At least four fishermen dead in sinking off Dutch Harbor, Alaska

[Stinky The Clown]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/356113_ship24.html

Fare thee well, mates.

[Blue_In_AK]

1. It's very sad any time a boat goes down.

They're still looking for the fifth crewman, who is no doubt deceased by now. That water is very, very cold.

[Stinky The Clown]

2. At the time of the sinking the air temp was 34 and the water temp was 28

the reports said all the crewmembers who went into the water had on survival suits since they had sufficient time from the declaration of a mayday and call to abandon ship to the actual time of the sinking to don them. (USCG rules say every crewmember has to actually demonstrate the ability to don the suit within 60 seconds or he will not be allowed to go to sea.)

[Blue_In_AK]

3. Those are good rules about the survival suits.

That water out there is just deadly.

[Winterblues]

5. I think you have those temperatures reversed,

Water usually freezes at below 32.

[Stinky The Clown]

6. No, salt water can remain unfrozen down into the upper 20s, depening on specific salinity and ......

.... wave activity. Salinity is, of course, the bigger issue.

Even fresh water stays unfrozen below 32 with bubbler systems, as in marinas.

Edit to add: http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Re-St/Sea-Water-Freezing-of.html and http://www.onr.navy.mil/Focus/ocean/water/temp3.htm

[Winterblues]

4. Been a bad year so far for sinkings

Had four in the last month alone here in SE Alaska, two people still missing from a month ago a boat disappeared and last week a fishing boat sank with two on board, both people survived and yesterday a boat sank with one on board, he also survived. Most dangerous industry in America..