Cake boss lost in fog...

mariner36

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http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/12/showbiz/cake-boss-boat-rescue/index.html?hpt=us_c2 Not the best crew to take out one foggy night.
 
How can anyone be that stupid.... Nt even a GPS on that boat? Nobody with a phone to pull google map? Probably didn't even know he s supposed to sound fog signals...
 
Regardless of GPS and radar leaving the dock in fog and planning to travel in busy NY harbor is nuts. He should have taken a cab home.
 
Well he had radar!

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Just another example of a boater who thinks you just get in and go!
Learn to use your equipment.
At least he was smart enough to know when he needs help but probably could of just called sea tow.
Probably has no idea how to use anchor!

But I bet he knows how to use that Rolex!
 
Sometimes there is a tendency for things to get far enough out of our control well beyond our expectations and to our surprise beyond our abilities even with adequate electronics that the wisest move is to eat crow and ask for help. The situation certainly may well have been caused by poor decisions coupled with very disorienting pea soup fog , but IMO in this case the right decision was to get help before disaster struck.
Unless you have a lot of experience navigating in thickest fogs which can fully envelope so very quickly , that feeling of disorientation tries to make you distrust or fail to fully comprehend your nav instuments. Add a yelling wife and lots of scared kids and large ship traffic and perhaps some dinner beverages and sufficient concentration on available helpful input would be elusive. A lot of us think we are more competent... until we aren't. We have all had our "learning experiences" to one degree or another.

Factors leading up to the hail for assistance aside, personally, I don't think he or anybody who is already IN that situation should be put down for asking for help to protect POBs as that would discourage others from seeking nearby help when it is really needed.

But I hope the Boss makes good on delivering his best (angel food?) cake.
 
+1. I see a lot of assumptions but I only know what I read. He has been boating for 6 years, there was no alcohol on board, we was not impared, he had all the proper safety equipment. I see he is wearing a life jacket and my assumption is everybody else was too. The man felt he was in a position that was beyond his capabilities and called for help. Unless I am missing something, many could take a lesson from him. I have been boating for 30 years and I have left ports where visability was perfect and all of a suddenly wham. It is not fun and can be very concerning.
 
I have to watch the wind forecast closely when taking our houseboat out. Thankfully, there's lots of apps available to forecast winds as frequently as every 15 minutes. I haven't seen any apps that'll tell you when fog will roll in! That's gotta be tough to have to deal with that too!

I was on a cruise ship that went into NY harbor and past the Statue of Liberty at ~5AM in the morning with heavy fog. I was ABSOLUTELY AMAZED by how well the river pilots took that boat into harbor. You could only hear the navigational buoys chiming and then you saw them blow past as the boat chugged forward - they were making good time!
 
Well yes, at least he had enough brain to call for help but with a radar on board, and obviously GPS, I just don't understand how he could not have found his way back home. Nowadays, it's not rocket science. It's not like fog is rare up there, if you are going to be on the water you d better be prepared to deal with it and know how to use your equipment.

He put his passengers at risk, the Verrazano narrow is no place to get lost due to the traffic that goes thru there. And he tied up valuable emergency resources which thankfully were not needed to deal with a real emergency,

My tolerance for sheer idiocy is getting increasingly limited. The other day, some idiot in a new 39 sea ray decided to anchor on top of my anchor, using TWO anchors none of the with enough scope. He ended up across my pulpit, with my chain running under his boat and caught on his stern cleat. I had to explain to him that getting in gear was only going to result in my chain wrapping around his wheels. He didn't know that could happen. Had to push him off to the side and then when I told him to put his port engine in reverse he asked which one was port!

It's just non stop these days... We re up to 4 deaths in the last two months here on biscayne bay, including the infamous accident where a guy got cut up while pushing a 40' CC of a sandbar with three outboards running.
 
Look, maybe he never had used the radar, which is the only really useful tool in that situation, safety wise. Let he who has never made a mistake or effed up on the water cast the first stone. That would not be me! I think what he did was on the whole commendable, he made a mistake, knew his limitations, and got help rather than put others at risk.
 
Do we know that he had radar? The photo looks like the police boat. At least there's no helm in front of him.
 
I am not about to make an excuse for this captain.

That said, WE are experienced boaters because WE have already done this and learned this lesson.

Now, if he makes the same mistake twice, I may resort to "colorful" language. ;)
 
He is sitting at the helm of his boat, boston whaler and the radar is on!
 
My guess is that he is wearing a PFD only because rescuers told him and his passengers to put them on.
 
quote:

Originally posted by caltexfla

Look, maybe he never had used the radar, which is the only really useful tool in that situation, safety wise. Let he who has never made a mistake or effed up on the water cast the first stone. That would not be me! I think what he did was on the whole commendable, he made a mistake, knew his limitations, and got help rather than put others at risk.






+1 At least he didn't let his ego over rule his brain and really F things up.

My guess is he's got plenty of company in having radar, if he really does, and not knowing how to use it well enough to have any confidence in it. Even among the members of this forum.

He may well have never been in thick fog day or night. And since fog can come up with little or no warning, he just got caught out.

Hopefully he's learned a good lesson and will get some training.

The outcome could have been much worse if he hadn't called for help when he did.

Call me crazy but I think he deserves a pat on the back instead of kick in the head.
In fact if NY state was smart they'd grab him to do a PSA about boating safety as a way to pay back his rescuers.
 
He was ok until he made the statement that the next time he goes out at night, he would check the weather. How about you check it every time you think about going out!
 
quote:

Originally posted by Perry

Dave,
I think he's on a NYPD boat for the pic.





How do you figure ? The article says he has a 32' Boston Whaler & the seat he's on says just that. The logo of the NYPD boat can be seen at his Whaler's stbd beam..
 
Ok, let's add this to the equation. Everyone was scared. He said his wife was flipping. I take that to say no matter what he did she was screaming at him and he couldn't think anymore.

I say under those circumstances with what NINE KIDS on board who probably were balling because mommy was throwing a fit, he made the best call he could. You can check the weather all you want, some times the fog rolls in and you will never know it's coming unless you have a 6th sense.
 
Sandy,
Upon further review of the pic it looks like you are correct...the NYPD you can see is coming thru the windscreen and not a decal as I thought.
my apologies for the confusion
 
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