Two men rescued as pleasure boat sinks

[2muchdraft]

I remember the thread a while ago on what is a safe size of boat to be off the coast in. Does this clarify it enough.....

from todays Times Colonist newspaper

Two men rescued as pleasure boat sinks

Two Courtenay men were rescued from the water off Vancouver Island’s west coast after their 20-foot pleasure boat sank during a fishing trip.

Several vessels answered the Tuesday mayday call, including the Uchuck III, a 136-foot vessel that carries freight and passengers through Nootka, Esperanza and Kyoquot sounds.

Uchuck captain Fred Mather took the two men on board from a U.S. pleasure craft that was first to the scene.

"They were fine," said Mather in an interview by satellite phone.

"One guy was wet because he was trying to save his boat, but they seemed in pretty good shape."

The sinking happened off Esperanza Inlet when the boat took a wave over the stern while one of the men was bringing in a fish, said Mather.

 

[salmon9]

Curious to hear more details on that sinking. Was the boat self bailing, did they loose power, what type of floatation did the boat have, what about bilge pumps? This is my greatest fear, taking a rouge wave over the stern when you in big seas with short wave periods, possibly loosing power, not being able to bail/drain enough water before the second and third wave does you in.

 

[yammy5]

I was worried about that too which is why I bought a boat with a high solid back wall and no transom. The engines mounted on a pod. There are many styles of boats with big wide open transoms providing no protection whatsoever if the weather gets rough and you have to escape a following sea. I was at Swiftsure Bank a few years back on a charter in an older 23ft Grady White with an open transom and we hit a huge storm and had to make a desparate run for shore. The following sea was steep and fast and very quickly we had over a foot of water in the stern. The pumps were struggling to keep up and the water level looked like it was higher than the batteries. I've never seen a face as white as our charter captain. In the end the pumps and self bailing properties of the boat barely saved us from disaster. I won't mention names but that charter boat owner has since moved his batteries to the cabin and has installed a solid back wall across his transom and mounted his engines on a pod.

 

[wolf]

I know who he is!!!!!!!!
good for you to knot mention his name

Wolf

 

[yammy5]

LOL...yeah I thought you'd know him Wolf. I have a lot of respect for him . Scary trip though. We all learned something. []

 

[MyEscape]

Be safe get 2000 gph bilge pump thats 500 gp 15 minutes safety is key.
Double up extra pumps cost little $ but might save you and your boat in a bad situation. The good news is the guys are safe and I hope their insurance covers them.

Cheers ME

 

[battaglino]

Why not go one step up and go with the 3700 gph. I have one in my boat and I keep a spare on the ready to hook up just in case. Having a positive floatation boat is a real plus too.

 

[Country Boy]

My understanding is that most insurance plans don't cover you if you go out into open water on the west coast. They're pretty specific about where you can be. Commercial Boats would have different insurance mind you. I would be curious as to what type of insurance the guides are using that run off shore regularly, if yes who's the insurance company. Mind you some guys don't even have insurance on the boat and are willing to take the risk. Does your insurance company cover you ?

 

[Mr. Dean]

quoteoes your insurance company cover you ?

I'm covered in ALL areas that I fish. On the 'outside' I'm limited to 25 miles (seldom go there).

 

[wolf]

I go through the new company that used to be with bc land and you have to ask as there is different "zone" coverage but it is all there you should get coverage if you are guiding it only makes sense but I know some dont I know its expensive but if one person gets hurt on your boat and you dont have insurance kiss your life goodbye.


Wolf

 

[scottyboy]

i`m covered for 25 miles as well off shore. scottyboy

 

[Hoghunter]

I have insurance with Boat US and they limit my coverage to area's not more than 10 miles west of Cape Flattery or Nigei Island. When I plan to fish the offshore areas of the island in the summer I simply call and ask them to extend the coverage for say the months of July and August. It usually costs me an extra $75 to $100 but I figure that's a drop in bucket compared to the cost if something happened and I wasn't covered. I believe most insurance companies would offer the same options.
The problem as I see it off the West Coast is that too many people are venturing out who don't have the knowledge, skills or the boat for the type of water that they can potentially encounter. I regularly read about people going out 40 plus miles fishing tuna in 20 to 25' boats. There's a huge difference between fishing 5 to 10 miles offshore and going out 40 or more. I've been amazed that somebody hasn't died yet this summer.

 

[Country Boy]

I think the big bank is around that 26-28 mile mark. I don't know if many venture past that, all the guys I talk too and know only go that far. Maybe a guide or anydody else for that matter could say how far they/most peolpe would go. I will have to ask around for an insurance company that would cover me out in the open/offshore waters of WCVI/BC.

 

[battaglino]

I know many people in WA that run 40 to 50 miles off chasing tuna. Most go with another boat just in case. We probably all should do even 10 miles offshore. Last weekend I was fishing swiftsure from Neah bay and there was someone that had run accross in a 20 foot open bow ski boat with no kicker and only a hand held GPS in heavy fog. He said he had to stop a couple of times because he kept hearing a really loud horn but had trouble figuring out what direction it was coming from. He somehow made it across both ways in the fog running accross the shipping lanes. He is probably one of the reasons they don't want to insure people running offshore.