7:36 p.m. call from a witness that said there had been an explosion aboard a boat. Upon arrival, crews found a man being brought ashore by other boaters. The man suffered burns to his extremities and was taken by air ambulance to the hospital’s burn unit. No fire damaged was reported on the boat. There is no additional information immediately available. Read full story here.
03-02-13 MOBILE, AL Boat catches fire on Dog River, damages dock at River Shack A boat caught fire on Dog River Sat. (03-02), damaging the dock at the marina of the River Shack Restaurant and Oyster Bar near the Dauphin Island Parkway bridge. Three people were on the 23-ft. boat, but were able to jump off of it and onto the dock to safety, said Officer Bill Carol, with the Alabama Marine Police. There were no injuries, but the boat is totaled and the dock likely unusable. Carol said a salesman with a local car lot was trying to sell the boat, a Bayliner cuddy cabin recreational boat. They had just put gasoline in the boat but forgot to use the blower to vent the gas fumes. Carol said anyone using a boat with inboard/outboard motor with a blower should use that blower for about five minutes after fueling. If there is no blower, you should open all the hatches to air the vapors. It was just caused by inexperience, really. Besides the Alabama Marine Police, the USCG and Mobile Police Dept. Arson Unit responded to the call. Even if the boat hadn't caught fire, it likely would've sunk. The passengers also forgot to secure the plug. Read full story here.
02-28-13 LONG BRANCH, NJ State Police Investigating Early Morning Long Branch Boat Fires The New Jersey State Police are investigating what caused 6 boats to catch on fire early Thu. ( 02-28) in Long Branch. Long Branch Police Capt. Jason Roebuck the incident occurred around 3 a.m. on Thu. morning at Patten Point Yacht Club on the Shrewsbury River. Capt. Roebuck said injuries were reported and that the State Police Marine Unit will be the investigating agency.Read full story here.
03-01-13 OCMULGEE RIVER, GA Teenager Rescued from Ocmulgee River after Kayak Accident A 19-y/okayaker has the Monroe and Jones Co. fire dept. to thank for pulling him out of the rain-swollen Ocmulgee River alive. The incident happened Fri. (03-01) in Monroe Co.near the Popes Ferry boat landing and the Tumbling Shoals neighborhood of Jones Co. Authorities say the 19-y/o was stranded in the Ocmulgee River when his kayak overturned. It's the 2nd local river rescue this week. Following Fri. rescue from the Ocmulgee, the teenager was taken home to his parents and reportedly had no injuries, other than being cold. Read full story here.
The mission's cost has reached several hundreds of thousands of dollars since Sun. (02-24), said Cmdr. Don Montoro. Searchers have been scouring the water off San Francisco for the people that a distress call claimed were on the boat: the couple, their 4-y/o child and the child's cousin, who the CG said was younger than 8. CG investigators will look into the incident and "prosecute it and investigate it to the best of their ability," Montoro said. "We're not investigating it directly as a hoax, but we are pursuing every avenue. It's certainly a possibility." "We do have successful prosecutions" on such hoaxes, Montoro said, "and it would be taken very seriously." Making a false distress call is considered a felony, punishable by up to 10 yrs. behind bars and a $250,000 fine. In this week's incident off the California coast, the weather offshore during the search featured gale-force winds and 25-ft. seas. On Sun. afternoon, the CG received a radio communication that stated: "This is the Charm Blow, we are abandoning ship." The man on the radio told the Coast Guard that the boat had begun taking on water and its electronics were failing. At that time, the boat was believed to be some 65 mi. off Pillar Point, south of San Francisco.
The focus of the search had been 60 to 65 mi. off Monterey Bay, said Lt. Heather Lampert, a CG spokeswoman. At 20,000 sq. mi., the search area was nearly the size of West Virginia. The U.S. Navy from Point Magu and the 129th Air National Guard from Moffett Airfield participated in the search. More than 40 search-and-rescue assets were involved in the effort. At one point, 2 CG cutters, HC-130 planes, MH-65 helicopters and a Navy E2-C Hawkeye were involved. Read full story here. #search
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