Another friend sinks

Harry Babb · Post by **Harry Babb** » Nov 7th, '11, 22:32

Saturday one of my friends was out in the Gulf (As rough as it was) and went down about 10 miles South of Dauphin Island.

My buddy had 4 guest on board and all were rescued and are okay.

Their successful rescue was, in my opinion, totally because of my friends preparedness and prompt execution of his on board safety measures.

First of all he deployed (or it did it by itself) his EPIRB, then after putting on their life jackets, and lastly although it was a struggle they managed get the life raft out and inflated.

He then used his cell phone (thank God it reached back to the land) to call someone and had them call the Coast Guard. Once the Coasties were notified they reported seeing the EPIRB signal.....then 2-1/2 hours later the CG cutter showed up.

As I am sure you guys remember I reported a similar incident about a year ago with not so good of an ending. Last year 2 of my friends died due to a sinking off of South Pass La.

Both sinkings had very similar events that lead up to the sinking.

Yesterdays sinking went like this......they were on a 38 foot Fountain powered by 4 250 HP Mercs.

Earlier in the day one of the engines developed a problem so it was shut down.

Seas were rough.

Apparently the boat was taking on water and the captian was unaware. After a while he noticed that the boat was handling very peculiar. He told me thats when he decided to get up and run but the motors did not have enough HP to propell the heavy boat and get it on top.

So he decided to restart the 4th motor and when he did it failed to start and the other 3 engines died.

From there it was stern to the seas, a large wave over the transom and then it was all over in a matter of minutes.

The boat has not been recovered yet. It remains submerged as of my conversation with my buddy tonight.

The Coast Guard officials informed him today that he may be liable for a $40K per day fine for discharge of gasoline into the Gulf.

The same incident a year ago involved a Robalo....twin engines on brackets....stern heavy.

I have a dive buddy that has a Proline with twins on a bracket......I have to say all of the O/B boats with engines on brackets just seem to handle funny to me....they just feel unstable.

I just thank God above that this tragedy has a happy ending.

bob lico · Post by **bob lico** » Nov 7th, '11, 23:01

i don`t want to say unstable but if the cc has no v-berth at all and you have a following sea coming in a inlet and you are riding the waves in one slightly larger wave will cause a seasaw action with all that weight in the stern after cresting a wave the bow will go under in the trough and fill with water in seconds. you have to be real careful with that " bath tub" in the bow of the boat . took out a conch 27' cc in the inlet a while back. my friend in a 38' contender whom is very experiance with triple 350hp yamaha`s lost one lower unit coming back from canyon then second with fuel problem came in after 7 hours and the boat breach in the inlet. boat flooded with water but he just made it inside breaker area by then and bilge pumps save his ass.got to be real careful and think what would i do IF-------------

Kevin · Post by **Kevin** » Nov 7th, '11, 23:50

Glad all were ok. 2.5 hours is a long time.

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Nov 8th, '11, 08:34

Sorry to hear about the sinking, glad they are okay!

2-1/2 hours...I would have thought a faster response to a verified sinking. Luckily it was in warm waters. I do not think you wouldn't last that long here.

40K a day...nice. Gotta love the EPA. I am all for a clean environment and if fuel was dumped I'd fully understand and appreciate the fine...but these are extenuating circumstances. Hell tell'm you ran out of fuel, so no fine. It wouldn't work, but dam that is just crazy!! The gasoline evaporates anyway.

jspiezio · Post by **jspiezio** » Nov 8th, '11, 09:37

I read about this on THT Harry, your friend was lucky because it sounds like he was prepared. I am glad they got home safe.

$40,000 a day? Come on EPA, what a bull---- thing to do to someone.

"I have to say all of the O/B boats with engines on brackets just seem to handle funny to me....they just feel unstable. "

I agree for the most part Harry, but I have one exception- the 26' Regulator. That boat is a classic and it seems that it was designed with that bracket in mind.

Face · Post by **Face** » Nov 8th, '11, 10:04

Another exception, B Whaler classic outrage with whaler drive "bracket". But it's more of a hull extension. My dad has the 27 with cuddy cabin and whaler drive and its a tremendous boat.

bob lico · Post by **bob lico** » Nov 8th, '11, 10:11

great south bay outside my marina a guy runs out of gas in a small boat . he sees the coast guard in distance and waves them down they come to his "rescue" smell beer on him and give him BWI. and go over boat and cite him for damage pfd. finally call suffolk police to arrest him and tow the boat back in.--------------------he never did get gas! then the guy on the ramp launching his boat . brakes give and car goes in water . big pick up 4-wheel drive backs up to pull car out of water and police wave him off leave car in water until DEA. comes so they can give him some enormous fine.

Rawleigh · Post by **Rawleigh** » Nov 8th, '11, 10:43

The brackets are supposed to be waterproof and provide enough buoyancy to make them neutral (at least that is what they claimed when I put one on a 30' Scarab Sport).

captbone · Post by **captbone** » Nov 8th, '11, 10:44

I am glad everyone is alright.

The official report says they picked up within 76 minutes from the first call? Thats pretty good given the distance offshore and the weather.

I highly doubt that he will be given a fine for pollution for his boat sinking also.

Side note: Anyone who is legally drunk while boating should be arrested and I think everyone will agree. The truck on the ramp must have been loaded with coke for the DEA to get involved.

MOBILE COUNTY, Alabama -- Four people were rescued Saturday after their boat sank in rough waters during a fishing trip off the Fort Morgan peninsula, according to the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Mobile.
There were no fatalities, according to Coast Guard spokesman Lt. J.G. Timothy Williams. The victims were reported to be in good health.
Williams said the victims included a 56-year-old man and three women, ages 60, 46,and 42. He declined to release their names but said all were from south Alabama.
The foursome left from Fairhope Saturday morning for an offshore fishing trip aboard a 38-foot Fountain speedboat, according to Williams. Seas increased to 10 feet and disabled the boatâ€™s engine, he said. The boat took on water and sank in minutes, Williams said.
The victims had life vests and were able to climb into a life raft, Williams said. They were equipped with flares, a satellite phone and an electronic position indicating radio beacon (eperb).
The man used the satellite phone and contacted the Coast Guard about 11:36 a.m., but said he didnâ€™t know his location, Williams said. The Coast Guard diverted an 87-foot patrol boat and a 41-foot utility boat was launched from Dauphin Island to search for the victims. A Coast Guard helicopter and boat were dispatched from Louisiana.
The Alabama Marine Police also launched a boat to help with the search at the Coast Guardâ€™s request.
After picking up the eperb signal, the Mobile-based Coast Guard cutter Cobia recovered the four people about 12:52 p.m. about 10 miles off Fort Morgan, Williams said.

bob lico · Post by **bob lico** » Nov 8th, '11, 13:13

yep that was DEC. be advise any rescue from fire island inlet out to the canyon and west will come from a NYPD. chopper long before coast guard confirms rescue and put the chopper from atlantic city into the air. nypd is in the air and there chopper can hone in on vhf/eperb/sat. phone. it is a matter of procedure. nypd has a rescue diver on board unlike the coast guard swimmer. they take the air first then confirm on route rather then confirm and take to the air . naturally if your close enough to a inlet for quicker boat rescue the coast guard will advise nypd. this info. is from the top!

captbone · Post by **captbone** » Nov 8th, '11, 14:03

USCG out of Atlantic City covers offshore. NYPD doesnt go out to the canyons.

bob lico · Post by **bob lico** » Nov 8th, '11, 14:30

absolutely positive i will introduce you to the man in charge also in charge of the blackhawks at islip airport (national guard). give me a call he on his boat for the weekend. nypd captain coan is in charge of nypd aviation.

Capt.Frank · Post by **Capt.Frank** » Nov 8th, '11, 16:07

Thats one nice thing about the North Carolina is USCG aviation hub in Elizabeth City. They have helios flying 80% of the day doing check flights. Its realy rare for us to have wait 20 min for a helio to lift off. We also have US navy training off shore 24/7.

In Memory of Vicroy · Post by **In Memory of Vicroy** » Nov 8th, '11, 16:36

Four 250s? Glad they are okay. Suggest he replace it with a B31.

UV

bob lico · Post by **bob lico** » Nov 8th, '11, 17:44

capt. frank what happen here in the new york area after 911 is rather dramatic. homeland security is running the show and over and over new york city has becomes the assholes target so they equip nypd with a totally differant hellicopter then any law enforcement authority would normally have,able to go out long distance and as you know capable of shooting down a aircraft (OMG.) these are fully equip to do long range rescue and loaded with electronic equipment far superior to the coast guard dolphine(sp?) they have every available electronic tracking equipment and can use it on a stand alone basis. LT. COL. COAN is also the commanding officer of those NG blackhawks that fly over the bay here standing on guard to protect the ny area.

Hyena Love · Post by **Hyena Love** » Nov 8th, '11, 17:44

"The foursome left from Fairhope Saturday morning for an offshore fishing trip aboard a 38-foot Fountain speedboat, according to Williams. Seas increased to 10 feet and disabled the boatâ€™s engine,..."

What? Ten foot seas in a boat with three women? Huh?

Glad everyone is safe, and sorry to hear about the loss of the boat, but ten foot seas?

captbone · Post by **captbone** » Nov 8th, '11, 17:58

bob lico wrote: nypd captain coan is in charge of nypd aviation.

bob lico wrote: LT. COL. COAN is also the commanding officer of those NG blackhawks that fly over the bay here standing on guard to protect the ny area.

He must be a busy man. :)

The USCG is flying HH60s Jayhawks out of Atlantic City and rarely uses the HH65s for offshore. The HH65 is mainly used for landing on the smaller medium endurance cutters offshore. NYPD's ability to shoot down aircraft turned out to be a Barrett M106 .50 cal on the helo for shooting small aircraft.

Harry Babb · Post by **Harry Babb** » Nov 8th, '11, 22:15

Thanks for the "Straight and Skinny" CaptBone......I got my information directly from the victim....and obvously very embellished.

The scary part is that I have been on that boat several times, never particularly cared for the boat, and have been invited to go even recently.

Not to make fun....but I guess its possible that my desire to stay on land to grind and sand fiberglass may have kept me from being involved.

The 4 motors make the boat Squat trying to get out of the hole.....but when she gets on top she becomes a rocket ship

I am very happy that it all turned out like it did........

I will let you know if and when they recover the boat and find out exactly what happened.

hb

bob lico · Post by **bob lico** » Nov 8th, '11, 22:58

that 50 cal does the job and that is all that counts. back to square one if it is a life and death situation and far enough off shore whereby nypd can make the rescue in less time then the cc rib nypd will be there . cc alantic city would take quite a bit more time.10 miles offshore is ok for the jayhawk they have been use to go much further in the past. if you been there first hand you would see it. the cc has totally qualified help in the waters around ny city.the rest of the country is a differant story they are not the target nyc is.

In Memory of Vicroy · Post by **In Memory of Vicroy** » Nov 9th, '11, 08:14

Harry, appreciate the quick heads up on the sinking, gave me a window to sell most of my oil company stocks what with those 4 gas hogs out of action.......

yo Fre'

UV

Harry Babb · Post by **Harry Babb** » Nov 9th, '11, 09:01

Vic wrote:Harry, appreciate the quick heads up on the sinking, gave me a window to sell most of my oil company stocks what with those 4 gas hogs out of action.......

LOL...I hear ya.....but like Seinfield said on one of his programs....."Everything evens out".....now there is some outboard mechanic out of a job somewhere.....and "Lower Unit" stocks just took a dive....Ha! !

I gotta tell ya.....that was one "High Maintenance" boat.....went thru at least 2 lower units per year.....

hb

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Nov 9th, '11, 09:02

Not to take away from the seriousness of a boat sinking, but after reading the above I am left wondering about the potential fine of $40K per day for gasoline pollution from a single pleasure boat which most likely will not contribute much pollution to the overall gulf with whatever the fines were that were levied against British Petroleum for the well blowout disaster. I suspect things are way out of proportion against the small boat owner.

Capt. DQ · Post by **Capt. DQ** » Nov 9th, '11, 10:35

Harry,

Glad to see this one did not turn out as badly as the other crew of friends.

Who gives a shit about the boat...they can be replaced easily as lifes can not.

DQ

Bruce Sweet · Post by **Bruce Sweet** » Nov 9th, '11, 15:21

Check your insurance policies for pollution coverage. if you don't have it, get it. then the cg or whoever can deal with the dedicated responder for the spill.

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Nov 9th, '11, 15:37

As I dwell on this more I have to think this policy of whacking people over the heads because of an unintended, semi unavoidable spill is going to kill someone.

With a boat going down and little time to spare, that $40,000.00 per day fine may keep a Captain in limbo deciding whether or not to ask for help. It may be the time it takes to get out a Mayday call or not.

Then you have those that would say screw the fine, we'll get out of the area and call for help. Or those that think they can swim it to shore...hmm, no insurance, $40,000.00 fine, I can make it to shore...

In Memory of Vicroy · Post by **In Memory of Vicroy** » Nov 9th, '11, 17:51

Sink at night.

UV

jspiezio · Post by **jspiezio** » Nov 9th, '11, 19:48

Vicroy wrote:Sink at night.

UV

That's Lawyer thinkin' for ya.

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Nov 9th, '11, 20:08

I know the coal/gas fired power plant across the harbor from where I used to keep my boat cleaned their boiler tubes generating lots of soot.. but only at night!

coolair · Post by **coolair** » Nov 9th, '11, 23:06

much cooler at night, dont want workers to suffer from heat exhaustion

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