Horrible boating accident in Utah

[Miljack]

I saw this story and my heart goes out to the family...not sure if he was a member here, does anybody know this family?

http://fox13now.com/2015/06/02/one-d...-in-bear-lake/

[gatorgates]

I happened across a news article about a ski boat capsizing in Bear Lake Utah. Awful, awful story. The pictures with the story show what seems to be a SAN210. Am I seeing that correctly?

[CradGen2]

I just read this.- Very bad

In what a Utah county sheriff tells Fox 13 is the "single worst tragedy I have seen on this lake," a Utah man, his two daughters, and their teenage friend died when a boating trip on Bear Lake went horribly wrong on Monday. Details of the hours after Dr. Lance Capener's boat capsized in the lake, which sits along the Utah-Idaho border, are still unclear. But it appears that the 46-year-old may have been trying to keep the girls alive until his last breath, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. There had been seven aboard the boat, and Capener's wife and two teenage family friends survived the accident. All had life jackets on, but the Rich County sheriff's office says they all experienced some degree of hypothermia; the Ogden physician was dead by the time rescuers pulled the group from the 53-degree water, the AP reports. His daughters, 13-year-old Kelsey and 7-year old Kilee, were flown to the hospital, but they died hours later, as did their friend, 13-year old Siera Hadley. "He would not come back without his children," Capener's mother tells the Tribune. "I feel that's why he died, trying to save the others." She notes her son was a marathoner and strong swimmer, but adds "that's a very bad lake; it can come up with squalls." The sheriff tells KSL that the ski boat capsized during a storm that created waves up to 10 feet high; the group was in the cold water for at least three hours while rescuers searched the 112-square-mile lake. "The waves were white capping. … It took a lot of effort to find that boat," he says. When they did locate it 6 miles from the Bear Lake State Park Marina in Utah, "I actually performed CPR on two of these victims. You look at the kids and you see your own kids or your own grandkids in their faces and it becomes very difficult for the responders."

[dttheel]

That's a Sport Nautique 200. Very, very sad events. So sorry for these families.

[iamcdn]

Very sad. Thoughts and prayers to the families. I saw a similar boat while on vacation on Whitefish Lake last summer.

[NautiqueJeff]

Yeah, I have seen several accounts where the boat is referred to as a Super Air Nautique, and it is not. It is a Sport Nautique 200, which is no match for 10' waves.

Really sad situation. It sounds like the family did everything right, including wearing their life vests.

[s_kelley2000]

Wow that is truly awful! My heart goes out to the families involved.

[surroundsound64]

Wow. Just horrible

[Redreid23]

Prayers to the family and friends.

[Tallredrider]

Yeah, I have seen several accounts where the boat is referred to as a Super Air Nautique, and it is not. It is a Sport Nautique 200, which is no match for 10' waves.

Really sad situation. It sounds like the family did everything right, including wearing their life vests.

Terribly tragic. Dr. Capener is employed by the same company I am (Intermountain Healthcare). Although I never knew him, I still feel like I have been kicked in the stomach.

For those that do not know the lake, it is about 20 miles long and 8 miles wide. So when the wind starts to blow, the waves have nothing but space to get bigger and bigger. They were trying to get straight across the middle of the lake back to the marina.

I wonder what we could learn from this? I wonder how far out into the middle of the lake they got before they realized they were in over their head, or if it happened suddenly, before they even had a chance to know the peril they were in. In retrospect, they should have stayed on the other side of the lake when they saw the storm approaching. These storms start quickly, but on a lake of that size, they had to have seen it coming for a short time. This reminds me to have tremendous respect for the lakes we boat on, and what mother nature can do to them.

[JoeA]

I talked to a friend that has a cabin on that lake and he says the storms out there can be brutal in the afternoon. He was in a bad storm last year had everybody put their life vests on and drove close to shore in case they had to ditch the boat.

Sad story. Thoughts and prayer going out to the family.

[Tallredrider]

I talked to a friend that has a cabin on that lake and he says the storms out there can be brutal in the afternoon. He was in a bad storm last year had everybody put their life vests on and drove close to shore in case they had to ditch the boat.

Sad story. Thoughts and prayer going out to the family.

Exactly what I was thinking about staying close to shore. The challenge is that he had to go straight across the middle of the lake to get to his trailer, apparently. 7-8 miles straight across, or 20+ miles around the edge. I can see why he chose to go straight across, but clearly this storm was more than he figured for.

[gome123]

This story gave me a huge lump in my throat. Bear Lake is just a few hours south of me. I have heard it is a beautiful place. Yet, mother nature is no joke. My thoughts and prayers go out to those families.

[scott resick]

this is a nightmare. If anyone is following the updates to this story, I would be interested in hearing the account from the survivor when released and interviewed. I cant imagine the panic as the waves kicked up to 10'. wow.......

[nyryan2001]

Terrible.

52 deg water.

10ft waves.

70mph winds.

After dark.

20ft boat.