Safety Reminder....

[TimC2520]

Not sure if any of you guys have heard, but yesterday we had two tragic boating accidents down this way. Both boats were out striper fishing, one in Del Bay the other outside Little Egg Inlet just north of A.C.

First incident (Del Bay) 2 survivors, but one fatality with the preliminary info pointing to an anchor line fouling the prop, causing the stern to swamp. Again, nothing confirmed yet.

Second tragedy occurred same day, with 2 confirmed dead, one missing.
Apparently a very faint MAYDAY was heard but nothing after that. Boat found 1:30 am this morning. Earlier this summer I had the unfortunate priviledge to hear a Mayday go out over the VHF that also resulted in a fatality. It's a very sobering experience and a reminder to do your best to stay safe, especially this time of year.

 

[Megabyte]

In addition to the normal safety precautions, you may want to consider wearing a float coat this time of year.

Both the Admiral and I wear Mustang Survival float coats for fall and winter fishing.

In warmer weather, my PFD's are always within arms reach, but we don't wear them all the time.

This time of year we wear our float coats all the time. It doesn't take long in 40 degree water to become a statistic, so please everyone... be careful out there this time of year. :wink:

 

[Outta Here]

That's sad.

The topic of hanging an anchor line in a prop keeps coming up. Seems to be striper fishermen. The only way I see to put anchor line in prop is to anchor off stern.

There was a fishermen w/SeaSwirl (I believe) that was almost washed off his boat, trying to lean over and free prop when a sportfisherman passed. Others complain of water washing decks of open transom boats. Seems like a lot of risks to take. I'm not "Mr. Safety" :roll: , but too much risk for me.

Why not just anchor off bow and fish off bow?

 

[TimC2520]

In the first incident, one of the survivors indicated they were anchored off the bow, but the wind and tide were working against one another and he said he doesnt know how it ended up in the back, around the prop. Too make matters worse, when they noticed water coming in, they had to attempt bailing with buckets because the bilge pump wasn't working. He did not say if it stopped working at that point or wasn't working earlier either...

 

[TheOtherLine]

What would you pay for one of these if your boat was sinking?

http://www.onlinemarine.com/cgi-local/S ... ?E+scstore

Especially you guys in that cold weather country...
I'll bet you have as much money tied up in rods and reels as the cost of one of these.

I just bought one Saturday.

 

[TimC2520]

It seems the boat that capsized off A.C. and killed 3 was a 25' C-Hawk. TowBoat US was able to right her, pump it out and tow it back to shore, seems structurally sound. NO BILGE PUMP present, a notched transom boat) with "8-9 inches" according to sources of freeboard in the vicinity of the outboard. They did find a bilge pump in the cabin but it was loose and not hookep up.

 

[Megabyte]

Those Revere rafts are nice... Jim at BOE Marine has a valise model on display in his showroom, though I like the canister model as it can be mounted to the p-house roof where it's always available (and does not take up v-berth space). :wink:

No working bilge pump on that C-Hawk!? :shock:

 

[Outta Here]

Has anyone noticed it is almost never just one thing that sinks a boat?

Every grounding/sinking I have heard of includes a combination of...

battery weak
bilge pump not working
roughed up after we got there
low on fuel
anchor line too short/didn't hold/fouled in prop
radio didn't work
got dark
GPS quit
Merc quit runnin' (for B-Faithful)

...most of the time the story starts with "we knew (fill in one or more of the above)....blah, blah....

 

[TheOtherLine]

It seems the boat that capsized ....

Capsized? What is the most probable cause of that?

Besides, I'm not too sure a bilge pump is going to help a whole lot if you take a wave over the stern and have 500 gallons of water in your boat in a matter of seconds....

 

[TheOtherLine]

Not one of us everywants to hear any stories about fatal boating accidents and especially not about any of the guys we've come to be friends with on this board.

I'll bet you have as much money tied up in rods and reels as the cost of one of these. (liferaft)
quote]

If the statement above describes you....go get a d$%# raft. West Marine, finance it if you have to. (IMHO)

 

[Bryan 2530]

More questions because I am considering a raft.

Is a Parker going to sink with foam flotation?
Would survival suits be a better option?

:?: :?:

 

[Jersey Jim]

Not that this item would save you in cold water, but after reading these posts I'm considering keeping a survival mirror on my whistle lanyard. I NEVER scuba dive without mine in my DUI (drysuit) thigh pocket. They signal for miles! In fact, I've been thinking of keeping the drysuit on the boat also. I can only imagine how pissed I'd be if I were sinking in cold water and the suit I paid almost 3K for was sitting home :x

I also read somewhere last night that some guy keeps a spare bilge pump on board with just aligator clips and a hose on it. This would beat using a manual pump if the primary failed. I might even consider a cigarette-lighter plug on it as well for a lightning fast connection. But that's one more thing that would not be permitted to fail (socket) if the backup plan were to work.

These posts really make one think.

 

[billin]

question about the raft how often must they be serviced and by who? and not to be a pain but EPIRB with GPS dont leave home without it is murphys law that cheap a$$
marine radio will not work when you need it the most They keep making the radios look better but there has been little to no improvements to the 25 watt radio themselves

 

[Jersey Jim]

Billin, unfortunately there is not much room for improvement in vhf performance with the same 25 watts. Power is power. In order to transmit the same strength signal twice as far, you need to transmit 10 times the power. It's a logarithmic function. However, there have been enhancements in receiver sensitivity. Receivers are able to detect weaker signals. If you really fish on the fringes of performance, get a directional "beam" antenna that can aim/focus the majority of your power in a known direction. This type of antenna could be stored and manually aimed in an emergency situation.

I like the idea of the EPIRB though.

 

[TheOtherLine]

question about the raft how often must they be serviced and by who?

Most rafts need to be serviced and checked every 3 years. Not cheap. They are serviced by authourized dealers. Some do it on site, others send back to the company. I bought a Revere 6 person raft. in 07, needs to be recertified in 2010. My dealer does them on the spot. $300-$500. When they repack them, you have a chance to add gear IN the raft. For example, I can add an EPIRB to the raft, that way, if I don't get to my ditch bag for whatever reason, there is an EPIRB in the raft (and visa versa). ONE of them is going with me.