I read an especially gut wrenching New York Times story (behind the spoiler) this week about the drowning (off Long Island) of three children during the Fourth Of July celebrations. But this calls into question, at least for me, the amount of forethought, or lack thereof, that preceded this tragedy. Just looking at the diagram of an average sized person in comparison to the total size of the boat, I would have clearly felt unease in getting on. Thus, do people willingly participate in tragedy that they should have been able to foresee? Spoiler: Three Children Die In Long Island Boating Accident July 5, 2012 A Packed Boat, a Celebration, a Deadly Turn By PATRICK McGEEHAN The sky over Long Island Sound, ignited moments earlier by an extravagant Fourth of July fireworks display, was suddenly bright again: a signal flare illuminated a marine disaster unfolding among the boats leaving the show. Rescue boats followed the arc of light to the scene, fueled by radio reports that at least two dozen people were in the water and some children could not be found. Mitch Kramer, a trained diver and towboat operator, strapped on a mask and fins, stuck an air hose in his mouth and plunged in among the dozens of boats that had responded. More divers arrived, but it was too late to save the three victims: a 12-year-old boy, his 11-year-old cousin and an 8-year-old girl, whose family had come along for the floating spectacle. Paramedics tried to revive the first girl they pulled from the cabin, the 11-year-old, but could not; the others were dead when their bodies were recovered from the sunken boat. On Friday, the aunt of the two cousins who died said the decision to go out on the boat was not made until Wednesday night because of a forecast for possible storms. “It was a last minute decision,’' said Candi Treanor, who was among those aboard the doomed boat. Even before all the bodies were found, there was a clear sense of hopelessness among those who survived. A mother of one victim could be heard repeating, “He’s gone, he’s gone,” said Dave Asher, an emergency medical technician for the Oyster Bay Fire Department. “They knew they were in the cabin.” Ms. Treanor, who wept as she spoke in the doorway of her home in Huntington Station, said that she and others had tried to rescue the children trapped in the cabin. “We tried to get into the boat for those kids.’' Neither the police nor the Coast Guard could say with certainty on Thursday just what had caused the boat to capsize shortly after 10 p.m. on Wednesday. Much of the speculation centered on the number of passengers: 27 on a 34-foot-long boat designed to hold far fewer; indeed, the husband of the boat’s previous owner said he would carry no more than eight passengers. But the Nassau County Police Department said it had not ruled out the spotty weather or the thick traffic — hundreds of boats had turned out to watch the annual display at the waterfront estate of the Cablevision founder, Charles F. Dolan — as factors. Inexperience did not seem to explain the accident. Salvatore Aureliano, who said he had been piloting the boat, has over 25 years of experience on the water, said Michael Treanor, the brother of the owner of the boat. Mr. Treanor said in an e-mail that “I have been on many boating trips with Sal over the years, and there is no one I feel safer with.” Mr. Aureliano, whose nephew David, 12, was one of the victims, appeared distraught when he answered his door on Thursday, his eyes red and wet. “Not now, not now,” he said, waving off a reporter. Pressed for comment, he could muster no more than, “It’s a tragedy.” In a separate interview with the cable channel News 12, he described what happened as he ferried the crowd back to shore. “There was two lightning bolts,” Mr. Aureliano said, “and I told my nephew who was in front, ‘Rocco, did you see that?’ He goes, ‘Yeah, Uncle Sal.’ “Then the next thing I know, we were turning. And we just kept turning. And everybody was in the water. Chaos.” The boat, a Silverton convertible built in 1984 and named the Candy 1, belonged to Mr. Aureliano’s brother-in-law, Kevin M. Treanor, according to registration records. Mr. Treanor was aboard with his family, but Mr. Aureliano said he was at the helm because he was more experienced. Michael Treanor said that Mr. Aureliano told him that another boat’s wake hit the Candy 1 and tipped it over. “A bad wave just capsized us,’' Candi Treanor said. “It just swallowed us up.’' Michael Treanor said that his brother, Kevin, had owned the boat for a little over a year. Kevin Treanor was the father of Harlie, the 11-year-old who died. After Mr. Kramer tried to reach them, a diver from the Atlantic Steamer volunteer fire company in Oyster Bay pulled a girl from the cabin, Mr. Asher said. Adult passengers from the boat had tried frantically to get to the trapped children before the fire department divers arrived, said Mr. Asher. Seven people were treated at a triage station nearby, including two fathers and a mother of victims, he said. As Mr. Kramer hit the water, he said, a rainstorm swept in, pushing the half-submerged boat around and making it impossible to squeeze through a hatch or yank open the cabin door. “There were canvas covers and wedged doors, all kinds of debris and cushions,” he said. “Everything is difficult when a boat is upside down and submerged.” Just after the first girl was found, the boat, which had been drifting eastward, sank to the bottom, 60 feet beneath the surface. By then, rescuers knew there was little hope that the others would survive. Their bodies were later recovered by divers. “The worst day of my life,” Mr. Aureliano told News 12. Ms. Treanor said that her extended family has made watching the Dolan fireworks an annual Fourth of July tradition. The family was still recovering from another untimely death. Joseph O. Treanor, who was Kevin’s brother and Harlie’s uncle, died of cancer three years ago at 46. Joseph’s widow, Candi, who was aboard the Candy 1 on Wednesday night, owned the boat with Kevin, according to a close family friend, Harry Brindley. The family of the third child who died, Victoria Gaines, 8, is close to the Treanors and Aurelianos, Mr. Brindley said. Michael Treanor, who was not on the boat, said that his family and their friends had been making the voyage to watch the fireworks for the past five years. Harlie Treanor, he said, was excited to finally have her own room in her family’s new home, which she was decorating with butterflies and elephants. And her cousin David, Mr. Treanor said, loved “The Jungle Book” and his family dog Chester. People familiar with the model of boat that capsized said they had no doubt it was overloaded. Russell J. Brown, whose wife, Sandra, was once the registered owner of the Candy 1, said he could not imagine putting 27 people on the boat. “That’s a hell of a lot,” said Mr. Brown, who added that he had owned the same model of Silverton for 22 years. “It was a great boat. Normally a wake wouldn’t turn that boat over. But if you’ve got all of those people on it, a decent wake could do it.” There is neither a federal regulation that limits the capacity of a recreational boat of that size, nor a voluntary standard, said Petty Officer Thomas McKenzie, a spokesman for the Coast Guard in New York City. Boat operators are required to have a life jacket on board for every passenger, Petty Officer McKenzie said. Children 13 and younger are required to wear their life jackets at all times except when they are below deck or in a cabin, he said. The Coast Guard is assisting the Nassau County police in the investigation, but Petty Officer McKenzie said it was too soon to eliminate any of the possible causes, including swamping from a wave or damage to the hull. Alyson Bosley, a neighbor of the Gaines family, said that her friend’s brother and sister-in-law were on the Candy 1, and had spent the night at a hospital with Victoria’s parents. Ms. Bosley said she heard the boat had too many passengers and began rocking in a swell when a storm blew in. “They said the boat was overloaded,” she said. But Ms. Treanor said her family has spent a great deal of time on the water and she did not think the boat was overcrowded. “We’ve been on the water all our lives,’' she said. Reporting was contributed by Alain Delaquérière, Randy Leonard, Angela Macropoulos, Nate Schweber and Vivian Yee. Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/06/n...html?pagewanted=2&ref=nyregion&pagewanted=all Or, as I tell my kids, if there is ever any doubt in your mind as to the safety of something (before you get into a car, walk into a structure, participate in an event, whatever); don't do it. I know that sometimes peer pressure can matter a lot. But, in the final analysis, one's life is more important than being called a wuss, pussy, or wimp. Gosh, so sad; even thought I don't know any of those involved, one cannot help but feel bad for the parents.
This is absolutely horrific... If/when I do have kids, I'll remember not to rush them into activities they are not comfortable with.. I hope for the best for the families..
Actually, what I meant was, that one should be careful before participating in something that one knows may be excessively fraught with danger. In the above case, had I been there on the dock and noticed too many others getting on board such a small boat, I would have declined to get on. This is, I refuse to be a willing participant in tragedy; not if I can help it. I also preach that exact same thought process to my kids (ad infinitum et nauseam); if something looks or smells dubious, then please (for your own sake) don't get involved.
I see what you mean. I don't mean to veer off course, but I was reading this book by Malcolm Gladwell called "Blink: The power of thinking without thinking" which I think applies with your statement: The mind is a very special tool, as it can subconsciously analyse our likes/dislikes and safety without the need of our rational brain, and this more often than not, tends to be fairly accurate. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blink_(book)
Yes, indeed, and I'm gratified that you mentioned it. I call it being able to see the obvious, and I agree that some do need to be hit on the head with a two x four in order to see "...the forest for the trees" (so to speak). Having said that however, from previous experience with accident RCA (Root Cause Analysis), I'm certain that one can successfully practice one's own mind; ie. train it to see a logical progression of events even before they transpire. In this regard, I try to have sit downs with all my kids and force their minds with mental exercises to have them discover the foreseeable conclusions and to be aware of what risks are represented. IMHO, it does little good for them to say, 'I shouldn't do it because Dad says so' but rather, that they can immediately recognize the risk for themselves; as in, "Damn, I'm not doing that, I could get fucked up!" Aside from the humor, the intent is to keep them safe.
