No fish to report on, but here's a video to watch to get prepped for crab season. Don't do this.
The morals of this story are many, but here's a few:
Like the man said, wear a lifejacket. Have it on before things happen. Inflatable vests are reasonably priced and comfortable to wear. Float coats are warm and extend your survival time in cold water. Wear your flotation because your boat may not have enough.
Manufacturers put the required amount of flotation in their boats but they aren't tested. "Required" and "enough" are often completely different things. Unless you are in one of the three boats guaranteed not to sink, assume that your boat will sink faster than your traps. If you are in an "unsinkable" boat, know that they aren't "unrollable". Any boat full of water loses its stability. Clinging to the bottom of your Whaler is better having no boat and will hopefully get you found and rescued quicker, but it still sucks a lot.
If you have water coming over the transom, stop whatever you are doing, turn the motor straight ahead and put it in forward easy. Do not maintain a condition that allows water to enter your boat. Your bilge pump isn't big enough. Do not throttle up quickly, as, again, boats full of water are unstable and want to roll over. Slowly turn the boat to point the bow into any waves. Get on the radio and let other boats know where you are and what's going on, just in case.
If you have a boat with a four-stroke outboard and the boat was designed before the year 2000, know that the designer didn't plan to have that much weight on the stern. Do your part to keep your gear forward to minimize stern weight. BTW, if your boat was designed after 2000 it may still not be designed correctly. Assume the worst.
Your bilge pump won't handle much water. I don't care how big or how new it is, that's a fact. Most boats come with a 500 to 800 gallon per hour pump. That rating is at a 0' lift, which is less than you need to empty your boat. Any higher and the flow drops quickly. Any bends in your hose slow it down, too. According to BoatUS, "a two-inch hole that is one foot below the waterline results in 78 gallons/minute entering the boat. With every minute the hole isn't plugged, you are adding around 500 pounds of weight to the boat. That ratio increases as the boat sinks lower in the water." That hole would require about a 6000 gallon per hour pump to lift it a couple feet and keep the boat from sinking. How many gallons were coming in over the stern in the video? My bilge pump rule? Get the two largest ones you can afford and have them on separate electrical circuits. I have a 1500 GPH, 2000 GPH and 3700 GPH, each with it's own wiring circuit and switch. I sank a boat once. Like Roberto Duran said, "no mas."
19 comments:
Pretty good view of Davey's Locker there at the end.
That is some of the worst boat handling I have ever seen. Good seamanship.....calling for the life jackets AFTER the boat starts to sink!! WEAR your PFDs everyone.
Outlaw
I could not believe this - when your cooler is floating around you should realize there is a problem....being "caught in the moment" must have consumed their brain with stupidity!
And just that quick the boat is sunk - now let's figure out our PFD's
WOW is right!
So what actually happened here? Did all the water come into the boat from the backing down? Like Outlaw said really poor boat handling, and what about the bilge pump? Was everybody rescued? Now's the time to check your equipment, and yes wear your PFD you may survive a boating accident with it on, at least your family will have your body to bury.
I don't think the bilge pump in that boat would be able to keep up with that much water.
I think it is a tin can boat - do they even have a bilge?
I noticed she was bailing water but they kept on trying to pull the pot.
Thankfully they survived....and now they get to face the embarrassment
Did they save the crabs?!?! BA HA HA, life jacket, life jacket, life jacket, was his dogs name "life jacket"?? They just don't come running because you are calling there name. BA < HAAH< HAAH Captain had his life jacket on though. Seriously, glad they were all safe, must of been another boat near buy to pick them up?!?!
"go forward!" as the motor is under water. someone should teach this guy how to pull a crab pot!
Why would these clowns even put this vid on youtube?
I believe they posted this video for educational purposes. You know,so other people can learn from their mistakes. Most people can't count how many though. Mother nature will eat you up and spite you out in a heart beat with out any remorse! RESPECT HER!
So the moral of the story is: Don't back up to pull crab pots, and take water over the stern. Keep your bow to the swell. Pay attention to water coming in to the boat. Make sure your bilge pump works. Wear your life jackets, and oh yea pull your head out of your ass. Apparently this boat didn't have level flotation foam in the hull. Aren't all boats 23' and under suppose to have flotation?
They have flotation but aren't tested to see if it is enough. Guess what? Often it isn't. Last spring we had a 16' boat sink while tied to the float on the end of the pier. When we untied the boat to tow it to shore it rocketed to the bottom. Just was gone. Don't count on the flotation in the boat. Even if it won't sink, Whaler owners, they will flip over easy when full of water.
Willy,
After I am done putting my Fishing GO ID # on my buoys, does that mean next year when I get a new lic. I will have to cross out the old number and put the new one on. If so,you might want to remind people to write small so that they can get more then one set of numbers a year on their buoys. New buoys every year can get pricey.
As i understand it, your license changes each year but your GO ID# stays the same. When you present your license (fishing or driving) to get a new fishing license, it takes the license sales person to your existing GO ID account. If you have last year's fishing license or hunting license the number should be the same.
While we're on the subject of crab does anyone have experience with the safe t puller? Got me one of the beefy 2100 models before last season but still have not used it. My pots are heavy about 75lbs each which is why i chose the light commercial model. Hope it lives up to it's name. The ace hauler was no match for my gear.
The guy who sank this boat has a youtube video of dragging the boat off the bottom. They were crabing in the Columbia River in OR. When asked how the boat sank he replied that it was "mostly backing up in choppy water and taking water over the stern". He has other youtube videos while Salmon fishing, in those videos he also is backing up while landing fish. The water is flat calm, so he gets away with his poor boat handleing I hope he has learned his lesson. They all made it out alive!
Hey Willy
Is there any surf fishing to be had in November? profitable that is.
Correct Willy - your Go ID is your personal identification number with DFG, the same go ID number is on your hunting and fishing license and stays the same year after year just like a drivers license.
Over-regulation can make you roll your eyes but I don't think they are asking for too much, fairly simple to tie the cotton.....
I just wish someone would dive down and cut all the ropes on the old stuck traps - those floats are annoying..... We should all chip in and pay a diver to remove them.
I caught two traps with my downriggers earlier this year (after crab closed) and cut them off with my trusty knife, you're welcome.
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