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Very Scary

DTro

By DTro
in Open Water

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DTro Grand Master

DTro

Posted
Posted

I came upon this elsewhere.......

Just WOW

I can't authenticate it, but still makes you think.

The day started out just fine, unloaded the boat, fired up the motor and headed out with the air temperature at 5 degrees and the wind chill being 12 below. I motored thru the Prescott area and got thru the no wake zone and headed out wide open and that is when it all went wrong. I hit a dead head and it broke the steering on the motor and I was thrown out of the boat. I made several attempts to make it to the boat that was going in circles and then I was worried I was going to get hit by the boat and I decided my only hope was to swin to shore. I kicked off my sorrell boots and my gloves because I was sinking. I saw how far the shoreline was and I did not think I could make it to the shore and I flipped over to the backstoke but was unable to lift my arms to stoke because I had too much clothing on. I had sweatpants, insulated pants, 3 sweatshirts, a jacket and a hooded sweat[PoorWordUsage]. Then I had Carhardt bibs on and a Carhardt jacket. Then my boots and gloves. So I was carrying a lot of weight. I prayed to God to give me the ability to get to shore because I had three grandchildren who needed their grandpa to be around. I just kept kicking my feet, pushing myself closer to shore until I hit the bottom with my feet. When I turned around there were two, what I would call angels, standing on the shoreline encouraging me to make it to shore,. I told them I can't go any further and they told me, "Yes, you can, yes, you can." Then the two guys dressed in only sweatpants, t-shirts and socks ran into the water and dragged me to shore. They helped me get up the stairs to a waiting police squad car. There a wonderful lady sat and visited with me to keep me awake because I felt delirious. The ambulance arrived a couple minutes later and I was transferred to the ambulance and they took off all my wet clothes and covered me with warm blankets. They brought me to Hastings emergency room. They put me under what is called a Beirr Hugger, which is like an air matress that warm air is pumped into to warm your core temperature. After about 3 1/2 hours of being underneath the warmer, my core temperature was back to within the normal range. and I was able to be released. I found out by the DNR agent that my boat continued to spin in circles until it crashed into the shore and he thought for sure he would be dragging the river for me and couldn't believe I made it to shore in that cold of water. After I got released and had a hearty breakfast, my son-in-laws and I went back down to the river and got the boat. The boat had a buoy chain wrapped around the prop which I needed to get a hammer to break the chain loose from around the prop. The motor was really beat up and all iced in and when I took the hammer and broke the ice off the motor, believe it or not, the old Mariner started , even though the prop was half gone and chunks were out of the motor. We were able to get it on the trailer and get it home. I was really exausted after that happened but grateful to be alive. Today I can barely move. My wife is typing this as I dictate the story. I learned a valuable leson. No matter how many times you are on the river you should always have a firm grip on the motor and if its below 30 degrees stay home, because no fish is worth your life!

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Jim43 Proficient

Jim43

Posted
Posted

WOW, I remember hearing something about this on the news not to

long ago. Amazing survival story. I for one, would never venture onto the river in temps like that. Would be looking for

hard water for sure.

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Walli1 Apprentice

Walli1

Posted
Posted

Yes the story is true it happen to me yesterday on the St Croix around 7:45am about a quarter mile up river from the Prescott area, still haven't got a hold of the gentlemen that dragged me up the bank yet, I'm sure tomorrow when I contact prescott police they will have it in there report along with the DNR's report. Thankful to be alive but really sore!

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ozzie Grand Master

ozzie

Posted
Posted

In a case like this will a PFD even be of good use. I mean not saying don't wear one but if yuo are wearing layers of clothing like that you would have to have a PFD rated for like 500 pounds wouldn't you??? With the clothing gaining weight with them being soaked with water.....Just curious not trying to say don't wear PFD's.....

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DTro Grand Master

DTro

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Quote:

In a case like this will a PFD even be of good use. I mean not saying don't wear one but if yuo are wearing layers of clothing like that you would have to have a PFD rated for like 500 pounds wouldn't you??? With the clothing gaining weight with them being soaked with water.....Just curious not trying to say don't wear PFD's.....

I can guarantee that you will have a better chance of surviving if they find you floating rather on the bottom. Just think how easily Walli could've hit his head on something whilst flying through the air. Good luck doing a back float while you are knocked out.

Walli, good to hear everything worked out.

I'm sure we all have been lazy and thought eh, I'm fine (I'm guilty as charged). This is just a reminder how your life can change in an instant.

It sucks to be anal, but it's great to be alive!

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ozzie Grand Master

ozzie

Posted
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Yes it would definatly be better to be found floating but my ? is what size PFD would one need in a situation like this to actually keep them afloat!!! Have you ever jumped in the water with a PFD that was rated for a smaller person....they don't hold you up!!!! In a case like this you are adding alot of weight in clothing then add all the weight the water soaked clothes and I think you basically would have to find a PFD rated for a lot of weight.....I just wonder if they make a jacket that will hold 500+ pounds??????

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DinkADunk Experienced

DinkADunk

Posted
Posted

A good offshore PFD will work just fine. Better yet, pick up one of the Mustang Survival suits or jackets. They also have a line of snowmobile clothing (floatable) that would be very good for ice-fishing. However, I would probably not use an inflateable PFD in freezing weather as I'm not sure if the inflation mechanisim would work well if frozen.

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Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

Im glad it worked out Walli... you couldnt have been any luckier than to come out of this situation with your life.

Thank you for sharing the story.. its a REAL eye opener for some of us die hards that experience the outdoors in some of the harshest conditions. Mother nature has no mercy, sometimes we need to be reminded of it, and learn to respect it.

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DEADhead Veteran

DEADhead

Posted
Posted

Quote:

I would probably not use an inflateable PFD in freezing weather as I'm not sure if the inflation mechanisim would work well if frozen

the manufacturers state that an inflatable PFD may take some time to inflate in sub freezing weather, but it should still inflate.

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The_Duckslayer Mentor

The_Duckslayer

Posted
Posted

Quote:

Yes it would definatly be better to be found floating but my ? is what size PFD would one need in a situation like this to actually keep them afloat!!! Have you ever jumped in the water with a PFD that was rated for a smaller person....they don't hold you up!!!! In a case like this you are adding alot of weight in clothing then add all the weight the water soaked clothes and I think you basically would have to find a PFD rated for a lot of weight.....I just wonder if they make a jacket that will hold 500+ pounds??????

Water that soaks into your clothes once you are in it does not weigh anything. When one fills ones waders when falling through the ice the bouancey level of the boots does not change that much. (I can vouche for that as I fell through once and it took better than 45 minutes for me to get out. The water did not impeed my ability to walk along the bottom) The weight factor comes in when you exit the water. From what I have found it you are wearing an adult PFD it will keep you up.

Glad to hear that all worked out well in this case. I must confess, the emergencey clip in my tiller has no cord on it at all. In fact, since I have owned the boat it has never been out. I guess I may want to re-think that as I have been known to break ice a lot with the boat while duck hunting. Have a good one and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo

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Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

Quote:

our terminology must be different....what does eveyone on here mean by "deadhead"?? are we talking logs and snags?? or rocks or what?
confused.gif

Any type of log in the water.. floating, submerged, standing whatever.. its a log

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Angler Don Enthusiast

Angler Don

Posted
Posted

so my buddy John calls me at work today, tells me this very story. I say, " hey, I read about that story on f.m. last night!" John has been my best buddy since high school, 25 + years now. John has been fishing the St Croix lately with a fellow he knows. Turns out, this fellow, is the very same walli 1. John was unable to go fishing with you, walli 1, that day as he was out of town, visiting his sister. Could have been two of you in that river. Could have lost my best friend. You were a lucky man that day. I am very happy to hear that you are ok. small world .

Don

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