I grew up on Lake Ontario during my summers as a kid. My dad also works in risk management and was a volunteer firefighter, so very much into all safety guidelines. Life jackets on at all times. @@my brother and I could play independently with the neighbor kids from about age 6 or so, but the rule was that you had to tell an adult if you were going to swim and make sure someone could come watch you - we could swim at our house if my mom was available to be outside, or their house if their grandmother came out and watched us.
When I was 11, I was waterskiing. My dad was driving the boat and my brother and a friend were in it as well. I had an accident that ended up requiring 4 stitches by my eyebrow. Head wound + water = I looked like a bloody mess when my dad turned the boat around. He was terrified. He practically grabbed me by the back of my life vest and threw me in the boat. From then on my dad required two adults on the boat when we were out skiing or tubing, one for driving and one to help in an emergency.
Anyway, I’m more confident in open water than a lot of people since, even though our house is on a bay that only gets maybe 30 feet deep in the middle, Lake Ontario is more like an ocean than a typical lake. I’ve also waterskied and boated on the st Lawrence River in about 150 feet of water, and snorkeled in the Florida keys. Despite being a fine swimmer my whole life, I’m no where near pro level and didn’t even take lessons until I went to Girl Scout camp when I was 10. The thought of swimming alone off a boat, possibly in unfamiliar water, scares the crap out of me.
@@@my grandparents have a lake house not even in the Great Lakes which I also swam in. No swimming alone ever. Always 2 adults in a boat. Always have a “spotter” for tubing and water skiing. They have a pontoon boat from the 1960’s and it’s broken down a couple of times in the water. One time DH fixed it, and one time he had to get out and pull it back to the dock luckily we were by the shore in shallow water. We had a toddler at the time that tried to launch themselves into the water at every opportunity. Not really, but that’s what my anxiety told me, and the toddler was always in a life jacket. I couldn’t have managed the boat without him. Not saying anything about the boat in this situation- I’m sure it’s better maintained just that anything can happen.
Apparently she was with her son in the water and managed to get him on board but couldn't get herself back in the boat. The supposition is that the boat wasn't anchored and drifted off while they were swimming and she managed to make it to the boat with her son and get him in but was too tired to pull herself in. I can't imagine.
I was reading more about the lake, as there have been multiple drownings on the lake in years past. I guess there are whirlpools throughout the lake that make it exceptionally dangerous. There is a petition by local residents to have signage making clear the risks of swimming in the lake and the suggestion for even strong swimmers to wear a life jacket.
Apparently she was with her son in the water and managed to get him on board but couldn't get herself back in the boat. The supposition is that the boat wasn't anchored and drifted off while they were swimming and she managed to make it to the boat with her son and get him in but was too tired to pull herself in. I can't imagine.
Oh shit, that's awful. This is the first piece of information that makes the most sense to me how something like that could happen. Didn't even think that the boat may not have been anchored
Post by picksthemusic on Jul 14, 2020 9:58:23 GMT -5
Seeing all the responses from Glee cast members and the picture of them lined up at the shore of the lake just gutted me. I'm so sad for her family and friends and her son.
I kind of feel like the boat rental company should have said make sure you anchor your boat and here is your anchor, and warned about the currents. And they might have. We rented jet skis, and this was one of the things they mentioned to us.
We anchored our pontoon boat once, and it turns out that the anchor was not heavy enough (most have been for the rowboat), and it slid a little. If we owned the property we would have had it all labeled and purchased one for it, but it was owned by my Grandparents and the boat shed is a mess.
I kind of feel like the boat rental company should have said make sure you anchor your boat and here is your anchor, and warned about the currents. And they might have. We rented jet skis, and this was one of the things they mentioned to us.
They might have and also, that's just one theory. No one really knows what happened.
ETA: I say that because it feels like placing blame when we really don't know. If they didn't tell her or if they did and she ignored the advice...it just goes to an icky place.
Someone on Twitter posted this video of Naya Rivera singing "If I Die Young" from an episode of Glee, and I basically started bawling as soon as I heard a few words. I believe it was from the episode meant to memorialize Cory Monteith after his tragic death, but it just hits so much differently now.
Someone on Twitter posted this video of Naya Rivera singing "If I Die Young" from an episode of Glee, and I basically started bawling as soon as I heard a few words. I believe it was from the episode meant to memorialize Cory Monteith after his tragic death, but it just hits so much differently now.
I can't think about her and her son's fear out there or I can't breathe.
i read about it by mistake and wanted to vomit
extra @@ just in case my oldest is almost the exact same age as Josey and it is absolutely heartbreaking to think about
@@@ Yes, I have a 4-year-old and just three weeks ago we all went out on a similar boat for a few hours. We made the girls wear life jackets, of course, but neither my husband nor I wore them. We swam in the water - which was REALLY cold, and our boat definitely moved away from us because we didn't anchor. We specifically asked about anchoring and the boat rental place told us it wasn't necessary. And maybe it wasn't (this particular lake isn't really choppy and there weren't many others out to make waves) but it was still tiring. I'm sick thinking about this, and SO SO SO mad at myself for not wearing a life jacket. My kids were safe, but we weren't.
I'm having a LOT of trouble with this death - hitting really close to home.