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Vacation Safety: Sink or swim

By Megan Roth

I went to the gym this morning and, as I worked out, I watched the news coverage of the ongoing tragedy that has taken Florida by storm.

For those of you who haven't followed, I'll bring you up to speed real quick: Saturday evening a boat capsized off the Florida Gulf Coast and four men went missing. One of the men was rescued Monday; however, the other three are still unaccounted for (the official search was called off Tuesday).

The three still missing are NFL defensive lineman Corey Smith, South Florida player William Bleakley and Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper. Given their celebrity status, the case has drawn much attention (both locally and on a national level).

And it's no wonder; the case is devastating – especially considering the group had set out for a fun-filled fishing excursion on a 21-foot fishing boat and had no idea what was in store later that day.

And while such fishing trips don't result as such that often, it's important to know that it can happen and that fishing itself (especially deep sea fishing) is not a harmless activity.

When most think of the dangers of deep sea fishing we think about motion sickness, unpleasant and unsanitary conditions and the potential to get sunburned.

The thought of getting lost at sea doesn't generally cross our minds; however, in light of recent events, maybe it should.

Such excursions often take place along coastlines as that's where larger fish are often found; also involved in such fishing trips along the coast are incremental weather conditions, which require that fishing boats be extra tough.

Well, sometimes ‘extra' tough just doesn't cut it; the whipping winds and brutal waves can cause boats to capsize, as was the case over the weekend.

Turns out, such is the case more often than one would assume. In fact, in the last five months alone the Coast Guard has received approximately 200 reports of such instances.

Way more than I would've guessed or hoped to hear. And, unfortunately, like all other accidents, there's no way to predict whether or not this will happen to you. One thing we do know, however, is that it can happen to you. So safeguard yourself from the unpleasantries as best your able but keep in mind that there's still no guarantee – on anything…

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Megan Roth

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on March 05, 2009 (boomark / email).