Florida boys lost at sea

[Dianne]

Sorry..call me a nanny but I wouldn't risk my 14 year old's life in a 19 ft boat on the open sea. Not just the issues with the ocean itself but there are real pirates out there.

I'm with you on this. If these kids were such great seamen, why didn't they check the weather forecast before they left? The theory is a strong storm capsized their boat. It's a very sad story. I feel awful for the families. I just wish people would take better care of their kids !!

At least they had better equipment than this baby.

[JK/SEA]

I'm with you on this. If these kids were such great seamen, why didn't they check the weather forecast before they left? The theory is a strong storm capsized their boat. It's a very sad story. I feel awful for the families. I just wish people would take better care of their kids !!

At least they had better equipment than this baby.

not a fair assessment. ANYONE that has taken a boat, 14-20 foot, out into close range ocean territory, can tell you that winds , and rogue waves, will test your abilities, and often times luck and experience will fail you. The ocean is a harsh mistress...ask the guys on Deadliest Catch about Oceans, and the instant change in conditions that can occur...look...you can't protect your kids 24/7...or for that matter, 20-30 year veterans of Ocean experience...hell, your kid could be killed by a cop chasing a pot smoker on the freeway....

[Dianne]

not a fair assessment. ANYONE that has taken a boat, 14-20 foot, out into close range ocean territory, can tell you that winds , and rogue waves, will test your abilities, and often times luck and experience will fail you. The ocean is a harsh mistress...ask the guys on Deadliest Catch about Oceans, and the instant change in conditions that can occur...look...you can't protect your kids 24/7...or for that matter, 20-30 year veterans of Ocean experience...hell, your kid could be killed by a cop chasing a pot smoker on the freeway....

You may be right. I am guilty of being over protective. But seriously, I am reading now the kids were going to the bahamas in that little boat... wtf? How could that be wise in any shape or form.

I feel terrible for those kids though. And that's what they were, kids. Very tragic.

[JK/SEA]

You may be right. I am guilty of being over protective. But seriously, I am reading now the kids were going to the bahamas in that little boat... wtf? How could that be wise in any shape or form.

I feel terrible for those kids though. And that's what they were, kids. Very tragic.

i could relate personal stories of 'kids' in their early teens who would have zero problems with dealing with lakes, rivers, and oceans because of their advanced maturity and experience who are still alive today....personally, if they were my sons, and this happened to me as a father, i would be shocked. Something on the level of a rogue wave is what i think took place...my fear is that they didn't have their vests on....a basic no-no....is that the parents fault?...grown adults do the same thing...this will fall under....$#@! happens, and a sailors prayer is applicable.

[KCIndy]

Something on the level of a rogue wave is what i think took place...my fear is that they didn't have their vests on....a basic no-no....is that the parents fault?...grown adults do the same thing...this will fall under....$#@! happens, and a sailors prayer is applicable.

This is what I was wondering too. And yeah, I've been guilty of the same "vest apathy" many times even as an adult. They get hot, sweaty, uncomfortable..... hell, I know how to swim.... it's an easy trap to fall into.

As an adult I can remind myself that the REAL "life saver" aspect of the vest is that it's designed to keep my head above water when I might have just gotten knocked loopy and am completely disoriented.

[Anti Federalist]

You may be right. I am guilty of being over protective. But seriously, I am reading now the kids were going to the bahamas in that little boat... wtf? How could that be wise in any shape or form.

I feel terrible for those kids though. And that's what they were, kids. Very tragic.

From Jupiter Inlet to West End Bahamas, is only about 60 miles or so.

An hour and a half meh, call it two hours in a relatively quick boat on a calm day.

[Anti Federalist]

Bah, vests, helmets, seat belts...phooey.

I can't tell how many times I have seen a drill or work, that the safety rules mandated the wearing of a type 1 pfd, made you less safe due to its cumbersome nature.

[Anti Federalist]

Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave;

Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;

Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

[KCIndy]

The Coast Guard has just announced the search will be suspended as of tonight...

http://abcnews.go.com/US/coast-guard...ry?id=32803546

The Coast Guard tonight is expected to suspend their search for two Florida teenagers who've been missing at sea for one week, but the boys' families vow to push on with their bid to find them.

The search for Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen, both 14, will be suspended at sunset tonight, Capt. Mark Fedor, of the Coast Guard's 7th District in Miami, said at a news conference today.

The search, which spanned 8 days and 50,000 nautical miles, remains active and open today, Fedor said.

Fedor said the suspension means if new information comes to light, they will reopen the case.

[AuH20]

Why not invest in an EPIRB if you are the daring type? $400 is nothing compared to your life.

[Suzanimal]

I hope they can get that phone working. It might give them some clues as to what happened to them.

Boat, iPhone of teens lost at sea discovered months later

The parents of two teenagers lost at sea last July say the boys' 19-foot Seacraft boat and an iPhone have been found.

The Palm Beach Post reported Saturday that the boat that carried Perry Cohen and Austin Stephanos, both 14, was spotted and recovered 100 miles off the coast of Bermuda. The boat still had some personal items in it including an iPhone belonging to Stephanos.

Last July 24, Stephanos and Cohen sailed out of Florida's Jupiter Inlet in the craft and never returned. The search for the missing boat lasted for weeks, but was ultimately fruitless.

Blu Stephanos, the father of Austin Stephanos, released a statement Saturday afternoon to The Palm Beach Post about the boat recovery.

“In mid-March, I was contacted by a Havard Melvaer, captain of the Norwegian transport and supply vessel the Edda Fjord, who notified our family that they had recovered my son’s missing boat off the coast of Bermuda. Capt. Melvaer provided us with some photos of the salvage operation and items recovered from the vessel. These photos verified that it was, indeed, the missing boat.

“I wrote back to Capt. Melvaer to thank him for devoting the time and manpower necessary to recover my son’s boat and the care they took to preserve its contents.

“Capt. Melvaer returned a heartfelt reply explaining that, as a father of three boys, the story of Austin and Perry had affected him deeply. He wrote about growing up in Norway and how the support and freedom he received from his parents gave him the opportunity to explore, to try and fail, and how it made him the person he is today. He went on to say that, since recovering the boat, his entire crew had thought a lot about the boys and said, ‘I think they will follow us in our hearts and minds for the rest of our lives.’

“I can say without hesitation that our deep appreciation for the compassionate efforts of Capt. Melvaer and the crew of the Edda Fjord will be something that remains in our hearts as well."

Stephanos said he hoped the iPhone would be "restored to working order so that we can try to recover from it any precious memories that it might contain.”

The missing items were turned into the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Perry Cohen's parents, Nick Korniloff and Pamela Cohen, called for the organization to reopen the missing persons investigation after nearly nine months.

"This has been nine months of pain and suffering. We'd like to have some sort of closure," Korniloff said in a telephone interview with The Palm Beach Post.

"We just want to know the answers," Pamela Cohen added. "We just want to try to figure out what happened."

http://www.11alive.com/news/nation-n.../151068691?a=n

[Anti Federalist]

I know this vessel and have worked with it before.

Good job by the Norwegians, they are consumate sailors and professionals.

Folks, in an emergency at sea, always, unless it is absolutely impossible to do otherwsie, always stay with the boat.

[timosman]

I know this vessel and have worked with it before.

Good job by the Norwegians, they are consumate sailors and professionals.

Folks, in an emergency at sea, always, unless it is absolutely impossible to do otherwsie, always stay with the boat.

Especially important when sailing single handed.

[Anti Federalist]

And the parents just barely missed going to jail for "neglect"...what a load of horse$#@!.


No charges filed in 2 teens' disappearance while fishing

http://www.nbc-2.com/story/35688142/...-while-fishing

TEQUESTA, Fla. (AP) — Florida investigators found evidence of child neglect in the disappearance of two teenage boaters, but the state didn't file charges.

According to The Palm Beach Post, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement released its report on the 2015 disappearance of two Tequesta 14-year-olds, Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen.

The state opened a criminal investigation in December of Austin's mother for possible child neglect. Austin texted his mother after the boys' vessel headed for the open ocean, shortly before storms blew through the area.

According to the report, she told investigators it was common for the boys to fish together, and she believed they were "the victims of a tragic mishap."

Investigators said they found probable cause, but the state attorney said there wasn't enough proof "to satisfy the statutory language."

FDLE said “the egregious lapse in judgment and failure to exercise due care had the effect of culminating in the disappearance of both boys who are now believed to have perished.”

Assistant State Attorney Greg Kridos said while “there may have been poor judgment,” boating on the open seas was not an “inherently dangerous activity,” as FDLE had concluded.

[Anti Federalist]

I see the OP deleted the original story...just to bring everybody up to speed:

Missing Florida teens: Boat found off Bermuda coast

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...stin+Stephanos

Posted: Apr 23, 2016 11:11 AM EDT
Updated: Apr 25, 2016 9:33 AM EDT

(CNN) — A marine supply store sticker and engine serial number helped authorities identify the boat of two Florida teens who went missing at sea last summer.

The discovery of the single-engine vessel on which Perry Cohen and Austin Stephanos, both 14, got lost at sea during a burst of severe weather on July 24 was confirmed Saturday by the U.S. Coast Guard and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The 19-foot Seacraft vessel was found March 18 by the Norwegian multipurpose supply ship Edda Fjord about 100 miles off the coast of Bermuda, Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Ryan Doss said in a statement. There was no immediate indication of what happened to the missing boys.



The boat, which was floating in the shipping lane, was removed from the water by the crew of Norwegian ship, which was returning to Norway, according to Doss. Personal items including a cell phone and plastic tackle boxes were found on board.

The marine store sticker and engine serial number helped identify the owner, Doss said.

"The boat was subsequently confirmed to be the boat that belonged to Austin Stephanos," Rob Klepper, a spokesman for the law enforcement division of the fish and wildlife conservation commission, said in a statement.

The families of the two boys have been notified, Klepper said. The boat is expected to arrive by shipping container to the United States from Norway on May 16.

"The personal effects that were onboard the boat will be returned to the families of the victims, and subsequent information retrieval efforts from any of those items will be at their discretion," Klepper said. "The (fish and wildlife commission) will examine the vessel for any new information, and return the boat to the family."

On the Facebook page of the Perry J. Cohen Foundation, Perry's mother, Pamela Cohen, and stepfather, Nick Korniloff, thanked the captain and 16-member crew of the Edda Fjord for "recovering and salvaging the Vessel in which our son and his dear friend disappeared on."

"The actions of yourself, crew and company will hopefully provide more details for us with the hopes of finding out what exactly happened to our son and his friend," they wrote in the Saturday post, which included a photo of what appeared to be the Norwegian ship lifting the teens' boat out of the water.

In an earlier post, the family said, "This is an open Missing Persons case, and we hope that FWC reopens their investigation and utilizes the expert resources of other government agencies as well as the private sector if necessary to extrapolate the data from the recovered IPhone (found on the boat)."

The foundation was created after the teens went missing to promote boater safety and education for young people.

Days after the boys went missing, searchers located the boat dozens of miles off Florida's Atlantic coast, well north of Jupiter, the community the pair left days earlier.

The Coast Guard attached a data marker buoy to the boat because water was too deep for an anchor, Klepper said via email.

One life jacket was found in the water, but there was no sign of the boys. It's unknown whether the boys were wearing life jackets.

But the boat had drifted away by the time investigators arrived with salvage equipment to tow it about 67 nautical miles (about 77 miles) off Florida's Ponce de Leon Inlet.

"The data marker buoy malfunctioned, and the craft was not located again until its retrieval by the Edda Fjord" last month, according to Klepper.

In late July, the Coast Guard said it has done all it could to find the missing teen boaters. Their families, however, said a private search would continue.

The Coast Guard's week-long search after the boys were reported missing extended from southern Florida to North Carolina, officials said at the time.

The Coast Guard estimated that someone could survive in the warm Atlantic waters for up to five days at that time of year.

Missing after a squall

Austin and Perry left Jupiter on July 24. The Coast Guard said it had information that the boys may have told others through social media that they planned to travel to the Bahamas, but officials and family members say they're not sure the purpose of the boys' trip and the destination.

Coast Guard Capt. Mark Fedor said a significant squall hit the area about the time they left -- one that that could have disabled or even capsized their boat. The National Weather Service posted special marine warnings, telling boaters to seek shelter about the time they departed.

Later that day, when one of the boys' grandmothers didn't hear from them, she reported them missing.

Though the boys are young, they were legally operating the boat. Florida regulations say a person must be at least 14 to operate a watercraft.

Nearly 50,000 square nautical miles searched

Fedor said the search covered an area just under 50,000 square nautical miles, or 66,200 square miles, a space almost the size of the state of Missouri.

People in southeastern Florida rallied around the teens' relatives during the search. They included football great Joe Namath, a neighbor of the boys' families. Hundreds of people attended a vigil for the teens at the beach in Stuart, a short distance from Jupiter Inlet.