Prudence was a real lifesaver

As the winds picked up Saturday afternoon on Lake Mohave, Cathy Torrance and her family decided it was time to dock the boat and head home.

By then it was too late.

"The water was becoming rougher, and within a couple of minutes at the most, the front of the boat had lowered with the amount of water coming in," Torrance said. "The swells were coming in, and it was just pouring over. It swamped the boat. Within seconds we were in the water."

Wind gusts reaching 28 mph created 3-foot tall waves that swallowed the boat in a matter of minutes. All 12 passengers, including seven children under the age of 12, were floating several miles from shore.

Everyone was wearing life jackets and clutching seat cushions and other bits of the 24-foot recreational boat. One infant floated in an inner tube being watched by his older cousins. Another infant was floating on an overturned seat cushion.

Torrance's husband and her son-in-law stood on the wreckage and tried to wave an orange flag, but boaters on the other side of the lake thought the group was signaling that they had skiers in the water and continued on their way.

"I could see (the waves) coming at us, and so I would tell (the kids) to hold on tight when a wave was coming," Cathy Torrance said. "The swells would come one right after another. We started kicking to try to get back to where the boat was, and there was no way. We decided that was going to tire us out too quickly."

So they held on.

Floated.

Prayed.

About 20 minutes later, three boats finally stopped to aid the family.

Torrance's 9-year-old grandson, Carter Cox, said he, his brother and his cousin tried to yell for help as they held on to the inner tube.

"They couldn't hear us," Cox said. Our "boat just stopped, and it started sinking. It was scary. … You need to wear a life jacket or you die."

National Park Service Ranger Laura Anderson said she responded to the distress call but was relieved to know the family had already made it to land.

"They had all the proper equipment on board their vessel, and that's a big thing we see on the lake," Anderson said. "The biggest violation we see is people who don't have enough serviceable life jackets, with no tears or rips in them. They have to be U.S. Coast Guard approved."

State law and Coast Guard regulations require children under 12 to wear a life jacket. Last year, there were 14 boating accident or swimming fatalities; seven occurred between Aug. 1 and Labor Day weekend -- the last hurrah for boaters before the fall.

There have been three drownings so far this year.

Anderson said boaters need to be aware of their surroundings, use maps, landmarks and mile markers to determine their location, have enough serviceable gear on board and use a marine band radio set to channel 16, the emergency channel monitored by dispatch.

Cathy's daughter, Jennifer Torrance, said the accident made a lasting impact on her 3-year-old son Tommy, who now wears his life jacket everywhere.

"He puts his little Hot Wheels boats upside down on the couch and will say, 'Look it's papa's boat!' or 'Papa's boat got upside down and now it's dead,' " said Jennifer Torrance. "Tommy doesn't like water, and here we were stuck in the middle of the water and sinking.

"Not OK."

She knew she had to "wake up any minute and this would be done."

"I kept thinking this is like a Lifetime or 'Full House' episode," she said. "Where's the soft music and the life lesson here? I kept waiting for it.

"This isn't how we planned the trip."

Contact Kristi Jourdan at kjourdan@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279.