Local tragedy; Lake George, NY

[Skyhook]

Folks, this is my backyard lake. I raised my kids there, camped, sailed, fished (ice & boat), hunted its shores, and led search and rescue for a downed airliner on a mountain on its east side.

We are all in shock and have great sympathies for the families of the victims.

Background: About 3:15 p.m. yesteday a small tour boat capsized and dumped a load of about 50 senior citizens from Michigan into about 70' water. Twenty individuals drowned, some were couples married over fifty years...

It's been a bad day.

[Brenden]

Sorry to hear that this was "close to home"

I hear the seniors were from Trenton Mi.

My heart goes out to all involved..

Brenden

[Richard S]

It is a tragic day indeed.  

I suspect that many of us on this Forum (myself included) tend to concentrate on anticipated threats from those who would do harm to our loved ones or ourselves, and that we give less thought than we should to the cruel vagaries of random chance.  

May God bless the innocent victims and give comfort to their grieving families and friends.

[R9SCarry]

Read the news on that Sky, with a heavy heart.  A beautiful day turned into tragedy in minutes.

My thoughts are with those who have lost dear ones.

[sslater]

There has been wall to wall coverage on this tragedy here in S.E. Michigan.  I live only 30 minutes from Livonia and maybe an hour from Trenton, so this hits pretty close to home emotionally.

My wife and I have been thinking of going on some Senior Trips because she can't drive any longer (vision problem called Retinitis Pigmentosa) and I'd like to see the sights instead of just driving.  

This Lake George incident reinforces the fact that we are still responsible for our own safety.  Paying a travel service for a tour doesn't necessarily make it safe.  (Kind of fits in with the CCW mentality most of the readers on this forum have developed.)
I remember thinking how top heavy that little tour boat looked in the photos.  Then I read the deck had been raised for better visibility, there was an unknown amount of water in the bilge from an earlier heavy rain, and the seats weren't fastened to the deck......
In the future I hope I would have had the nerve to say, "Hey this boat doesn't look safe.  I'll stay on shore while the rest of you take the boat ride."  

[Skyhook]

Good points, sslater.

There are a lot of things my wife and I refused to do, refused to ride, refrain from even getting close to, in the name of caution or better judgment.

One of them was getting rid of the big cruiser bike that we both enjoyed. Too %$#@ many idiots driving executioner machines and I figured we'd worn out lucky charm too thin.

[Michigunner]

I had also planned to buy a motorcycle for retirement, but after considering the crazy people on the road, we decided in favor of a car with air conditioning.

You almost have to start applying the brakes each time a car comes into view.