The parents set limits and I guess felt they had reason to trust the boys to abide by them. Short of following kids that age around, how do you make sure that happens?

I was a little surprised the parents didn't know how many life jackets were in the boat, although my dad wasn't nearly as safety conscious as I am today (mostly thanks to my husband), and I took our boat out by myself often (into a bay, not an ocean) with not nearly enough knowledge of how to save myself on the water.

I also wonder where the boys got enough money to purchase $100 worth of gas. Maybe kids in general have fat wallets these days.

It is such a sad story. I'm still holding out hope, but a slim one.

I was wondering about the money too, but I think they both come from wealthy families. They keep showing that football guy who lives in their neighborhood.

Maybe a displaced sense of trust in the boys' abilities:

Addressing that question Tuesday on NBC’s “Today” show, their mothers told Savannah Guthrie that the boys were more than capable.

“Austin has been on the water since before he could walk,” said Austin’s mother, Carly Black. “This is his fourth boat. This isn’t new to them. These boys have been doing this…it’s not even second nature at this point. It’s in their blood…they’re out there.”

The mothers' statements are amazingly calm -- incredible to me. Either they believe this is a prank or they are delusional.

A presently successful adult wrote to the Chicago Tribune regarding the disconnect between impulse and brain in boys this age. He recounted stealing a neighbor's car when he was 14 (and returning it).

I remember leaving our DS at home one afternoon when I drove to the grocery, leaveing keys to our second car in the house. Something triggered my 'Mom Sense', and I turned around after a few blocks. What did I see coming towards me down our street? DS behind the wheel of our car! He claimed he didn't plan to leave our little enclave of cul de sacs. Eeek.

The first thing that comes to mind is a prank...let's hope that's all it is! What would cause a boat to capsize though? Was there any bad weather? Anyone have a good and thorough article link on the story? I have not read anything and try to stay away from the TV news as best I can...HA!

I had another thought. Boating accidents can happen to the best of sailors. What's to say the same thing wouldn't have happened to fully grown adults? It' still a horrible thing, but I wouldn't be too hard on the boys.

I was reading about it on CNN and the first thing that raised a red flag for me was $110 in gas! That's a LOT OF WEIGHT of gasoline on such a small boat. Then add to that some big waves and to me that spells instant capsize. I'm not a boater but that's a lot of gas for a small boat to hold. Figure the tank doesn't hold very much at all, they had to have some huge tanks to fill up to hold approx. 44 gallons of gas. Those kids were planning for a BIG TRIP! Where in the heck did they think they were going to go? I'd read they thought they were going to the Bahamas...had the boys done that sort of thing before? I wonder why they believe they'd have been going to the Bahamas? Maybe they found some maps on their computers? There's got to be some clues most likely on their computers or phones.

The photo I saw was of a 19' outboard. They'd have had to put the gas in a number of cans. I'm assuming they'd have a little less than 44 gallons--maybe 36, assuming gas costs $3/gal. where they are. That would be 216 pounds, or the weight of a large man.

We used to have a 19' outboard with high transoms. It seated 8 adults comfortably. So I don't think the weight of the gasoline would necessarily be a big factor, although the space to stash all those cans might be--and the cost of them as well. I recently bought a 5-gal. can that cost me $18. Plus the boys would most likely need oil to mix with the gas.

But I think the bottom line is that a 19' outboard is great for a lake or a bay, but it sure doesn't belong on the ocean.

It is sad. There's a fine line to draw between being spirited and adventuresome vs being foolish and lacking even a small element of caution. Many teenagers, especially boys, struggle with this. The hormones bring a false sense of invincibility.

As a parent and grandparent I think it is so sad. The parents trusted their sons would return to them safe and sound. I think all parents do. You never know what is going to happen. Please pray for the families involved and that their children would return to them safely. They sound like good boys to me. Strong willed, head strong and adventurous. Pray for a safe return of these young teens.

I think there was something on their social media indicating their plans to go to the Bahamas, but they didn't tell their parents. It would explain the big gas purchase. I bet they found a route, bought the gas and intended to go over there. They've been on trips to the Bahamas before with parents so I'm sure they thought they could easily do it, not accounting for the small boat and open ocean conditions.

Fourteen year old boys can be goofy. They don't think things through to the what ifs of various sorts. So they do things we think are quite dangerous, just to see what might happen with no notion of any danger. So sad for such cute kids. A parent's job is to protect them from such rash behavior, and it is difficult to anticipate those situations.

Gasoline from a marina in Florida is approx $4.00/gallon right now. $110.00 in gas for a nineteen foot boat is not an unusual amount. I believe they purchased their fuel at the marina where the boat is kept. No need for gas cans. Drive the boat up to the pump and fill the tank.

Until proven otherwise, I'm till holding out hope.

I doubt the boat tank would hold 25 gallons but that makes a lot more sense. I was going by our prices of gas which is about $2.49 a gallon. I didn't realize they were price gauging at the marinas! I wonder if those boys had a history of actually wearing their life jackets. I know that when I've been out on a boat, no one had on a life jacket. I remember being 14 and how I "knew everything about everything". I think at that age, they are still pretty much in lala land and just really don't understand real life yet and don't understand or worry about danger. It just doesn't seem like it should be legal for a kid that young to be driving a boat! You have to be 16 to drive a car, I don't see how a boat is safer than a car?

We had a 19ft Mako, the tank held 32 gallons of gas. There is suppose to be a life preserver for each person on the boat. Those under 6 have to keep them on at all times.

But their boat was an outboard, no? That's the boat I saw on the news. Outboards don't have tanks--at least they didn't when we had them.

That's what I thought of was an outboard motor. No, they are small and don't hold very much gas at all.

Ummmm, our boat is an outboard, 19 ft., and has a 60 gallon tank. It's built for longer fishing trips to deeper water. Some of you must be thinking of little motor boats with two-stroke engines.

I guess that we aren't clear on what sort of a boat they had other than it was 19 ft.

Rhizo, so your outboard motor is connected to a separate tank? We had a 90 HP motor on our 19 ft. boat, and that's all I'm familiar with. More modern boats might be different.

This little video shows the photo of the boys' boat, the only one I've seen.

Yes, Alisande....it has a built in gas tank just like a road vehicle. We use non-ethanol fuel.

The boys' boat is lightweight bay boat with a low profile. A boat like that is not intended to be used on open seas, certainly never on a trip to Bermuda.

Remember, I think that it's merely speculation that they were planning a trip like that. Even a youngster would know better than that, especially one raised around boats. I'm thinking that the boat became disabled, though a boat that size is mandated to have appropriate communication devices.

The fuel tanks of a 19ft., center console, boat would be built in. Located under the deck, within the hull. The fuel fill (think gas cap) might be in the console, might be in the deck, depends on the boat manufacturer.

Maybe we have different definitions of "outboard." Like I said, it's been awhile since my family owned a boat. But when we did, "outboard" meant a separate, detachable motor, completely visible--sort of like the one in the video, although our boat had much higher transoms and looked more substantial in general. Although I certainly wouldn't have put it on the ocean.

Outboard motors are now hooked up to fuel tanks that are built into the hull of boats. Gas line from motor to tank, that is in the hull. (They start with a key too).

It's possible these kids are now hiding out, too ashamed of having wrecked the boat -- "Typical Kid Behavior, Part 2".

You know, now that I think about it, I've been talking about our 19 ft. boat but basing some of my statements on a much smaller outboard we had as a kid. Yes, our larger boat had an ignition much like a car's next to the steering wheel, and a built in tank. I take it all back! LOL

;-) Susan, that's funny.

Here's our boat, in a smaller model. Ours has a single 110 Yamaha motor.

From Palm Beach Post.com:

As Jim Dulin struggled mightily to
steer his 30-foot fishing boat away from an ugly storm and into the
Jupiter Inlet early Friday afternoon, he was startled to see a small
boat heading the opposite direction into the rough weather.

Among
the dozens of vessels in the water, Dulin said the small boat carrying
two young males was the only one not racing toward the safety of the
inlet.

“I said to myself, ‘Those kids are
crazy,’” said Dulin, a Jupiter resident and commercial fisherman for 20
years. “There’s no way they couldn’t see that storm. The storm was
really black, the temperature dropped and you could tell it was going to
be a really mean one.”

Although Dulin couldn’t be positive, he
said it’s likely the passengers on the small boat were Austin Stephanos
and Perry Cohen, the Jupiter 14-year-olds who have been missing since
they took off on their 19-foot boat from the Jupiter Inlet.

Oh, nice. Rhizo! I miss boating. We moved here because we wanted to have a boat. We found a large lake on a map, and got in the car. :-)

Here's my dad in the little boat of my childhood. Note gas "tank." haha

So very sad to read that the Coast Guard will cease searching this evening.

Those poor boys. How scary it must be to realize you've made a tragic mistake. My last hope is that they are safe and afraid to come out, but it seems unlikely at this point.

Susan, I can smell the fumes from that boat from here, lol, I grew up on small motor boats like that...so much fun.

Graywings, if that story is true and he really did see those boys heading out into the storm, then it almost makes me wonder if they were trying to run away or something.

Anybody who lives on the water and spends a lot of time on boats has a very healthy respect of the weather. It really makes me wonder. It's so very very heartbreaking.