Two former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and two former USF football players are presumed missing in the Gulf of Mexico after failing to return home from a Saturday fishing trip. Based on data from the NOAA Buoy 42036 106nm WNW of Tampa, it looks like conditions during Saturday were moderate (10-15kts with seas around 3ft) but started to build late Saturday afternoon from the SSW and shifted northwesterly Saturday evening with a frontal passage reaching over 25kts during the early morning hours of Sunday and up to 34kts with gusts to 40kts and seas 10-15ft by midday Sunday.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/mar/01/coast-guard-searching-4-missing-boaters/news-metro/