More thoughts about the Chesapeake Sailboat Tragedy

How many NASA rocket scientists does it take to capsize a sailboat?

Sadly, that has a tragic answer: "Ten, but two of them have to die."

I feel terribly sorry for the survivors and families of the victims. Yet the bottom line is that this horrific accident was entirely preventable and the talented, bright young men were lost needlessly.

No, the truth is these two didn't have to die. At every step they could have made different decisions -- not to sail at night after partying, not to overload the boat, to wear life preservers, to have and be able to use other safety and distress signalling gear, to stay with the boat and each other. Sigh.

Thought: If the brains of NASA rocket scientists can't keep them afloat, what chance do the rest of us have without a life preserver?
Of course, you might argue that they have denser brain tissue, but I suspect there's not a statistically measurable difference; we're probably all equally dense in this area.

So, the lesson learned here is that brains will only keep us afloat if we use them.