Wednesday, July 29, 2009

"Stranded Boaters Rescued "

On Braunig Lake.
A woman and two of her nephews were rescued early Wednesday after being stranded on Braunig Lake for six hours.

Gilda Valdez and her 7- and 27-year-old nephews launched from the Braunig Lake boat dock for a night of fishing around 10 p.m. when their boat's battery died in the middle of the lake.

Valdez then called 311 for help, but assistance never arrived due to a miscommunication between 311 dispatchers and 911 dispatchers who never sent rescue crews, Valdez said.

"It was a very, very long time," Valdez said. "I was more concerned about them."

Around 4 a.m., Valdez called 911 again, and this time, rescue crews were dispatched to the lake and got the boaters safely to land.
(from KSAT-12)

Perhaps this would be a good time to buy a couple of paddles, and then learn how to use them. Or at least teach your 27-year-old nephew how. Braunig Lake isn't that big.

2 comments:

Dave said...

I saw this story and just wondered to myself, why did they sit around in a dead boat for so long before deciding to make a second call to 911 or somebody else since they obviously had a cell phone?

Sure, you can expect to have to wait a little while for a rescue crew, but seriously, if they felt they were in any sort of danger (which apparently they weren't - which negates it as a news story) why not call back every ten minutes to get a status on thier rescue?

More importantly, did they catch anything during all that time out there?

Albatross said...

Besides, isn't night fishing usually done from the pier or the shore? I really don't know. I've never done much night fishing.