posted 10-23-2011 09:30 AM ET (US)        

A Toledo, Ohio couple, their family, and some friends took a last-trip-of-the-season cruise on Sunday, October 9, from their homeport at the Toledo Yacht Club, across Southwest Lake Erie, to Monroe, Michigan, where they had dinner. On the return trip, the boat was being piloted from its flying bridge, and a group was sitting on foredeck. The captain's wife was in the cockpit and planning to return to the bow by walking on the boat's gunwales, when she lost her balance and fell overboard into Lake Erie about a mile off the Michigan shore.

No one saw or heard the woman fall into the water, and apparently the group on the bow thought she was with the group on the flying bridge, and vice versa. The 32-foot Marinette cruiser continued on for about an hour before the woman was missed aboard.

Once in the water, the 52-year-old woman realized no one on the boat could hear her cries for help. She composed herself and swam about a mile to shore, using the lights at a DTE [power plant] near Monroe as a target. The swim took about [two-hours-thirty minutes, as best as I can figure] in the 60-degree water. After she came ashore at the DTE facility, a DTE employee found her, and she was given some coffee and warmed with blankets. She called her husband on the boat on a cellular telephone to let him know she was OK. She was later examined at a local hospital and found to have [some degree of] hypothermia.

posted 10-23-2011 07:43 PM ET (US)            

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/warrent/Misc/LakeErie.gif

posted 10-23-2011 08:01 PM ET (US)            

I'm sure alcohol wasn't a factor. :-)

posted 10-23-2011 11:33 PM ET (US)            

To add a bit of the bizarre to the story, the woman apparently fell in while clutching some sort of a goofy hat and a large plastic mug, and when she came ashore she still had them with her.

posted 10-23-2011 11:56 PM ET (US)            

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/warrent/Misc/Donkeyhatandcup.gif

posted 10-24-2011 12:47 AM ET (US)            

"Richard Nearhood called 911 from the lake at 9:04 p.m. to report his wife missing. Rescuers found their boat stopped about 2 1/2 miles southeast of the River Raisin, Plath said."

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/warrent/Misc/ MonroeHarborChannel-1.gif

Looks pretty easy to go back in the Monroe Harbor Channel, even if they didn't have a GPS.

posted 10-24-2011 01:10 AM ET (US)            

Information from "Station 45005 (LLNR 5555) - W ERIE 28NM Northwest of Cleveland, OH Image indicating link to RSS feed of recent meteorological observations for station 45005".

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/data/realtime2/45005.txt

Look at October 9th.

posted 10-24-2011 02:08 AM ET (US)            

Enlarge the middle picture and you'll see almost everyone is holding a beer.

http://www.toledoblade.com/North/2011/08/17/ Bedford-couple-get-star-visit.html

The comments are interesting.

http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2011/10/10/ Temperance-woman-treated-for-hypothermia-after-fall-from-boat.html

Anyway, it's okay to have fun on the water. Just try to be safe.

posted 10-24-2011 09:11 AM ET (US)            

Warren, your guess that the boat did not travel the entire distance of the Monroe Harbor channel before turning south is a good one. I would guess, however, that they turned south much closer to, or even beyond, Buoy #3. Most boaters familiar with the area are aware of the shallow water off of Raisin Point and steer well clear of the area.

posted 10-24-2011 12:04 PM ET (US)            

http://www.monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111014/NEWS01/ 710149989

posted 10-24-2011 12:23 PM ET (US)            

One hour later the boat crew realizes she is missing. Let's call this point B.

Point A, where she falls overboard is described as 1-mile offshore.

Point B, where she is noticed missing is 2.5-miles offshore.

posted 10-24-2011 02:03 PM ET (US)            

http://newimages.yachtworld.com/resize/1/81/8/888108_0_030820101723_1. jpg?f=/1/81/8/888108_0_030820101723_1.jpg&w=600&h=450&t=1280885012000

I'm sure the boat designer would say that access to the bow was intended from the square hatch in the deck, but the convenience and practicality of that just about guarantee that folks will walk along the gunwale to get forward.

posted 10-24-2011 03:32 PM ET (US)            

quote:

---

She was holding onto the upper rail when the boat suddenly hit a wave, causing her to be thrown into the water backwards.

---

posted 10-24-2011 05:57 PM ET (US)            

Let each of us jump into the lake about 1 mile out and let's see how many of us can make it to shore while clutching the hat and cup.

It just doesn't sound reasonable to me.

Warren

posted 10-24-2011 06:15 PM ET (US)            

She said she clung onto to the cup and donkey hat.

posted 10-24-2011 07:00 PM ET (US)            

It's about a 20 mile trip from Clamdiggers in Monroe back to their dock at the Ottawa River Yacht Club in Toledo.

Is the river from Clamdiggers to Lake Erie a no wake zone? I'm guessing that if it is, the captain hit the gas as he entered Lake Erie and that's when she lost her balance and fell overboard. She said she fell on her back, which I feel is unusual if she is leaning forward while trying to grab the handrail.....

Sherlock Holmes. :-)

posted 10-24-2011 07:03 PM ET (US)            

The hateful things begun in news stories and comments of those news stories were terrible to read. Sometimes I am so disappointed in people.

posted 10-24-2011 08:50 PM ET (US)            

http://www.monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111014/NEWS01/ 710149989

Richard Nearhood works as a part-time marine officer for the Monroe County Sheriff's Office.

Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. John Plath says Amy got bumped and fell overboard at the back of the boat.

http:/ / www. freep. com/ article/ 20111010/ NEWS06/ 111010007/ Boater-5 2-swims-shore-after-falling-into-Lake-Erie?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext% 7CFRONTPAGE

The story is inconsistent.

Warren

posted 10-24-2011 08:53 PM ET (US)            

Originally I posted this because I though it was of interest on several topics:

--accidents happen; you can fall in; maybe you should wear that PFD with the strobe light attached when boating at night; (you have one, don't you?)

--even (what we would like to think of as) sophisticated boaters--a law enforcement professional from a marine patrol--can have strange things happen that are beyond their control, particularly at night, on their boat;

--if you do fall in, and you can see the shore, it looks like a good move to head in that direction rather than tread water waiting for the boat to come back;

--the drive or instinct for self preservation can be a strong motivator in adverse situations.

Here's my take-away from this:

--I need a strobe light attachment for the PDF's if we are boating at night;

--I am going to keep a better watch on the crew and where they are at all times when boating;

posted 10-27-2011 02:09 PM ET (US)            

I used to distance swim at a local beach, with friends. There were marked 1/4 mile and 1/2 mile buoys. I was not as strong as the others and would do the 1/4 mile each way, while they did the half. If the water was 66 degrees or less, I wore a spring suit. I did this M-F @ 5 pm, for years. I was in my mid-20's and conditioned to the swim and the location. Swimming in the dark, in the same location, was an entirely different event. You inevitable fail to swim a straight line. It is almost twice as much effort to stay on course.

I also used to take a canoe to a local outdoor concert venue on the water. There were dozens of folks-kayaks, RIBS, small boats, etc. all tied up, watching for free. I launched from the same location every time, did it dozens of times. The evening always included a glass or two of wine. One night, on my return, I found myself over a mile off my launch point. Several key houses/landmarks were poorly lit that night.

The articles do NOT describe her as a seasoned distance swimmer. You can almost be certain alcohol played a factor, and that the ER that evaluated her did an ETOH level, to assist them with her medical management. We will not know those results because of HIPAA and a lack of investigation/charges.

The waves were supposedly 0.1 meters that night, about 4". That seems insignificant on a 32 ft. boat, with an unknown to me, beam.

posted 10-28-2011 10:49 AM ET (US)         

What do you thnk the chances are that alcohol played a part in your conception?

Is that why you are always harping on this?

posted 10-28-2011 11:45 AM ET (US)            

There were lots of questions about that as well.