Two boats sink in wind storm

[KXCORKY]

This happened on two different lakes this weekend. We were on a different lake as well and got caught in the storm. Luckily we only cracked a weld on our Pylon.
This wind came out of no where. When we checked the weather before we left it said 9 MPH in the afternoon. One of them is a new NXT.

https://www.facebook.com/justin.gate...9783560053312/

http://www.ktvb.com/news/local/lake-...tion/446344679

[sandm]

scariest time ever for me on the water was surfing up the arm toward the Arrowrock dam. storm came around the corner out of the blue and had 4ft waves and rain. couldn't see it coming until it rounded the corner and was the weirdest thing ever to see it coming at us up the channel. was a crazy wet ride back to the upper marina launch and once there, it took 4 people to keep the boat from crashing into the dock to load. we ended up staying an extra 30 minutes to help 6 other boats load from the high winds.
won't ever forget that day from the images of the storm coming around the corner to all of the boaters coming together to help others load and get out of the wind/rain.

glad to see it looks like everyone was ok.

[Bakes5]

Couple of things

1) Ummm...get the kid out of the bow. WTF?

2) Worse place to be during a wind storm is in an exposed ramp like that. Most wind storms die down to something reasonable after a bit. Way better to wait it out.

3) Wonder if he had any ballast onboard. That bow was just freaking low.

It looked like he kept taking water over the bow since he was doing circles into the wind (again, not helped by the kid in the bow) which just progressively made things worse. A sumo pump might have helped a bit. But his bow was CLEARLY taking water every hit (~3:50) with that kid in front and then he would circle back into the wind and take on more water. Clearly paniceed and just motoring to the dock no matter that he was sinking his boat along the way. Way better to just coast with the wind a bit, get all the extra water out of the boat and then try again.

[KXCORKY]

That was my thought with the guy in the bow, and going in circles like it was intentional almost..

[NICKYPOO]

^^^Exactly, Bakes. I couldn't agree more.

[Thegerman618]

About lost my Centurion a few years ago 4th of July, could see heat lightening out in the distance and light breeze. Figured I would put my awning down and double check my boat lines. In the time it took me to walk 300 yards to the boat, wind jumped to 60+ mph, Rain, Thunder, Lightening. Ran to the boat, in time to see 4-5 waves crashing over the back of the boat. Took me and 7 others to push the boat off the beach, first and only time I have ever started the boat and slammed it into full throttle. Launched the boat coming off the beach, full out of the water in the air flying centurion completely crazy night. Got out into the bay faced it into the wind and rode the weather out.

Always hate to hear people loose their boats in the weather, especially unexpected weather. Hopefully no one was hurt.

[JTs-rz2]

At that point the worst thing you can try to do was save the boat in the water. Tie lines and stay on the dock. Never in the water.

That boat was full of water beyond capacity of bilge pumps prior to approaching the dock. Everyone should have had life jackets on at that point. High, rough, or low bow = jackets.

Rarely catch this on video but a great tool to learn from.

I think I am installing a second pump after seeing this.

That lake looked too big to find and up wind or cove area.

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[NAstleford]

We got off Lucky Peak about 10-15 minutes before it got real windy. Lucked out there.

Sucks for both of them but think the NXT got the worst of it. Good thing there's insurance & Hopefully his is good.

[BCRider]

That Malibu going under was completely unjustified. As others mentioned he would have been better off letting the boat bob in the water than trying to power through all the waves. Again, Buddy out of the bow and the bilge obviously wasn't on as there was no water coming out. I'll just call it a lack of boater experience as there was just no reason for it. Shi##y situation for sure.

My worst was my last boat. 2000 MB DD so the bow was about 12" out of the water when it was calm. As soon as the boat is moving or anyone is sitting in it the front bow loop is in the water. The lake our summer house is on is known for being a windy lake. I had a situation where we were surfing and I saw the storm coming. I went from dead calm to 3-4' and capping in a matter of seconds. The worst part was we had left a tube afloat so I had to go get it before we could head in. It also didn't help that the wind was coming straight at the boat launch. I had a bow cover for that boat so as soon as I dumped everyone at the dock I snapped it one which keeps the majority of the water out. Every second wave would come over the bow and half up the windshield. It's better to bob and let the wind push you (if you can). That was a get on the trailer perfect the first time otherwise it was going to get ugly...which I did.

Had one other time like this on the same lake and I had all of the nieces and nephews with me. This time I was at the far end of the lake and took a pounding coming back but I dropped everyone at the local beach as it's protected. My dad saw the weather and jumped in his car. He must have had ESP that day because he met me at the beach. I then went out and around the corner with one other to get on the trailer. This was one of the last straws for me and was time to get a bigger & higher boat that could take the water a lot better.

[KXCORKY]

Our old MC Prostar sat really low too, we took water over on that quite a bit on a good day, but the pump would come on. Now that I am thinking about it, I don't think our bilge is auto. But we don't run with it on either. What the best thing to do here? Just keep checking to see of there is water in the boat.

[Bakes5]

What are your thoughts on throwing out an anchor on the bow, attached to an anchor buddy bungee and additional line (5:1??)as needed and just riding it out at anchor? I go back and forth on this an don't know if it would make things worse. Obviously some lakes are too deep. Maybe I'll experiment next time we spend too much time eating lunch and get caught when its a little windy and white capping at Pueblo.

I've also thought of getting a bow cover for this very situation but I don't know if it would really help that much and would just be something else to screw around with.

[TeamAllen]

That was hard to watch, but good to learn from. I really don't think I would try to load the boat on the trailer with the wind at my back like that.
I am really impressed at the yellow flat bottom boat staying afloat. The whole time I thought he was going to go down. It shows you how much of it is the driver and not the boat. The woman is also pretty impressive helping to retrieve the boat on the trailer.

[Dandy]

WOW! I have to admit that the guy with the yellow MC that was loading found himself a good woman. She backs the trailer in, seems to know her mark. Then when she noticed debris in the water around the trailer, she wades right in and grabs it. That is a good woman right there!

I have never experienced anything like this 1st hand being that a lot of the lakes in MN are not large enough for this kind of swell (the ones that are are not in our area) so it is tough to say how I would react. I do always try to remember that cars, boats...are just things. They can be replaced, maybe not exactly, but they can. People cannot. I have lost friends and family to cancer, car and motorcycle accidents, old age...and they will never be back. I could find a boat next week to replace one lost.

For everyone to be jumping in the water around the boat toward the end is just stupid. As fast as that boat swung around, it could swing back and very quickly pinch someone up against the dock or under water.

Stay safe out there!

[NICKYPOO]

I've been caught out at Almanor before. My buddy had his Sanger V210 go down a couple of years ago up there. He had it on a bouy. No bow cover and had turned the battery off so his auto bilge wasn't powered. It was at night and he woke up to find just the tip of the bow poking out of the water, still connected to the bouy.

I've had to jump in my boat in the middle of the night to get it off the bouy in a freak wind storm. It went from dead calm to 3-4' in minutes. Lasted about 30min and then went dead calm again. Put it on the trailer anyways.

I would never own a boat without a bow cover. Anytime it starts getting nasty, I put it on right away.

[freeheel4life]

Yellow MC that loaded up was one of our customers. Just did a steering cable for em. They called us Sunday to tell us. Owner of Malibu called our shop Monday. I have a sneaking suspicion its going to end up here. Hopefully just take his totaled insurance check and drive the thing straight to the auction, because otherwise I think ive got a headache on my hands. I couldn't make it out in the video but to me it looks like his bilge pump isn't even working. Can anyone see better than me??