GL: Another rough Gulf crossing, captain missing.

[Seasalt007 at aol.com]

Since I know the boat in question (50'+ Hatteras or Bertram)  and have  
crossed the gulf over 20 times, here is my best guess for what happened.
 
All night run of about 150 nautical miles. This time of year daylight is  
getting limited so in order to get across in daylight you have to run very fast  
or duck in to some places you don't want to go because of long winding 
channels  or shallow water. So most go on an overnighter at about 10 kts. Leave Fl  
panhandle late evening and arrive in Tampa or Tarpon Springs or Clearwater the  
next morning.
 
Two man crew, I think. One on bridge of the sport fish and one sleeping.  
Change every few hours. Guy on bridge goes down to cockpit to take an whiz. Wave  
hits and he falls over. The other guy is asleep inside or on bridge. 
And...it's  very dark out there.
 
I have been there and done that but didn't fall over. Lucky.
 
Doc



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