"Out of fuel, out of hope: 'Help, I'm in the water'"

In article , Dave Stadt wrote:

In this case it would not have helped. Unfortunately, under the
circumstances, he was dead when the engine quit.

Even if the lake hadn't been so cold, he would be pretty much stuffed. 3
foot waves don't sound a lot, but when you're swimming only your head is
out. At night he could have had absolutely no idea which direction he
should swim unless he could astronavigate (which I suspect he couldn't).
There would be more chances of swimming in the wrong direction instead
of the most direct route to the shore if there's nothing to guide you.
The waves would have completely blocked his view of the land most of the
time, especially as he'd probably go under each wave regardless of how
strong a swimmer he was.

Even in daylight it would be difficult enough, but at least then you
could get an idea of which way to swim from the position of the sun
assuming it wasn't overcast.

The only thing he did right was not to panic, but unfortunately it
didn't help.

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

"Dylan Smith" wrote in message
...

Even if the lake hadn't been so cold, he would be pretty much stuffed. 3
foot waves don't sound a lot, but when you're swimming only your head is
out. At night he could have had absolutely no idea which direction he
should swim unless he could astronavigate (which I suspect he couldn't).
There would be more chances of swimming in the wrong direction instead
of the most direct route to the shore if there's nothing to guide you.
The waves would have completely blocked his view of the land most of the
time, especially as he'd probably go under each wave regardless of how
strong a swimmer he was.


The lights of the city should be visible.

In article et,
Steven P. McNicoll wrote:
The lights of the city should be visible.

If it was dead calm, yes - but when your eyes are perhaps 4 inches above
the water in the trough of a 3-foot wave, and perhaps a couple of inches
below the water at the crest of the 3 foot wave, and the city lights are
6 miles away, there's a good chance you'll never even see them.

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

Dylan Smith wrote:

If it was dead calm, yes - but when your eyes are perhaps 4 inches above
the water in the trough of a 3-foot wave, and perhaps a couple of inches
below the water at the crest of the 3 foot wave, and the city lights are
6 miles away, there's a good chance you'll never even see them.

How about the reflection of the city lights off the bases of the clouds?

--
Peter


















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"Dylan Smith" wrote in message
...

If it was dead calm, yes - but when your eyes are perhaps 4 inches above
the water in the trough of a 3-foot wave, and perhaps a couple of inches
below the water at the crest of the 3 foot wave, and the city lights are
6 miles away, there's a good chance you'll never even see them.


How high would a light have to be to be visible from the lake surface? If
he swam towards shore he'd have been swimming toward an antenna farm, some
of those towers are over 1200 AGL. City lights also tend to illuminate the
bottoms of clouds and produce a glow from particulates in the air.

Dylan Smith wrote:
In article et,
Steven P. McNicoll wrote:

The lights of the city should be visible.


If it was dead calm, yes - but when your eyes are perhaps 4 inches above
the water in the trough of a 3-foot wave, and perhaps a couple of inches
below the water at the crest of the 3 foot wave, and the city lights are
6 miles away, there's a good chance you'll never even see them.

No, you'll get a glow known as "light pollution" from a city the size of
Milwaukee. The sky in that direction would be distinctly lighter.

George Patterson
There's plenty of room for all of God's creatures. Right next to the
mashed potatoes.

"Dylan Smith" wrote in message

Even if the lake hadn't been so cold, he would be pretty much stuffed. 3
foot waves don't sound a lot, but when you're swimming only your head is
out. At night he could have had absolutely no idea which direction he
should swim unless he could astronavigate (which I suspect he couldn't).
There would be more chances of swimming in the wrong direction instead
of the most direct route to the shore if there's nothing to guide you.
The waves would have completely blocked his view of the land most of the
time, especially as he'd probably go under each wave regardless of how
strong a swimmer he was.

It's not that bad. You go up and down with the waves. As long as there's
some lights on the shore and no fog, you can navigate. Been out in it
plenty of times.

moo