Prayers for those young men and their families. So tragic when something like this happens and could possibly have been avoided. I have not read whether or not these boys had on PFD's or not but I suspect not...then again in those water temps hypothermia sets in quick. I learned the hard way some years ago when I tripped over my trolling motor foot control and fell in. Water temp was 45 degrees and outside air temp was 35. I was lucky in that I was not injured in the fall and that I had a strong client in the boat that was able to pull me back up and over the side pretty quick. I had taken my PFD jacket off when I had gotten up out of the driver seat...habit from my tournament days. Even with getting out of the water pretty quick, by the time we got back to the ramp (about 3 miles) I was really feeling the effects of being in wet clothes in that cold air.

Now when I go out in the cold I have a 300.00 Mustang auto/manual inflate PFD on and don't take it off. There is a reason the U.S. Coast Guard uses the Mustangs. I also have a full change of warm clothing and a towel in a waterproof bag stowed in the boat. I keep my cell phone stowed in a waterproof bag also. I have a boarding ladder on the boat now also.