Elias Guillermo Lara Vargas surveyed the beach at Honeymoon Island State Park, dotted with a few swimmers and boaters, looking for a safe place to launch kayaks into the Gulf of Mexico’s turbulent waters.
Vargas, 18, and two friends settled on a stretch of rocky shoreline to the south, where they hoped they would be better protected from rough waves crashing against the beach.
The sun was still shining, though falling quickly on the horizon, as they made it out to deeper waters. Earlier that day, weather officials had issued a small-craft advisory because of the treacherous seas…