“... by the arrogance and stupidity of youth..”
The young have always been arrogant and stupid when it comes to making decisions. That is why PARENTS make the rules and enforce them... because they were once young, arrogant and stupid. IMHO, the parents of these boys both misjudged their passion for boating as experience and maturity. Sadly.. they will have to live with the consequences. I’m not a boater (and I know many FReepers are) but I am sure there could have been some limits to how far out they went which would have allowed them some freedom and the time to acquire more experience.
And one can control this issue with a long long rope. Right?
Kids are kids and push boundaries.
Blessings to the families in their time of troubles.
Yes, and 99% of the time (fortunately) there are no serious consequences, but when you add a small boat and a large ocean bad judgment can be fatal, and I suspect that in this case it was.
From what I understand the boys were not cleared by their parents to go to the Bahamas or anywhere far from shore but the decisions were left to the kids. No Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) with them is a big red flag for parental oversight.
The captain cited in the article is wise to say he could not tell if they were kids when he saw them going into the storm. On the ocean you ARE your brothers’ keeper. The captain would be expected to intervene on their behalf if their judgment was in question -as it would be with youthful or inexperienced boaters. If he ID-d them as kids he is remiss in his obligations as a captain.