Men die in Choctawhatchee Bay accident

By PATRICK WRIGHT, Daily News Staff Writer

A pre-Christmas sailing trip turned to tragedy for two former Fort Walton
Beach residents who apparently died of hypothermia in south Choctawhatchee
Bay over the weekend.

The bodies of Warren Gould and Marty Dismukes, both 44, were recovered near
Four Mile Point on Sunday afternoon by search crews with the Florida Fish
and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The District 1 Medical Examiner's Office told family members the men died of
hypothermia, although a full autopsy is pending.

"They had a well thought-out plan, they were well-equipped, and they had it
all mapped out," said Albert Dismukes, Marty's father. "The only thing they
didn't take into consideration was the weather making the water colder than
normal."

This year was the 30th anniversary of a childhood adventure the two men took
when they were 14-year-olds. At that time, they made the trip in a Styrofoam
Snark boat.

"They didn't even know what they were doing back then," said Albert
Dismukes, who lives in Fort Walton Beach.

This year they were carrying cellular telephones, Global Positioning System
receivers, and laminated maps to help them on their journey.

The pair set out Friday in a two-man seagoing kayak for the 61-mile trip
down the Choctawhatchee River, ending at Brooks Bridge in Fort Walton Beach.
They were due to meet Albert Dismukes at 7 p.m.

When they didn't arrive, the elder Dismukes called a friend, who told him to
call the fish commission.

U.S. Coast Guard boats and a Coast Guard helicopter, along with fish
commission boats, searched the river and bay waters all night with no
results, a press release said. At daylight, more fish commission boats, an
aircraft, and Walton County Sheriff's Office boats and a helicopter joined
the search.

The bodies were found about noon Sunday. Their kayak was located capsized a
short distance away.

Both men were wearing inflatable life vests.

Gould and Dismukes had been friends since the third grade at Mary Esther
Elementary School and both graduated from Fort Walton Beach High School in
1974. They were experienced sailors who both owned boats.

Now living in Sarasota, Marty Dismukes would invite Gould from his home in
Auburn, Ala., to make sailing trips to Key West and Cuba.

"Marty wanted to be a sailor all his life," said his father. "They have both
always been adventurers, whether it be sailing or mountain climbing."

When sailing from Sarasota wasn't enough, the men would fly down to the
Bahamas and Belize, and rent boats to sail throughout the Caribbean.

Before the accident, they talked of sailing around Florida by tackling a
different segment each year.

"It is rare for men to grow up together, go to different schools, work in
different locations, and yet still be such good friends who talk every day,"
said Albert Dismukes.

Marty Dismukes, an electrical engineer, is survived by his wife, parents,
and five brothers.

Gould, a physician, is survived within his immediate family by his wife and
three daughters.