Sad but avoidable boating death article

[slice]

I just wanted to share this article from the San Francisco Chronicle. These guys were doing something they shouldn't have (overloaded boat and driving drunk) and it turned deadly for four of them. Now the driver of the boat has been arrested. Here's the text of the article:

Four young men from Oakland are feared dead today, and a fifth has been jailed on suspicion of felony manslaughter, after a 14-foot aluminum boat carrying them and six others capsized in the middle of the night in a delta canal near Tracy.

Using rescue boats and helicopters, the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department, the U.S. Coast Guard and the California Highway Patrol are still looking for the men, who were not wearing life preservers, said sheriff's spokesman Deputy Sheriff Les Garcia.

"We're in recovery mode," Garcia said. "It's feared they have been in the water so long that they couldn't survive."

Garcia said the boat sank after 10 men from Oakland, whose ages range from 18 to 43, went fishing in the man-made Grant Line Canal near the Tracy Oasis Marina on West Grimes Road.

At about 1 a.m. Sunday, a person on shore called the sheriff's department after hearing screams for help, Garcia said.

Garcia said the men, who were drinking alcohol, exceeded the boat's capacity, causing it to sink. He said none of the men wore life preservers, and some didn't know how to swim. Six of the men made it to shore.

The sheriff's department sent a rescue boat to look for the remaining men, and the Coast Guard dispatched a boat and a helicopter, Garcia said. The CHP also sent a helicopter to try to spot the men from above and help searchers on the water.

At 5:30 a.m. Sunday, the suspected driver of the boat was booked into the San Joaquin County Jail in French Camp on suspicion of felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, jail records show.

Daniel Martinez Cordova, 43, is being held in lieu of $400,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned in Stockton on Tuesday.

Garcia stressed that boating and alcohol don't mix.

E-mail Demian Bulwa at dbulwa@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page B - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle

[gatorblazer]

How did a 14' boat holding 10 people even make it from the dock?

[Grey Wolf]

Licquer and stupidity makes bad bed partners.

I feel pain for their families.

[fishfordollars]

Sad story, but you just can't fix stupid. Boats and alcohol do not mix.

[Sam]

Alcohol is not allowed on my boat.

Everyone wears a PFD, even my granddog.

Idiots usually remove themselves from society as illustrated in the article.

[fishfordollars]

I will allow friends to drink in my boat as long as it is in moderation. Personally, I have not had a drink in my boat in over 25 years. Just do not enjoy the feeling or the taste anymore.

[Al Wolbach]

Betcha 10 bucks they didn't need life jackets to cross the Rio Grande either.........................Al