TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Two Missing at Mullet Bay

We never went to Mullet yesterday as planned because the sea looked just too rough at Maho, after 2:30 it got even more rough and the undertow got worse.

Another Article

Confusing as to who is missing. Mother and child or two younger people?

Confusing story. As I posted maybe 10 days ago, someone else drowned on the French side recently. Be careful swimming, people!

Seems in the original article, adult and child were in distress, at which time a fireman attempted rescue to no avail. Second story seems to relate to the same incident, however some relatives reported to the news folks that two of their adult relatives/friends went to the beach, and had not been seen since, which the news article states might or might not be the same two victims that were in distress.

My husband was there and saw young teen boys in the ocean, and said he noticed one boy being hit by one wave after another. then he heard someone say!!! he came up once twice and now we do not see him. Husband said he was so dam upset that parents actually allow kids to go into that type of situation in the first place... finally some ran into the water, but he packed up and left, as he was totally upset, and did not stay to see the results...He felt the boy was definatly gone.... Very sad, as the water was so rough, unless your a real pro. should stay out...

We're staying just up the coast from Mullet and we can see the long,gray police/army boat conducting a search. They are concentrating on one area at the end of the bay. Not sure if divers are involved at this point because I can't see that far. We were at Maho yesterday and knew to stay out of the water especially in the afternoon when it really got rough. We heard the sirens go at one point and now we know why. I feel incredibly sad today...life is so precious.

Wow, how horrible, regardless of who the victim(s) end up being and horrible to be there also..

This is horribly sad.....this is eye opening because my boys love to ride waves. Do they put warning flags up?

No flags nor lifeguards at any beaches that I am aware of.

Maho/Royal Islander had red flags up. Back in the day Mullet had flags and a board that explained what they meant.

Does anyone pay attention to the flags?

I did yesterday!!!!!!

What happened was so very sad. I've seen those killer waves and the wild surf there and that anyone would venture into those waters is mind boggling to me. This would be the day to head for a gentler beach or just to curl up on a chair in the sand and enjoy the natural music of the beach. But thats me and don't we all sometimes think we're infallible? I get it....

Back in the day, as Kim said, MBR&C used to have flags but as Mullet went, so went the flags along with the palapas and all the other things that made this such a great beach back then.

Today they rely on personal responsibility and I will say no more beyond how very sad! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" />

kids have little fear. We gain fear when we get older. And since there are no warnings or life guards to keep folks out, this can and will happen. My husband, who is a great swimmer, said he would never have gone into the ocean yesterday, and said it probably will be rough again today so he will lay low.. He is on Island without me, doing some work on our property, so he reported this to me when he got back from mullet. He blames parents, but as I told him! young teens do go off by themselves, and unless the parents where there with them, they are not to blame... Kids have no thoughts about what could happen. Very sad indeed

From the picture on the news article of the two they believe are the victims they look to be young 20's and perhaps also natives to the island so they have probably done this many times and thought it was just another day to ride the waves. Based on the picture of the waves the sea looks extremely angry and dangerous. Yikes.

Wow, very sad. And I can't imagine being a person who discovered the first body in the water..

Condolences for the families for them.

Wendell

The seas over the past few days have been very angry and waves have been extremely large on Mullet Bay. We tried going there Friday and Saturday but turned around as the water was way too rough to swim.
I feel extremely sad for the families of these 2 young men as all they wanted to is enjoy a day at the beach.

Boy oh boy. Would not want to meet up with a dead body in the water. As a matter of fact!! I would not go into the water with those bodys still missing... They should have warnings up, or have some kind of alert to no swimming... Well that's not going to happen, swimming there is at your own risk.. Very sad for them and family

So sad that two young men lost their lives before they had a chance to live to a ripe old age. I feel too for the families that now have to plan for funerals, and living the rest of their lives without these young men.

Were on SXM 2/25 thru 3/10. Both waves and wind were higher than normal (have been visiting at this time frame for decades). Spent most beach time at Le Galion.

I know I'm over simplifying this but how about charging $1 or 2 for each beach chair rented on Mullet which goes toward paying for the lifeguard (MB clean the beach at the end of the day)..thus giving several youths a job and maybe saving someones life..

You would have to take that up with the government of SXM.

Terrible way to go.

Does anyone know what the typical sequence of events are in these instances (don't want to over simplify and I'm sure every situation is different but I'm asking for a pattern)? Is it a strong current from the large surf causing a drift away from the shore and then exhaustion from trying to fight it to swim back to shore leads to drowning?

Not sure that can be answered. Most mature responsible folks would not go into a very rough sea... My husband was on the beach that day, and said young guys were being beat up by the waves, I believe your supposed to try and swim under a wave, not get clobberd. He heard someone say!!! He came up once and twice but then did not. My husband left, as he was upset watching young people in that water... Only to find out two drowned.. At first they said a woman an boy.. This is mother nature... Never ever try to fool mother nature...

Sorry....but I have to disagree with this statement a hundred times over. The waves have been very rough for days before this drowning.... Red flags have been all over the beaches....anyone with eyes can see the surf was HUGE.... There are NO LIFEGUARDS on any beach...

Now...you have two ''invincible'' twenty something year olds (which they were), going swimming in conditions that any sane person would not. Should any lifeguard risk their won lives, to save the life of someone who shouldn't have been there in the first place??? My answer is no...

These two victims, unfortunately went into the water, when they shouldn't have. I have been to Mullett in lousy conditions, and only a fool would venture in to it. Thankfully there was only the two victims this time....some rescuers may have been added to the tally. My heart bleeds for their families.

Are you referring to 'red flags' such as 'don't go into the water when there are huge waves coming, as it is common sense', or the flags that are suggested in The Daily Herald's editorial?

gary

I was there the day the man died on the french side last Thursday. It was very tragic and lots of professionals that were on the beach came to his rescue (2 Dr.s & an ER Nurse and others) and gave CPR and Auto Defibrillator but to no avail, he couldn't be saved. The beach was calm that day as well and it's suspected the man had a heart attack and then drown. I posted on another site in hopes to let the family know that all that could be done to save him was done and when they concluded that he was gone, a french woman came to his side and prayed giving him his last rights. It was a very emotional thing to witness. His daughters did see my post and we have since been in contact where I could give them more information that they thought they would never get. While as tragic as it was, I am glad I could give the family comfort at a terrible time. Have compassion and give kindness to those who have been affected by something this tragic instead of pointing fingers at who or who did not do whatever to help, the families will greatly appreciate it.

I believe that you are talking about the man who passed on Orient? I actually hadn't heard about that one until I saw it in Jeff Berger's newsletter. That was believed to be a heart attack, yes. That is a totally different situation, but still very tragic and I applaud you for thinking of his family. In addition to these young men who passed at Mullet due to the wave conditions, there was also another man who drowned on the French side in the past couple of weeks. So sad for all of their families, to have these incidents occur. In these other situations, it is incredibly sad, but even more sad, that it didn't have to happen.

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Nicely said and kudos to you for your kindness to and compassion for the family of the drowned man. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

Yes Carol, it was the one from Orient, his name was Ed Murphy from New York. There was mention of another one on the Dutch side either the same day or day before. This makes 5 in the past 3 weeks. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Sad.gif" alt="" />

Wow, I hadn't heard about that other one on the Dutch side.. Very sad for all involved. Be careful swimming, people!!

ED B, You make no sense at all, if there were lifeguards, the red flag would be up on rough surf days and the lifeguards would not allow anyone in the water. Also surf conditions change, and lifeguards could save someone who isn't a good swimmer or taken out by riptide.

Another gentleman died at SBR last week....51 years old....went in for a swim, his 10 year old son with him...he dove in, never came up...they pulled him out of the water, couldn't resuscitate him and he died...thoughts were a heart attack... So very sad...condolences to his family as well <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" />

Wow, hadn't heard about that one. Condolences to his family.

It's not about the lifeguards. They are on duty all summer on the Jersey shore. Know when most drownings occur?? Right, once they are off duty and gone for the day. It doesn't matter how many RED flags are flying, Kids will simply ignore them and do their own thing. They have no sense of danger. Sure lifeguards protect the beach from 9 to 5, after that <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" /> My daughter was a guard at the shore and when it was quitting time they called everyone out of the water, put away their high chairs and left. Everyone went back in the surf when they left. There were many times she had to go back in the water because some one didn't read the posted signs. Signs mean nothing, just like the one by SXM airport runway.

Wow! Is that ever the truth!

We were on Mullet a few years ago when the waves were the biggest I've ever seen in 43 years. Neither Rosie nor DaLeo had their chairs out because the waves were crashing up almost that far.

We sat at one of Rosie's tables for about an hour watching the waves and in disbelief, watching the few young ones brave enough (or foolish enough) to tackle the waves - some with boogie boards, some with surf boards and always the inevitable body surfers. Personally speaking, I thought they were nuts but what do I know?!

As we were sitting there, the Soualiga Patrol drove into the parking lot and came onto the beach and ordered everyone OUT of the water. When the few didn't do as instructed, they called out to them with a bull horn and told them if everyone didn't leave the water immediately they would close the beach and even the sun-bathers would have to vacate, so after a few minutes of friendly discussion back and forth, they all came out of the water and dried off.

A rather heated discussion ensued but eventually, the Soualiga Patrol headed back to their car and literally, the moment the car left the parking lot, those that would were right back in the water, as we were pretty sure they were going to do from the getgo.

There's only so much anyone can do and when it comes right down to it, who among us hasn't at one time or another thought we were infallible?

My heart goes out to the families and friends of all who have suffered a loss to this kind of an accident but when it comes right down to it, it's pretty hard to protect people from themselves.