5 ms·

Awesome geography knowledge here! This was fundamentally a weather and engineering issue though. There’s just no way to get to safety when you realize the storm

by wlarro 8y ago

Awesome geography knowledge here! This was fundamentally a weather and engineering issue though. There’s just no way to get to safety when you realize the storm is too much for you in a slow and clumsy craft like this. You have to make the decision not to go out at all if the forecast is potentially dangerous. I’ve never seen weather swells on these small lakes large enough to swamp anything (big speedboat wakes are another story) so I would imagine the wind caught the awning and tipped it enough to take on water. Then the awning drowned everyone when they couldn’t overpower the bouyancy of their jackets to get out from under it. Bad decision by the driver to make the trip caused the accident, and the life-jacket policy combined with the awning design made it fatal.

jessaustin 8y ago
At its very widest the channel is less than a mile across, so there is less than half a mile to go. Holy crap these things are slow, but apparently that would take less than ten minutes, less if aided by gale-force winds. Did ten minutes pass between "I can't handle this storm" and "oh shit I've killed us all"? Probably! https://www.google.com/maps/place/Table+Rock+Lake/ https://www.google.com/maps/place/Table+Rock+Lake/
jrs235 8y ago
"Then the awning drowned everyone when they couldn’t overpower the bouyancy of their jackets to get out from under it." Unfortunately, I heard reports that, no one had life jackets on.
- duxup 8y ago
  So many bad choices.
  - jrs235 8y ago
    I heard from reports that the tour employees pointed to them and said they wouldn't be needed. Then when water started coming on board, reports said, some people stood up (possibly to get the life jackets) but the employees told everyone to stay sitting.
    - duxup 8y ago
      I'm going go all internet badass here and say I hope that I'd be strong enough to have have some harsh words and it would take some physical interaction for me not to get to those jackets.... I've been on the water enough to know how quick stuff can go bad and there's no time to get flotation devices out (not enough) to save most folks after it goes bad.
      - jessaustin 8y ago
        It's fine to imagine being badass, but remember that families with children and elderly people rode these things. At my most badass I could cut my way through the deathcanopy with my trusty pocketknife and maybe pull one small child to safety before the whole thing went to the bottom. What if there were three children and two old folks sitting near me? What a nightmare! Tour boats operated for the amusement of the general public must not sink quickly, even in choppy water.
        duxup 8y ago
        Internet badass here again... if I'm there with my kids, that's why I'm being a badass. I'm not sitting in an unstable boat in a storm and not having a jacket on my family...

by wlarro 8y ago

jessaustin 8y ago

At its very widest the channel is less than a mile across, so there is less than half a mile to go. Holy crap these things are slow, but apparently that would take less than ten minutes, less if aided by gale-force winds. Did ten minutes pass between "I can't handle this storm" and "oh shit I've killed us all"? Probably! https://www.google.com/maps/place/Table+Rock+Lake/ https://www.google.com/maps/place/Table+Rock+Lake/

jrs235 8y ago

"Then the awning drowned everyone when they couldn’t overpower the bouyancy of their jackets to get out from under it." Unfortunately, I heard reports that, no one had life jackets on.

duxup 8y ago
So many bad choices.
- jrs235 8y ago
  I heard from reports that the tour employees pointed to them and said they wouldn't be needed. Then when water started coming on board, reports said, some people stood up (possibly to get the life jackets) but the employees told everyone to stay sitting.
  - duxup 8y ago
    I'm going go all internet badass here and say I hope that I'd be strong enough to have have some harsh words and it would take some physical interaction for me not to get to those jackets.... I've been on the water enough to know how quick stuff can go bad and there's no time to get flotation devices out (not enough) to save most folks after it goes bad.
    - jessaustin 8y ago
      It's fine to imagine being badass, but remember that families with children and elderly people rode these things. At my most badass I could cut my way through the deathcanopy with my trusty pocketknife and maybe pull one small child to safety before the whole thing went to the bottom. What if there were three children and two old folks sitting near me? What a nightmare! Tour boats operated for the amusement of the general public must not sink quickly, even in choppy water.
      - duxup 8y ago
        Internet badass here again... if I'm there with my kids, that's why I'm being a badass. I'm not sitting in an unstable boat in a storm and not having a jacket on my family...