VIRGINIA BEACH
Police said a 3- to 4-foot wave struck the side of an 18-foot boat, stalling its engine before it overturned in the Chesapeake Bay on Wednesday morning.
Two Arizona fishermen -- Allen Dedrick, 69, and Ned Rokey, 89 -- died when they were dumped into 45-degree water. Four others were rescued. Virginia Beach police declined to release their names.
Beach police spokesman Adam Bernstein said the survivors told investigators they tried to restart the boat and tried to put on life vests when they were thrown overboard. Police are still investigating the accident.
The men had come to Virginia Beach to fish for stripers near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
Mike Hanna, manager of the Maryland Pilots Association Cape Henry station, and other rescuers saved the four men.
On Wednesday, Coast Guard watchstanders heard the first beckon for help at 9 a.m.: "Mayday, mayday."
The boaters from Arizona either didn't know how to pinpoint their location or didn't have time. But the Coast Guard cross-checked the signal from several rescue towers and dispatched a crew from Little Creek.
Petty Officer Robert Polson soon saw the capsized boat, then a man, half in and half out of the water, clinging to the engine.
Two Maryland Pilots launch captains saw a swimmer in the water and a Coast Guard rescue helicopter hovering, hoisting people into a basket. Matthew Bailey and Reed Sutherland could see three people clinging to the side of the overturned fishing boat. They found one man floating about 100 yards from the overturned boat and pulled him onboard with them.
Hanna, in another Pilots launch boat, saw two other men in camouflage gear, but without life jackets, floating face down.
Rescuers knew they didn't have much time: In 45-degree seas, hypothermia would set in and a person would be unconscious in 30 minutes to an hour.
About a half-hour after the mayday call, Virginia Beach Fire Capt. Billy Burket was driving over the Lesner Bridge and saw a hovering helicopter and a Virginia Pilot boat. Burket, a member of the department's marine team, was headed to Ocean City, Md., to conduct a seminar on cold-water survival.
His cell phone rang. It was the pilot tower:
"Bill, we have six people in the water here."
Burket turned around, hopped on a Pilot boat and headed for the scene, where they pulled alongside another Virginia Pilot boat.
"We got two patients on here!" they called over.
Burket jumped to the other boat. One man was in cardiac arrest, and the second had hypothermia. Burket thought the man 's heart could fail at any minute. He asked the man his name but got no answer.
"Let's get this boat in," he told the Pilot boat captain, and they headed for awaiting medical help.
As rescuers worked, their boats bobbed in 3- to 5-foot waves and 20- to 25-knot winds whipping near-freezing air. Burket said the fingers of rescuers performing CPR went numb within 10 minutes.
By then, the Coast Guard's rescue swimmer, Petty Officer Drew Dazzo, had hoisted two people into the helicopter and made sure the four others were on rescue boats.
Coast Guard Lt. Kevin Saunders said none of the men was wearing life jackets or immersion suits, which are recommended if there's a chance of being exposed to cold water. Dedrick was the boat's owner, according to the Arizona Republic newspaper.
The men apparently made a habit of hauling the boat all the way from Arizona to fish for striped bass at this time of year. Recently, the director's office at the Virginia Beach Department of Parks and Recreation had received a letter from Ric Rokey of Mesa, Ariz.
Rokey wanted "to send along an Atta-Boy" to the men who run the Lynnhaven boat ramp.
"For the past five years we have been making the long drive... to your city," Rokey wrote. "We arrive in early December to chase stripers for a week... then store the boat and truck... and fly home for Christmas. We then fly back to Virginia Beach for another week of fishing... "
Rokey said one man at the marina takes photos of them boarding their boat in the morning, then leaves the pictures on their car windshield.
"That is just one example," he wrote, "of how ALL of those guys act when we 'Zonies' arrive at the ramp."
The men were father and son, respectively, according to the Arizona newspaper. Ned Rokey had been a veterinarian, the paper reported.
In 2006, Ned Rokey was named the Arizona Game and Fish Department's Outdoor Father of the Year after being nominated by his son.
In his nomination letter, Ric Rokey described his father as an avid outdoorsman who passed his love of hunting and fishing to his sons. The fish and game department posted his words about his father on its Web site:
“Pop started our (my brother and myself) fishing education just after we moved to Mesa in 1957," Ric Rokey wrote.
"A trip that long always had to include camping for a couple of nights, so he not only taught us how to fish but also to become proficient campers as well. I recall once when we forgot to put in a frying pan, pop showed us how to cook bacon and eggs on a shovel head placed on the coals of a fire. We were taught to clean up our campsite, extinguish the fire, and even to leave kindling for the next person."
“When summer heat hit, it was time for trout fishing in the cool pine scented air of the high country. It was on these trips that Pop broke us in on the use of a fly rod and also tactfully introduced us to the fact that catching-and-releasing a fish was not only okay, but the thing to do."
“What a wonderful thing that our dad passed to both of his sons: a love of hunting, fishing, and a respect for the outdoors that has endured in us and we have passed on to our own families now for some 50 years."
Pilot staff writers Duane Bourne, Cindy Clayton, Aaron Applegate, Deirdre Fernandes and Debbie Messina contributed to this report.
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This is my uncle that all of
This is my uncle that all of you are speaking about. Two individuals have died in this accident. This truly is a sensitive issue, and some people just don't realize that other people read what you write on the internet. Some of your comments have taught me that we don't have a lot of people in this world who are compassionate. Thank you to all of you who sent your thoughts and prayers to my family! Fishing was his life and his passion for years. Have any of you tried to make a 70 year old man change his ways?
Flat Bottom Boat??
Chriss17590 you need to read Harold Jackson's remarks in his posting.
fishing
The Bay is closed to the taking of striped bass. Catch and release fishing is still allowed. In a post on a local fishing website these gentlemen had posted that they catch, photo and release on their annual trips. This is a tragedy. God bless their families during this difficult time.
Too Bad
The bay season is closed and may be they were heading for the ocean. I go in and out the inlet a hundred of times a year(I live on Lynnhaven inlet). The wind was strong NW yesterday morning and the tide was incoming. Both tide and wind in the same direction making the inlet VERY rough. They were taking it head on. Bottom line is overloaded boat and steep high waves especially at the entrance bouy had to of filled the boat with water and that is why a Mayday was called in then the boat capsized. The wind dropped out and was the bay was not that rough by noon. If they had only waited!!! The bay was like a mill pond this morning. It's a shame and if they had only used better judgement this would have never happened
terrible tragedy
What an awesome story of these guys coming annually from Arizona to fish, and an extremely tragic end. Hind-sight of al the woulda-shoulda-coulda's does no good at this juncture. Anyone with a brain has learned a lesson here. Whatever was in their minds to be out there in that particular spot is prtobably just gutsy guys thinking brave and got themselves in trouble. Perhaps the riskiest aspect was an overloaded 18 ft boat. May God bless their families and may the remaining 4 carry on their wonderful tradition of coming here to fish in honor of the two who have left us.
"to fish for striped bass at this time of year"
Isn't the Bay closed for Striped Bass Fishing this time of the year??
Survival Coat
I recommend wearing a cold water survival coat which is a combination life jacket with hypothermia protection when boating in cold weather. Mustang makes a good one which is used by the coast guard and military. It is quite comfortable and buys you survival time.
So Sad
i am very sad about this tradgedy, but on the other hand, these boaters need to know your rules of the water. Thats why i agree that every person that has been on the water needs to at least take a basic coast guard course, they need to know that on a 18ft center console no more than 3 people need to be in that boat at a time. i feel very bad for the families of these boaters. And also at this time of the year you can not even fish in the bay and i hope that these guys were not venturing to the ocean where it is legal to fish during this part of the season.
god bless there families,
your story yesterday was
your story yesterday was much more accurate especially concerning the first paragargh of the present. Regardless, prayers out to the family who lost their loved ones.
This doesn't make sense
This tragedy is senseless. Why the marina allowed them to launch in the first place is beyond comprehension.
Too many/Too small
Spent 12.5 years in the USN as a Quartermaster(Navigator)piloting large ships, small craft, LCAC, and such and learned the hard way, "FOLLOW THE RULES" if your boat calls for a maximum limit of 3 people then by God no more than 3 people on board regardless of the weather. My prayers go out to the families, but common sense was not followed in this case and Murphy won again.
Let this be a lesson to all you younger (and some older boaters) out there, never try to outdo the limits of your boat, if you go out with friends and the situation looks even just a little risky try to politely tell your buddies of your concerns, but if they insist on still going out in the unstable craft decline the invite, at least you will be able to attend their funerals.
what a horrible way to die,
what a horrible way to die, especially for an 89 year old man. god bless them all. what could they have been thinking?
Hard Lesson to Learn
I realize that the familes and loved ones are dealing with a tragic life changing event but unless you have a deathwish do not venture into the Chesapeake bay on a boat this small especially on a day like today.
As a boater on the bay for years, I often am puzzled when I see a small aluminum boat such as this out by the islands. Do these folks not realize there is only 8-12 inch at best of free board keeping the water on the out side of the boat? It is bad enough to see this in the summer when you only have to fight the tremendous currents of the bay. But folks when the water is 46 degrees and there are 3-5 seas forecasted why in the name of Heaven would you venture out in a boat with only 8-12 inches of free board? And I bet at the transome where the engine hangs there is even less that cleared above the water line.
Boaters, please read this and next time you consider going out take a serious look at your equipment as it sits in the water and consider how small a wave it would take to over-wash the sides.
I hope to see all of you out there enjoying the water with me. Let's make this a lesson for all of us!
cold water survival
from the United States Search and rescue Taskforce website on cold water survival:
"Should you find yourself in the water, avoid panic. Air trapped in clothing can provide buoyancy as long as you remain still in the water. Swimming or treading water will greatly increase heat loss and can shorten survival time by more than 50%."
life jackets
Life jackets will help in the prevention of hypothermia. When you are forced to swim to stay afloat, your body reacts by sending more blood to your extremities to supply your muscles which then results in more rapid loss of heat to the surronding water and therefore you will more quickly become hypothermic. Also upon immersion into cold water, the victim will often experiance shock and will not be able to stay afloat. A life jacket will allow the person to stay afloat and greatly increase their chance of survival. Anyone that goes fishing or boating in cold water conditions should read up on cold water survival.
My condolences to the families. This is a tragic accident.
Tragic
My sympathies go out to the families of the victims. And I cannot believe that some people on this board are actually arguing as to what type of boat and/or hull it was!!! You've got to be KIDDING!
Deep Vee aluminum boats
I have a deep vee Tracker boat. They are made for the great lakes and handle the weather. I would not have taken my boat out in this weather. I believe the max compacity is 5 adults or 850LBS People and gear. With the water temps out there the only good a life jacket would be is to keep you afloat and adrift in the current. It's a tragic loss at any rate. A family has to go home less one member. The water and weather are unforgiving forces. Lets pray for the family and review our future decisions to go out in less than favorable conditions
Enjoy the outdoors
Tight lines
60willys
Don't worry, they won't!
60willys
Multiple life jackets were picked up out of the water in the debris field.
Martin
Lifejackets don't prevent hypothermia. Wet suits would have been better.