Tragedy on the Potomac

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Reel Antsy

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My good friends were fishing a rockfish tournament and were caught up in the storm front which came up on the river on Saturday night. Rough seas and wind gusts to 46 mph. The boat broke up. They were able to get a broken mayday off. One survivor, is in the hospital.

One of my friends perished along with another crew member and my other friend, the captain, is still missing. Search continues today.

My two friends were both good captain's and fisherman who loved to fish. Roger, the Captain had just won a tournament we sponsored last weekend and had recently purchased the 31' boat.

Here are pics from our tournament last week. Included are some shots of his boat. The two on either side of Roger holding the fish perished.
I don't wish for this thread to turn into a discussion of what could have been done differently, etc as it' s way too early to know all of the facts. I just wanted to share this story with you. On another note, the lone survivor stayed with the boat. Intentionally or not, it may have saved his life. They were all wearing life jackets as well.
I pray for the families and friends saddened by this event.

http://tinyurl.com/zbvum74

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/l...-Man-Rescued-Three-More-Sought-402130416.html
 
I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your friends. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.
 
This is all very sad. I am sure they knew the boat and the water well. Our sympathies to all of their friends and family.
 
I'll echo the sorrow and sympathy. We'd had a note from our daughter who lives in Alexandria, off the river. She said it got nasty Saturday and turned that way fast.
 
My condolences to you and your friends' families. That is sad report.

During tournaments , too many of us tend to boat when we would otherwise make safer choices, especially as we figure our tournament/derby glory odds are better when others stay ashore.

That narrow front covered a huge N/S swath . We had winds to 49kts here at 7 this AM and Vineyard Sound out front was a brutal washing machine. Still honking out there too.
 
Wow, sorry to hear this, tragic for sure. We really don't think that much about what really can go wrong out there until it happens to someone.
 
My thought and prayers go out to them and their families and to you and all the other friends of the men who perished or are missing. Hy
 
Very Sad!

The River can get real choppy. I have been there with 4+ ft waves in just minutes. Last week I was out and heard guys reporting back that they had picked up some nice fish.
 
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