Darwin nominee?
When 21-year-old Zebulon Tryon and 18-year-old Chris Reuter planned to sail their newly purchased 27-foot boat the 288 miles from Catalina Island to Monterey, CA, they did so with little sailing experience but with the promise of communicating daily to family. They left last Friday, and after failing to check in as promised, their family called the Coast Guard on Sunday to initiate a search. The Coast Guard had an airplane and two helicopters searching by sunrise on Monday, soon finding the duo and later issuing them three citations in Port San Luis where they must now stay until they get those citations corrected. "They just didn't have the right radios or equipment on board. Their cell phones had died and couldn't be charged so they just didn't have contact with anyone," Petty officer Cory Mendall of the Coast Guard said.
The two sailors were cited for not having a personal flotation device, not having a sound producing device, and not having a visual distress signal.
Scuttlebutt question… is there anything else you would want to cite them for? Perhaps a Darwin Award?
Story source: http://www.ksby.com/Global/story.asp?S=10495611&nav=menu544_1
posted by Blogger @ 10:26 AM
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12 Comments:
Considering that you have to die to win a Darwin Award, I will go out on a limb and say that these two are not yet eligible.
While they survived, there should be some sort of 'award'.. I remember being involved in some brain-dead hi-jinks when I was their age so I won't stand in judgment of them so much. But, bemused that nobody was able to get through to them about the foolishness of this particular endeavor (due to the lack of preparation and knowledge) If they were missing USCG required stuff, imagine the other stuff (and skills/knowledge) they were missing....Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.
I don't have any idea how this came about, but here's some ideas for how to make sure it happens again (and again....)
1) Tell kids they're marvellous whenever their actions fall short of sheer idiocy
2) Rescue them from the consequences whenever their actions constitute sheer idiocy
3) Spend their childhood trying to be their friend and their adolescence going with the flow
4) Look elsewhere for reasons and excuses when their adulthood turns out to be on permanent hold.
In such a context, behaviour similar to that reported would meet all tests for rational behaviour.
Award them with a bill for the search and rescue efforts. If they don't have the cash, let them work it off around a Coast Guard station under adult supervision. They might pick up some knowledge there that will preclude such adventures in the future and perhaps save their lives.
Yea, probably not extreme enough for a Darwin. However, the awards people do permit you to live to receive an Honorable Mention.
I understand they were not prepared up to USCG standards, but why didn't they make it to port on their own? It was a SAILBOAT after all. Did their mast fall down? Did they not know how to use a chart and a compass?
None of the things listed in the citation would have prevented them from completing their journey or at least making it back to Catalina; only ignorance or system failure would have.
I think Mr. and Mrs. Tryon should be cited for poor judgement of giving the kid the name Zebulon.
As a retired Coast Guard Senior Chief, author of the Boat Smart Chronicles, and syndicated boating safety columnist, I have pushed for years for mandatory boating education whether sail, paddle craft or power. No, the Darwin award should not be awarded to these lads, but to those who resist mandatory boating education. The problem is there would not be enough awards to go around.
Darwin nominees usually are injured or narrowly escaped death. Neither is the case here; nevertheless, it seems that these two would be eliminated through natural selection.
In my opinion, their punishment is adequate (since these unwitting teens did survive), but their parents, who let them leave on an ocean voyage without PFDs, should be pilloried.
While it really shouldn't, this sort of behavior just amazes me.
My name is Zebulon Tryon, people call me zeb for short. O how vague this report is, this is not the true story of that great adventure. If you must know, we did it out of spite that 'experienced' sailors said we couldnt make the trip, and sailing up current with out motoring was madness. Pussies. We were not totally unprepared. We had a few manuals and got lots of help from local sailors, who thought we were nuts but decided that they werent going to change our minds and helped us anyway. We had a chart and some charting tools, learned how to mark our position, still have the map to prove that we knew exactly where we were the whole time. No gps, we were on a budget. No big deal though because we could see land for most the trip. We did call chris's mom when we reached catalina island, and from there our next port of call was port san luis. It took us 5 days to get there, and on the day that we were on our approach is when the USCG plane found us. They boarded our boat and were super negative about how unprepaired we were, parked our boat, said if we tried to sail with out the USCG requirements they were going to arrest us. Let me tell you somthing, in the 7 days we were out at sea, we have learned everything about sailing and it was second nature to us, we were born to sail. They wanted us to quit, to give up, no! We made it this far, we will make it all the way to Santa Cruz. Unfortunately we ran out of money and couldnt get the flares and PFD, (by the way we had lots of life jackets, they cited us for not having a throwable PFD), plus we were low on food. Then we met Captain kirk! A great sailor, he was impressed with our skills and bravery, and helped us in many ways. He got us the USCG requirments, bought us a ton of food, and loaned us a GPS which we promised to mail back. He knew a natural born sailor when he met one, and he believed in us, thanks captain Kirk. The rest of the trip took another 6 days, and it was the most amazing experience of my life! By the end of our trip we had learned how to sail, in a mere 12 days! How long does it take to learn from sailing school?? haha. We made the trip with the same boat yet again this last summer, this time we were alot better equiped and prepared. We were out at sea for a month. Chris is in florida getting his captains licends and we are planning on going beyond this coast in the near future. Im proud to say that in our professional way of doing things, we have had no accidents or man over boards. We were never lost at sea, and when the USCG found us, we were having a blast! We are not kids, we are men, and it was a test of our bravery. Yes we are young, but you were young once too, and didnt it irk you when your elders called you an idiot!?
My name is Zebulon Tryon, people call me zeb for short. O how vague this report is, this is not the true story of that great adventure. If you must know, we did it out of spite that 'experienced' sailors said we couldnt make the trip, and sailing up current with out motoring was madness. Pussies. We were not totally unprepared. We had a few manuals and got lots of help from local sailors, who thought we were nuts but decided that they werent going to change our minds and helped us anyway. We had a chart and some charting tools, learned how to mark our position, still have the map to prove that we knew exactly where we were the whole time. No gps, we were on a budget. No big deal though because we could see land for most the trip. We did call chris's mom when we reached catalina island, and from there our next port of call was port san luis. It took us 5 days to get there, and on the day that we were on our approach is when the USCG plane found us. They boarded our boat and were super negative about how unprepaired we were, parked our boat, said if we tried to sail with out the USCG requirements they were going to arrest us. Let me tell you somthing, in the 7 days we were out at sea, we have learned everything about sailing and it was second nature to us, we were born to sail. They wanted us to quit, to give up, no! We made it this far, we will make it all the way to Santa Cruz.
Unfortunately we ran out of money and couldnt get the flares and PFD, (by the way we had lots of life jackets, they cited us for not having a throwable PFD), plus we were low on food. Then we met Captain kirk! A great sailor, he was impressed with our skills and bravery, and helped us in many ways. He got us the USCG requirments, bought us a ton of food, and loaned us a GPS which we promised to mail back. He knew a natural born sailor when he met one, and he believed in us, thanks captain Kirk. The rest of the trip took another 6 days, and it was the most amazing experience of my life! By the end of our trip we had learned how to sail, in a mere 12 days! How long does it take to learn from sailing school?? haha. We made the trip with the same boat yet again this last summer, this time we were alot better equiped and prepared. We were out at sea for a month. Chris is in florida getting his captains licends and we are planning on going beyond this coast in the near future. Im proud to say that in our professional way of doing things, we have had no accidents or man over boards. We were never lost at sea, and when the USCG found us, we were having a blast! We are not kids, we are men, and it was a test of our bravery. Yes we are young, but you were young once too, and didnt it irk you when your elders called you an idiot!?
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