I know this is easier said than done but as soon as that thing began to tip over I would of been off the side of it and swimming away. Expect the unexpected should always run rampant through everyones minds, everywhere.

Double


TAP

When I was in Cancun a few years ago, we saw one of those huge parasailing parachutes washed up on the beach. The line going to it had 5 or 6 different knocks in it....I'm guess that meant that the line broke while in use 5 or 6 times.  

I also did the Zipline thing.......those towers felt like they were ready to fall over at any time....nothing but trees and sticks lashed together with old rope pieces.

Once had a regular inshore ski boat pass off my bow about 70 miles out in the gulf of mexico, still heading south. A man, a woman, and a big english sheepdog.

My wife and I have both worked in Central America, including Costa Rica, for years and have gone on countless fishing/diving/sailing trips with different charters ranging from random fishermen with small dories to huge vessels packed with food and booze.  I was on one sailboat that kept making stops to pick up drybags submerged just below the surface, and another trip where our hired skipper met another sailboat to exchange drugs for cash. My wife's family also likes cruises and I've gone along on a few with them and we always go on excursions, sometimes on boats not unlike that one.  Not always my style, but I go along and enjoy my other adventures, as well.

Most trips like that are pretty pedestrian and most tourists are very much like cattle, largely because those excursions treat them like it by design.  Most assume hey are safe, whether from crime or accidents, and are living a once in a lifetime dream.  Nothing wrong with being a tourist, and none of them deserve to die, despite Barfcom GD's hardcore boners' worldviews.

Coming from an emergency medicine, military, and government background doing international fieldwork, I'm about as hyper-vigilant and over-prepared as it gets, but shit like this will fuck up anyone's day and best-laid plans.  But never leaving the basement is a pretty shitty alternative to taking reasonable risks and experiencing a bit of life.

Now that I have a baby daughter, watching that video made me sick to think of her being on that craft.  Just terrible to watch and to hear parents trying to help their children.  Very sorry for those who lost a loved one that day.

Final Review on TripAdvisor

"Thursday, we took the Pura Vida Princess Catamaran to Tortuga Island from Jaco. We didn't make it. The boat sunk. Yes, it was a wild ride. Unfortunately, three elderly passengers died. But let me be one of the last to rate this boat and tour. The crew was great. There were 100 screaming passengers on two decks. The ten or so crew members got everyone a life vest before she went down and did a pretty good job of calming the few that were out of control. Once in the water, they kept everyone together. Help arrived within the hour.

I really liked the boat and am sorry she sunk. It was the newest and largest tour boat in Costa Rica. Steel hulls. Twin diesel engines. Very fast. I have been on Calypso before, which was OK. But is showing her age. Pura Vida had huge bathrooms, a great bar and the view on the upper covered deck was awesome. The boat was immaculate in appearance. That crew must have spent a lot of time between trips cleaning and maintaining.

So what happened on that final trip? Everyone is asking me that. The wind really picked up once we were several miles offshore and then a huge wave hit us on the starboard side. The boat started listing. People started moving to the high side to balance the boat. But I think it was too late at that point. The damage was done. It was taking on water below. By that time, we all had life preservers on and were getting into the water. The crew was helping and pushing the life rafts overboard.

An experience of a lifetime. We are just saddened that three fellow passengers drowned. And sorry to see such a nice boat sink."

but dem bathrooms and that bar doe...

That makes my stomach turn as my 18 year old daughter was just there two weeks ago on a similar but smaller boat.

Snowbirds in a Walleye boat or hippies in a Sunfish..  If I've passed one offshore I've seen a hundred. No radio, no flares, not so much as a compass out of a Crackerjack box.

The USCG stays damn busy.

Thats nuts. What do most ski boats have for gas tanks 30 gallons?

Not to mention that FL man who tried to run to Bermuda in an inflatable ball.

You know the thing about a shark, he's got... lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eye. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be livin'. Until he bites ya and those black eyes roll over white. And then, ah... then you hear that terrible high pitch screamin' and the ocean turns red in spite of all the poundin' and the hollerin' they all come in and rip you to pieces.

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Oooooh man... that right there ladies and gentlemen... is a goooooood customer!

"Yeah... people died. But the crew was great and the boat was so nice! Would go again!"

School of fish mentality. Who wants to be the fish on the outside of the school? Safety always lies in the middle.

At least they stayed together once they abandoned ship

Quote to view
edit- Wow, that boat sank, it didn't capsize due to wind or weather. That sucks.

that thing was sinking long before it went over.  gawdamned horrific....

Pura Mierda not Pura Vida that trip.

I would have been at the aft lickity split the moment that hitch started listing and taking on water. Me, my family and whoever else was around would have been in the water way before that turd started sinking. It amazes me to see people sitting there, holding on to the table, hoping for the best, while the boat is rapidly sinking and that awning essentially becomes a death trap above you......truly mind boggling.

That ones on that captain - should have had people overboard when it started to list.

Its easier for people to get back on a boat then out of one flipped over.

oh and:




 

Sounds like the crew did well under the circumstances, saving most everyone... most.

Note to self- get off the boat before it goes sideways.



It's not going to fix itself.

 
Some major denial of reality with people...lots of floating life vests...that kind of says it all.


I'd have been off that motherfucker QUICK. I've been on a boat that capsized, no good comes from hanging out.

Situational  Awareness, they didn't have it. Saving grace is the warm water.

A few lessons learned:

(1) it's amazing how fast things happen on the water.  People who would laugh at the idea of life vests have no idea how much danger they're in at any given time.  

(2) There's a stunning amount of third world country going on here.  As one pontoon fills up with water, there's seemingly no disaster response.  

(3) This is a great example of how normal Americans respond to a crisis.  There's nothing to do with rocket surgery about getting away from a sinking boat, but people are so preconditioned to do what they're told - they would make lemmings seem like independent thinkers.

As a licensed charter captain (no cocksucking eesmith!), this is am embarrassing example of how things should work.  What a mess...

Most guys with a boat have not the faintest clue what fuel management is. Might have made it back, might not have.

Your post compelled me to respond. We were fishin a lake and the sirens went  off. Draining water from the lake. Current was strong and trolling motor couldn't hold and we're low on gas. But the fishin picked up big time.

I told captain my buddy we need to gtfo now. His boat. But gtfo right fucking now. I could see the dam and see the current change. I love my bud but I told him if you don't get out of this danger I will throw you over.  He finally agreed this course of action was a bad idea.

Shit can happen quick. Best not to put your life on the line in the first place.

Keeps the air ambulance folks in business.  Tours in 3rd world countries are dangerous.

Hey, the travel agents promised them an exciting vacation.

As someone who is a boat mechanic, and being around boats most of my life, knowing the hull configuration, I'd have abandoned ship at the 35 second mark.
Dove out under the canopy, which wasn't in the water yet, and swam away.
My speculative synopsis..
Wind and waves on their own didn't swamp this vessel. It had serious leaks to begin with and probably some water intrusion through the bilge venting due to high waves which overwhelmed the bilge pumps.