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Coast Guard Reviews Challenges Of Boater Search

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By KEITH MORELLI

kmorelli@tampatrib.com

Published: March 18, 2009

TAMPA - It wasn't only the bad weather, the 14-foot seas and the glaring spotlight of the media that frustrated the Coast Guard as it searched for four high-profile boaters who went missing during a fishing trip in the Gulf of Mexico on Feb. 28th.

A broken-down C-130 airplane and a malfunctioning radar system also made things difficult.

Still, there was no dearth of search units. There were plenty of airplanes and helicopters scanning the rough Gulf waters March 1 to 3, looking for a pair of pro football players and two former University of South Florida football players lost at sea.

After two days of searching, rescuers found the overturned 21-foot Everglades boat about 30 to 35 miles west of Clearwater. Clinging to the upturned boat motor's shaft was the lone survivor, Nick Schuyler, a former USF player and now a personal trainer.

The other three, Will Bleakley and NFL players Marquis Cooper and Corey Smith, probably were stricken with hypothermia and dehydration and slipped one by one into the water and were lost.

Coast Guard records released this week laid out the challenges and problems in the massive search that covered thousands of miles of water and cost millions of dollars.

A timeline of search activity reveals that one C-130 had an inoperable radar system and another had engine problems and never left the ground. Still, there were helicopters and help from other Coast Guard stations and the Air Force from as far away as Georgia.

Search vessels criss-crossed the expanse as a nasty weather system moved in, further hindering search efforts.

A search crew reported that a storm front moved halfway into its search area and it was only able to effectively search 40 percent of the zone, the report states. "The western 60 percent of the search area was obstructed and not effectively searched."

Briefings went from one level of command to another. There was some concern about airplanes not being sent up.

"The C-130 is still not up, and our command is very unhappy with the response time," was one line in the report. Weather was the reason for that delayed flight. The C-130 took off about 45 minutes later, after the storm front had passed.

As for the other problems, Coast Guard Petty Officer Rob Simpson said they didn't significantly hamper the search.

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760.

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