The San Luis Story and how you can learn from it
By Tom Malech, San Jose Fly Shop
I spent the next two mornings on the face of San Luis dam going over the series of events that ended a young and fine man's life late Wednesday. Jeff Ketelson, who survived the incident, told me the story. This is basically what I heard. Jeff is probably the only person alive who could tell us exactly how it happened.
Apparently, Mark Harrup and Jeff had been fishing in the safer, less windy areas of the lake when the wind died down. They decided to make a run for their current favorite spot near the trash racks. For those who don't know the lake, the trash racks are a series of structures near the face of the dam. They hooked a few stripers then got into a double. Neither one noticed a small amount of water splashing into the back of the boat. By the time they realized it, they were drifting close to the dam. They immediately tried to start the motor and bilge pump. Both were failing. After a few minutes they were able to start the motor and tried to get the boat going fast so they could get the water out. With so much water in the boat, the engine was riding low and when it got wet, it quit. Soon, the boat capsized, and they were in four foot waves with the sun going down. For a while they were able to hang on the boat but the air bubble holding it up escaped. The boat was sinking. They had a small piece of wood and the fuel tank to grab onto. Mark was struggling and Jeff pushed the piece of wood to him and made a swim for the fuel tank that was quickly getting away. Soon afterward they lost sight of each other. Jeff made it to a cable near the trash racks where he hung on to life for the next three hours until being rescued just before midnight.
I guess the message here is that not only do things happen fast, it usually takes a whole series of unexpected events to create a catastrophic ending. Mark was not a strong swimmer and was wearing jeans and heavy shoes. Mark's boat, a 15 ft. Cobia, was not a "floatable". Even I assumed it was. It's easy to say they should have done XYZ. Jeff told me they knew some problems were mounting, but they thought they would be able to take care of them. Not until the boat was capsized did they realize how serious the situation had become. I asked about life jackets. He said that when they realized the boat was going to flip it was too late to grab them. They thought they could float with the capsized boat safely back to shore. They didn't think it would sink.
The whole thing is a terrible tragedy. I can't do anything to undo Mark's death at this point. What I can do is tell you that although they look funny and can be uncomfortable at times, life jackets can make the difference between life and death, but only if they're worn. When you go out in your boat, pontoon, float tube, or even wading a fast stream, remember this story. I have made it my personal crusade to get more people to wear their life jackets on the water.
[A memorial fund has been set up for Mark's 3 month old son, Andrew Mark III (Trey). The Mark Harrup site is http://www.33degrees.ca/harrup/index.cfm.]
Taken with permission from http://forums.sanjoseflyshop.com/blogs/