How is inexperience sighted as a cause in the recent North Texas lake drownings?
Case 1. It was a gray, rainy winter Puget Sound day. Gale warnings had been up since early morning. The race committee set their starting line, and the fleet worked to windward against a freshening southwest wind. One of the smaller competitors was a 26-foot Thunderbird crewed by a man and wife. It fell behind its competitors and was soon sailing alone. The Thunderbird was beginning to be overpowered, and the couple decided to reduce sail. The man went forward to muzzle the jib; in the process it blew back up the forestay. He lurched for it and slipped over the side. Immediately, he grabbed the lee shrouds. His wife had experience steering the boat but never in an emergent situation. She maintained course; he could not pull himself aboard, and gradually weakening, slipped away. The woman, panic stricken, continued her course right into the surf at Jefferson Head and into the beach. One week later, the man’s float coat was found eight miles north. He was never seen again. Sources:
Lewisville Lake was its normally crowded draw last weekend. And with four of the area’s seven drownings, it was the deadliest scene during one of the deadliest times at North Texas lakes in recent years. JIM MAHONEY/DMN JIM MAHONEY/DMN The swimming beaches were deserted at midday on Monday at Copperas Branch Park on Lewisville Lake, where Eugenio Reyes, 26, of Dallas lost his life over the weekend. View larger More photos Photo store Boating accidents caused none of the deaths, for a change. There’s no indication alcohol, while being investigated in some cases, was to blame. Authorities say the deaths, while tragic, are perhaps examples of what happens when people lack preparation, or respect for the water. Or when good-time crowds and water mix. Fifteen people have drowned in area lakes this year, more than twice as many as in all of 2007. Capt. Garry Collins of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said last weekend was the deadliest holiday on the water here in his 10 years in Nor
