Do you really need a reminder to ADD a high water alarm?

[DaleH]

SAT - Stellwagen Bank (out off of Glostah, Mass) heard the livewell piping may have let go, as the drain plug was in place whence checked after being towed back to the dock ...

 

[tara11]

That is a bummer At least they are ok !

 

[Megabyte]

I wonder why no one closed the livewell through-hull?
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OK... I'll say it... Those black anchors are doing their job well. :roll:

 

[dcunniff]

Nice looking boat and engines, even low to the water!

Dana

 

[Bryan 2530]

That sucks.

I agree with Megabyte, why???
Maybe to far gone?

 

[Megabyte]

If I had to get wet to save my boat, you can bet your @$$ I'd do it!

 

[Phil]

Is that a parachute that guy in the 2nd pic is wearing??? $50K++ boat and 2 kiddie life preservers and a boat cushion? The water temp that day was 52-54 degrees. There was patchy fog and the seas was rougher than the pics show. Those guys would not have lasted 1 hour in the water. They were lucky to be picked up by another boat since I’m sure other boaters called off the trip due to the weather.

 

[DougP]

I guess it is better than nothing at all, but the guy in the second pic has a Type 4 throwable on his back :? WTF

Dams lucky

 

[Capt. Ronnie]

Is that a parachute that guy in the 2nd pic is wearing??? $50K++ boat and 2 kiddie life preservers and a boat cushion?


That was a boat cushion !

I can expand on this story as I was close by (about 8 miles from them ) when this boat went down.
This happened this past weekend (saturday)
I was on a morning bass charter and this was a very nasty morning.
These guys were on the south edge of Stellwagen bank tuna fishing.
A rumor started going around that they forgot to put in the plug when they launched out of Green Harbor, Marshfield Ma.
Livewell fitting let go and the boat went down in under 5 minutes.
Lucky for these guys they were in a large fleet of boats fishing the same area. I spoke with a guy later on land who pulled them out of the water He told me it went down in about 2-3 minutes and there was not enough time for all to get life jackets on, never mind enough time for survival suits! So I don't think a high water alarm would have made any difference.
I was also told their bilge pump either quit or never worked.
The boat was a fairly new 31 ft Fountain.(worth a lot more than 50k) Sea tow came along later and put a line to the the bow that was still floating and towed it into Green Harbor (Marshfield Ma. )
I was told some big $ in tuna gear was lost!
I went to an association meeting Tues night and it was explained that Sea Tow now owns the boat.
Sunday I was out on the exact spot by 4:30 am looking for a fish to sell (caught and released 1 67 in fish)
, we got our fish by 6:00 am , 9 am the frigging place was a zoo of boats, SOME OF THEM 18 -19 FT BOATS THAT HAVE NO REASON LEAVING THE RIVERS !!!

 

[Capt. Ronnie]

I wonder why no one closed the livewell through-hull?
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OK... I'll say it... Those black anchors are doing their job well. :roll:

Thats a pretty stupid and tasteless statement , this could have have happened to any boat no matter what motor is on it !!!
Lucky for these guys there were plenty of boats near them to help out ! :x

 

[DaleH]

I was also told their bilge pump either quit or never worked.

Who knows how many were on board this boat ... but I cannot believe the $100K or more boats that leave the factory with only ONE measly 1000gph bilge pump installed.

Give me a freakin' break :shock: !

I have 3 alone in the stern, plus the high water alarm.

 

[MaxOut]

Maybe the good life jackets were in a lower compartment and they were scared to open it? and that boat is worth 3 times 50K not including the gear.

Thank god they are all right! :shock: Hope a lesson was learned. :wink:

 

[MaxOut]

I was also told their bilge pump either quit or never worked.

Who knows how many were on board this boat ... but I cannot believe the $100K or more boats that leave the factory with only ONE measly 1000gph bilge pump installed.

Give me a freakin' break :shock: !

I have 3 alone in the stern, plus the high water alarm.

Very good point Dale...There needs to be some sort of saftey regulations put in place for boat builders above and beyond CGC. I'm not a big fan of goverment reg's but just a little more common sense would be nice. Safety is not a good place to cut cost's.

 

[rangerdog]

Why does Sea Tow now own the boat?

 

[DaleH]

Why does Sea Tow now own the boat?

'Own' is not the right word, but under maritime salvage laws, they can take legal claim to the value of the vessel.

If you or anyone ever needs assistance (but not grave help per se in the 'life threatening' sense of the word) NEVER accept a rope from another party. If anything, throw your bowline to them.

Acceptance of THEIR rope is prima facie evidence you willingly and knowingly accepted 'help' and thus they can claim salvage rights.

 

[Phil]

I was eating breakfast in Scituate harbor when I saw them leave at around 4:30. About 3 hours later I heard them called the Coast Guard and said they were taking on water. I gave it a 50% chance that was the boat I saw earlier.

>>I spoke with a guy later on land who pulled them out of the water He told me it went down in about 2-3 minutes and there was not enough time for all to get life jackets on, never mind enough time for survival suits! So I don't think a high water alarm would have made any difference.

A high bilge alarm would alert you to a potential problem. If my high bilge alarm goes off, I would not come off plane or at least stay on high displacement speed. It happened to me once and I did not come off plane until I got back to the dock—turned out to be a stuck float switch. Had they did this, they might still own that boat.

As to having not enough time to get life jackets, below is a pic of my survival work suit. In the pockets, I have a 406 epirb, handheld vhf, signal flares, signaling mirror, and knife. I pack it like a parachute and leave it on the port side of my v-berth. It will be the FIRST thing that I grab in an emergency. If I have time, I’ll put on the suit, if not I grab it and put it on in the water.

Ronnie, I was also out on the bank Sunday and you cut me off. Nice to have a bigger boat, you bastard—lol...

 

[dcunniff]

Good info Phil.

Do you take your back tax info with you if you ditch??

Dana

 

[MaxOut]

If a through hull line comes off isn't your forward motion going to force the water in faster? :shock: Not always a good decision to take off if water is coming in. I guess you make a judgment call based on how far you are from shore and how prepared you are. I would open the inspection hatch as soon as I suspected a problem and make a decision from there. It is a shame this boat sank if all he had to do was shut off a sea cock??

Makes sense to keep going with a plug in the transom out actually ran hydro's without plug so water splashing in would be forced out. No room for bilge pump and hull is very shallow.

 

[Phil]

A rock will stay on top of the water if it travels fast enough. IMO, they got into trouble when they came off plane and started slow trolling without noticing the water in the stern.

lol, dana..

 

[Phil]

To add to this, it takes about 1 hour from scituate to SW corner. So they were slow trolling for at least 1 hour or more before I heard their call to the Coast Guard.