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Missing boy in POC

17,173 Views | 75 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by mAgnoliAg
TH36
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Figured I'd post this on here since a bunch of us fish/hunt POC. There's a post on Facebook that there is a boy who hit a barge in the inter coastal (best I can tell) yesterday evening late and is missing. Supposedly he was last pinged down by Dewberry. (His phone was pinged on the barrier island). The Mom says a coast guard chopper was there but left to refuel I assume. It's locals looking right now and I'd assume law enforcement. He's 5'10 and was wearing a camo jacket and rubber boots.

Edit to add: He was headed to the Sanctuary neighborhood.
MOCO9
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AG
Lord I pray that he is ok
TH36
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MOCO9 said:

Lord I pray that he is ok


Doesn't sound good. There was someone else with him and he's alive but in bad shape it sounds like. I guess they had another boat with them that saw everything happen. Their boat was lodged up underneath the front of the barge, which isn't good.
Aggieangler93
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AG
Praying for these boys.
Class of '93 - proud Dad of a '22 grad and a '26 student!
TH36
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I'd say they're still looking.
water turkey
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Jesus, I hope he can be found safe…..

I've flown down the Inter-coastal in the dark going duck hunting. In the fog, those parked barges appear quick.

Also drifted over to one side in dense fog near Sargent and heard whooshing going by. They were piers, I had drifted all the way over to the bank and almost was going under them. Had no clue where I was within the waterway.
schmellba99
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AG
Its easy to get absolutely turned around in foggy conditions and not even know it. Scary easy.
SquanchyAg
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It's easy to not see one of those barges at night, regardless of whether it is foggy at night. those things can have 500 feet of barge being pushed before there is ever a light on their boat. and they are super quiet.
Aggieangler93
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AG
I agree. I think they are supposed to have lights on the front but I could be wrong. I have also had some close calls with barges in foggy conditions. Even with great lights on my own boat.
Class of '93 - proud Dad of a '22 grad and a '26 student!
fullback44
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AG
My buddy lives in Port Lavaca.. he has a 16 yr old son.. he said these kids are running fast at night using GPS only .. he said they are supposedly getting it from some of the guides that are doing the same thing.

The one kid is still missing .. I have met his dad at least 5-6 times down there .. sad situation all around

Also they are still running barges up and down the channel while looking for the missing kid…. Not an ideal situation.. those boats suck in the water with full barges .. not good all around
RCR06
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AG
Several years ago we were going down the Neches River in a buddies bass boat. Around 530 am in the morning. Lots of ambient light from the industrial facilities, but there are lots of dark areas too. We see a push boat with barges headed toward us head on, but a good ways away. We maneuver around the barges. We can't see the size of the wake behind the push boat, but based on what we normally encounter during the day aren't very concerned. For whatever reason the wake was much higher than normal. One second we're running normal and the next we're looking at the stars. Came down hard. Scared us to say the least, but no damage or injuries.
AustinCountyAg
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Any update on this kid?
TH36
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Sounds like they're still looking for his body. Currently using sonar and down imaging.

Hate to say this but it's an example of why we should wear PFD's. I'm guilty of not doing it too, I always try to wear one at night though. At least if something happens your loved ones can find your body.
SquanchyAg
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fullback44 said:

My buddy lives in Port Lavaca.. he has a 16 yr old son.. he said these kids are running fast at night using GPS only .. he said they are supposedly getting it from some of the guides that are doing the same thing.

The one kid is still missing .. I have met his dad at least 5-6 times down there .. sad situation all around

Also they are still running barges up and down the channel while looking for the missing kid…. Not an ideal situation.. those boats suck in the water with full barges .. not good all around
you just can't run at night with GPS only when you are going that fast, or at any speed. those barges are almost silent. and anything else in the water - dredging pipes, buoys, etc. can cause a nightmare.

it's definitely a sad situation, but there's no way they are keeping barges from going up and down the channel while they are looking for this kid. those companies aren't going to take the $$ hit.

as much water as those barges move and the tides, they need to be looking further out the small jetties toward the big jetties instead of just in the channel. I'm sure they are though.
Jett01
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AG
I'm originally from Port Lavaca and have been following. They seem to have narrowed down an area and sounds like they are figuring out a game plan for tomorrow. They found his cap on land so I think they might be searching near that area
SquanchyAg
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that might be a good sign if his cap was found on land. assuming it didn't just wash up there. hopefully they find him alive.
Jett01
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AG
Weird, they literally just removed the picture of the cap and changed the caption. It had been posted since 1pm-ish
schmellba99
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AG
SquanchyAg said:

that might be a good sign if his cap was found on land. assuming it didn't just wash up there. hopefully they find him alive.


I hope they do.

But the reality is that even down on the Texas coast, this time of year the water temps will put somebody into a hypothermic state in a short amount of time. So even if drowning isnt the issue, exposure crtainly is.

Holding out hope though, i think we all are on here.
oragator
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Was watching an episode of north woods law the other day.
Two hunters in a small skiff reported missing, boat found submerged in the river. Did a body heat search from the plane on all the nearby land and found nothing all night. Guys were hunters so they also fired shotguns hoping for a return reply and got nothing.
So assuming they were dead, divers came out the next day looking for the bodies. The hunters walked out of the marsh to the wardens who were searching for them. Apparently they had walked several miles inland looking for help, which is why they were nit found.
They were cold but otherwise fine. You just never know,
TXCAV
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I'm a hunting/fishing guide and grew up on the water, USCG Capt. I have personally also ran up on barges in the dark. It's easier than you think. Those barges when empty will tower over a small vessel. Yes they are required to have navigation lights, one red on port (left), one green starboard (right) and a white mast head light on the tug. The problem being is that even with normal visibility levels at night, no fog/rain/exc, when you are approaching a vessel of that size head on, the navigation lights of the barge may not easily be visible due to how high out of the water and how far apart the lights are. The lights will be mounted in the corner of the barge. The average barge can be <150ft long by <25ft wide, and when empty the top deck can be over 10ft above the water. A standard barge is 195' x 35'. For reference the average small vessel is less than 6ft wide. In the dark is it difficult to judge the distance at which the light is. I have seen double longs, double wides, and triples being pushed down the ICW. The tug is required to keep a watchstander 24/7 while the vessel is on the water. Should the watchstander see the vessel approaching and not giving way, they will use the massive spotlight and horn to get their attention.

Lately there has been a lot of boats headed out in the dark without running proper navigation lights, especially from duck hunters. Not sure behind their reasoning behind that, but its extremely dangerous. The one thing that remains the same from all these terrible incidents, as far as I know, no one was wearing their PFD. While a PFD may not save your life in the event of a catastrophic boating accident, it will make your body easier to recover. You may die from impact, propeller, exposure, exc, but your friends and family will have closure. No one is waterproof, it can happen to any one, and it has happened to the best of them. Be safe out on the water. Boater's education should be as heavily enforced and regulated as hunter's ed and a driving license.
confucius_ag
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AG
Is there a reason large vessels do not have marker lights all along both sides?
Aggieangler93
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AG
TXCAV said:

I'm a hunting/fishing guide and grew up on the water, USCG Capt. I have personally also ran up on barges in the dark. It's easier than you think. Those barges when empty will tower over a small vessel. Yes they are required to have navigation lights, one red on port (left), one green starboard (right) and a white mast head light on the tug. The problem being is that even with normal visibility levels at night, no fog/rain/exc, when you are approaching a vessel of that size head on, the navigation lights of the barge may not easily be visible due to how high out of the water and how far apart the lights are. The lights will be mounted in the corner of the barge. The average barge can be <150ft long by <25ft wide, and when empty the top deck can be over 10ft above the water. A standard barge is 195' x 35'. For reference the average small vessel is less than 6ft wide. In the dark is it difficult to judge the distance at which the light is. I have seen double longs, double wides, and triples being pushed down the ICW. The tug is required to keep a watchstander 24/7 while the vessel is on the water. Should the watchstander see the vessel approaching and not giving way, they will use the massive spotlight and horn to get their attention.

Lately there has been a lot of boats headed out in the dark without running proper navigation lights, especially from duck hunters. Not sure behind their reasoning behind that, but its extremely dangerous. The one thing that remains the same from all these terrible incidents, as far as I know, no one was wearing their PFD. While a PFD may not save your life in the event of a catastrophic boating accident, it will make your body easier to recover. You may die from impact, propeller, exposure, exc, but your friends and family will have closure. No one is waterproof, it can happen to any one, and it has happened to the best of them. Be safe out on the water. Boater's education should be as heavily enforced and regulated as hunter's ed and a driving license.
I have also been in the same situation before. Empty barges have lights that are 10-12 feet off the water, and if you are not approaching them from a distance, many times you wouldn't know they are there because you don't see those lights. One morning we came around a corner in some fog slow rolling, in a channel, and there was a barge that had nosed aground and was perpendicular across the channel. I couldn't make any sense of their light configuration once we saw the barge so we just stopped. Took us a while to idle around and figure out what we were looking at. Definitely not what I would have expected in that spot.

I'm praying they find this kid. I don't envy their task as currents in that part of the ICW can be very strong with oncoming barges passing each other often there in the POC waters where the channel widens.
Class of '93 - proud Dad of a '22 grad and a '26 student!
Aggieangler93
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AG
confucius_ag said:

Is there a reason large vessels do not have marker lights all along both sides?
To combat what we are talking about, those lights would be 4-6 feet underwater when the vessel is loaded. I'm not sure it would be easy to keep them working/lenses clean.
Class of '93 - proud Dad of a '22 grad and a '26 student!
Stat Monitor Repairman
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This happens every couple years. Remember another one recently around Matagorda and one before that around Houma, LA.

A couple of light barges strung together will block out the lights on the towboat. Yellow bow light on the barge is 10+ feet above the waterline.
CS78
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We run the MS river a lot duck hunting. Those barges pushing north against a flooded MS river create a hell of a mess. One spotlight facing out the front of the boat and the captain with another for looking for obstructions and barges. When the fog sets in, we simply dont hunt. Cant imagine running blind in any water body with barges.
Tony Franklins Other Shoe
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AG
Went out with a really good guide out of Bird Island and he was blowing south in the dark following his GPS and it was fairly foggy. Most unnerving thing I have ever gone through. Also, in a very familiar boat and very familiar waters I tried to run out in CC bay and picked a heading to see how good I could hold the heading without "cheating". That lasted about 2-3 minutes before I pulled it way back and was veering off course enough to be unnerved. I can only imagine some younger boys without the innate fear of real life experiences and completely trusting GPS without thinking of the human elements out there. So sorry for the family.

Person Not Capable of Pregnancy
WaldoWings
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TXCAV said:

I'm a hunting/fishing guide and grew up on the water, USCG Capt. I have personally also ran up on barges in the dark. It's easier than you think. Those barges when empty will tower over a small vessel. Yes they are required to have navigation lights, one red on port (left), one green starboard (right) and a white mast head light on the tug. The problem being is that even with normal visibility levels at night, no fog/rain/exc, when you are approaching a vessel of that size head on, the navigation lights of the barge may not easily be visible due to how high out of the water and how far apart the lights are. The lights will be mounted in the corner of the barge. The average barge can be <150ft long by <25ft wide, and when empty the top deck can be over 10ft above the water. A standard barge is 195' x 35'. For reference the average small vessel is less than 6ft wide. In the dark is it difficult to judge the distance at which the light is. I have seen double longs, double wides, and triples being pushed down the ICW. The tug is required to keep a watchstander 24/7 while the vessel is on the water. Should the watchstander see the vessel approaching and not giving way, they will use the massive spotlight and horn to get their attention.

Lately there has been a lot of boats headed out in the dark without running proper navigation lights, especially from duck hunters. Not sure behind their reasoning behind that, but its extremely dangerous. The one thing that remains the same from all these terrible incidents, as far as I know, no one was wearing their PFD. While a PFD may not save your life in the event of a catastrophic boating accident, it will make your body easier to recover. You may die from impact, propeller, exposure, exc, but your friends and family will have closure. No one is waterproof, it can happen to any one, and it has happened to the best of them. Be safe out on the water. Boater's education should be as heavily enforced and regulated as hunter's ed and a driving license.


Great post!

Being an inlander can someone explain what role barges play in shipping? Like, typically where they are coming from and going to and what they are transporting along the Texas coast?
TH36
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Lots of fertilizer, sand, gravel, grain, oil, etc etc…
WaldoWings
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TH36 said:

Lots of fertilizer, sand, gravel, grain, oil, etc etc…


But are they going from the Texas coast up the Mississippi or just somewhere else along the gulf? I just don't understand their place in the transportation system. Are they simply used to keep the loads off the roads and railroads?
TH36
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Yep, they run up and down the entire gulf coast and inland on waterways like the Mississippi. They're just another mode of transportation from one port to another. My guess it's more cost efficient than loading it onto a tanker and moving it that way.

WaldoWings
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TH36 said:

Yep, they run up and down the entire gulf coast and inland on waterways like the Mississippi. They're just another mode of transportation from one port to another. My guess it's more cost efficient than loading it onto a tanker and moving it that way.




Makes sense. Thanks!
schmellba99
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AG
WaldoWings said:

TH36 said:

Lots of fertilizer, sand, gravel, grain, oil, etc etc…


But are they going from the Texas coast up the Mississippi or just somewhere else along the gulf? I just don't understand their place in the transportation system. Are they simply used to keep the loads off the roads and railroads?


Some make short runs, some make long runs. Just like 18 wheelers on thhighway, except on the water.
CS78
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Jack Squat 83
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AG
I'll ask the dumb question and I know it would add costs, but why don't the light the damn things up? If the non-effective lights are UNDERWATER when loaded, that is crazy. It would be just like a super-wide 18-wheeler driving down a 2 lane highway with the lights turned off. Makes no sense to me.

Are the accidents just so rare it's not worth a fix?
Pretty sure most of you don’t know me.
fullback44
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AG
We went fishing one morning out of goose island .. it was foggy and we heard the fog horns of the tugs so we dropped anchor about 5 ft from a rocky / shale shore and just waited …. A boat shot by us at 30-40 mph in the fog playing music and talking… we heard them coming form
A ways off, it was very quiet that morning …. I don't go out in foggy weather anymore .. they were probably 10-15 feet from us …. People need to respect the night and fog and not just run on GPS .. it's.not smart

I have heard no news today on the search per my Port Lavaca buddy
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