Two boats sink in wind storm

[007]

facebook link doesn't work anymore

[007]

Ok, found it. As somebody else said, that was hard to watch.

I would to have loved to see what happened immediately before the bow went under, seem like it was taking on weight and then maybe they stuffed it maneuvering to the dock. No judgement here, but I think there may have been a fair amount of panic in the driver's actions and crew too. Its a shame because they lost the boat and prevented others from accessing the ramp. Tough day and tough lesson for sure.

We've been caught in some pretty hairy stuff, and I am not gonna say I have done everything right in the heat of the moment. That said, they guy with the wheel is the captain and has to keep a cool head. Fronts/Squalls/Storms pass...the part you have to ride out may seem like an eternity, but its usually not.

[talltigeguy]

Ok, found it. As somebody else said, that was hard to watch.

I would to have loved to see what happened immediately before the bow went under, seem like it was taking on weight and then maybe they stuffed it maneuvering to the dock. No judgement here, but I think there may have been a fair amount of panic in the driver's actions and crew too. Its a shame because they lost the boat and prevented others from accessing the ramp. Tough day and tough lesson for sure.

We've been caught in some pretty hairy stuff, and I am not gonna say I have done everything right in the heat of the moment. That said, they guy with the wheel is the captain and has to keep a cool head. Fronts/Squalls/Storms pass...the part you have to ride out may seem like an eternity, but its usually not.

I still cannot find it. The FB link doesn't work.

[KXCORKY]

It's on YouTube now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgn4l6j3OZw

[outkastmunkey]

I have my opinions and have been around boats my whole life but there was so much wrong done by the driver in the video. I was out in some windy big chop a couple weeks ago nose up bilge on nosed into waves and powered to the launch. That's a bad day bet he never does it again.

[outkastmunkey]

Watch the video about 4:48

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMuvdpLv7gs

[JohnnieMo]

This whole video is despicable. I've been on the water during events like this, and even on the shore with houseboat situations like this. The cameraman is a useless piece of trash. In my world it's every man on deck to help rescue people first and boats second. Video taping the whole thing with a beer in your hand is a disgrace. Then the one dude throws out a holocaust reference. Wow.

The guy who sunk his boat clearly didn't know what to do in that situation and that is unfortunate. We all take our licks to learn. He took the worst of it. I was pleased to see the other boats rush to his safety. That is of course, the law.

[UNSTUCK]

I have my opinions and have been around boats my whole life but there was so much wrong done by the driver in the video. I was out in some windy big chop a couple weeks ago nose up bilge on nosed into waves and powered to the launch. That's a bad day bet he never does it again.

Would you mind spelling it out a bit, what he did wrong? As a pretty new boater these videos did scare me a bit. Not going to lie!

Here's what I'm thinking if I get into the same situation: If I don't feel I can safely get the boat on the trailer...

-Keep the boat bow high and travel into the wind staying perpendicular to the waves. I'm thinking empty all ballast, but maybe I should keep the rears full to help keep the bow high?
-Keep the speed just fast enough to maintain control of my direction, keeping the boat perpendicular to the waves.
-Once I get to the end of the lake (or wherever I want my turn around spot to be), turn around and let the boat drift with the wind, making corrections to keep the boat perpendicular to the waves.
-Keep doing these laps until the weather passes.
-Of course, everyone in jackets. No one in the bow. One person to hold the UHF handheld. I'm thinking maybe someone else to hold a tube rope. We could tie off to each other if we end up in the water. Bad idea?

So glad our new boat is out of the water like a foot higher than our old boat. That should help.

[Bakes5]

My opinions

1) tieing off to each other is a bad idea. Sounds like a good way to get tangled and drowned. Maybe a 2' section but no way on a long tubing rope. Really, it just sounds like something to mess around with when you should be actively saving yourself and others.

2) both drivers sank their boats by driving forward. They just kept sinking lower and lower and taking on more and more with each hit. If it looks really ugly, I would say just drift, pump out water, put on life jackets, put on shorts over your thong so your not bending over for the whole world to see and then generally sort things out. Eventually you will hit land. As long as it isn't some cliff, it's better than burying your nose repeatedly in waves. Even when the Bu was totally screwed at the end, it could have probably just drifted and pumped out water.

3). Don't panic. Both boats appeared panicked and sunk when far less capable boats were just bobbing on the waves.

4). Don't go to the ramp. Good way to hurt yourself and boat. That yellow boat got lucky. Even the Malibu that sank lucked out.

5). Don't do panic circles when the wind pushes your nose one direction. Drift, use low power, time your throttle inputs

6) know your lake. Knowing where the coves are makes decisions easier

[UNSTUCK]

You guys may have heard of the family that lost a few members at bear lake either last summer or the one before. When the boat went over they all got seperated. They all had jackets on and just floated around through the storm till they were rescued or died of exposure. I think they ended up in 2-3 different groups not being able to see or hear each other. That would be the worst part for me, getting away from my kids, hence the thought about the rope.

[outkastmunkey]

Would you mind spelling it out a bit, what he did wrong? As a pretty new boater these videos did scare me a bit. Not going to lie!

Here's what I'm thinking if I get into the same situation: If I don't feel I can safely get the boat on the trailer...

-Keep the boat bow high and travel into the wind staying perpendicular to the waves. I'm thinking empty all ballast, but maybe I should keep the rears full to help keep the bow high?
-Keep the speed just fast enough to maintain control of my direction, keeping the boat perpendicular to the waves.
-Once I get to the end of the lake (or wherever I want my turn around spot to be), turn around and let the boat drift with the wind, making corrections to keep the boat perpendicular to the waves.
-Keep doing these laps until the weather passes.
-Of course, everyone in jackets. No one in the bow. One person to hold the UHF handheld. I'm thinking maybe someone else to hold a tube rope. We could tie off to each other if we end up in the water. Bad idea?

So glad our new boat is out of the water like a foot higher than our old boat. That should help.

You said exactly the way I approach these situations sorry for not spelling it out but doing small circles with someone in the bow no life vests is not good.


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[talltigeguy]

I feel bad for them. I am so glad everyone was OK. My random thoughts:

I tried to do my best, but I just couldn't make myself think those waves were worthy of sinking a boat. The wind was scary and made it so hard to control the boat, but the waves were workable.

I asked my 13 year old daughter what they could have done better and she pointed out the guy in the bow shouldn't have been there. It is even worse that the boat is a direct drive, so getting the bow up is going to be hard enough. That boat is made to move forward, not upward. Having the dude up front made it so that he pierced the waves, instead of throttling over them.

The dude with the closed bow jet boat was a boss, and could have handled twice that much trouble.

I don't think his bilge pump was working. It still should have been pumping at the last and I don't see any discharge. That is a terrible time to find out your bilge pump is not working. I am a strong believer in having 2 bilge pumps.

It looks like it is long ways to the other side of the lake, so once you got near the docks, I can understand why you might not just head to the other side of the lake. I do wonder if the waves might get bigger out in the middle of the lake.

I think you are still better off without rear ballast. You need as much maneuverability as possible. The scariest part is if you have to turn around, when you mismanage the throttle, the wave lifts up the rear, and points the nose down. If you do it just right, you throttle the nose straight down and then it is game over.

I was at the lake when a freak windstorm came up like that. Of course, I would say the waves were much bigger. I found a spot where it was protected from the worst of the waves and just hung out until everyone else had loaded up. 25 boats all in the marina was an accident waiting to happen. Thankfully, some people were there helping, not standing around videoing all of the mishap, because getting on the trailer with 50 MPH winds coming directly from the side was very difficult.

[Tigerbass]

Watch the video about 4:48

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMuvdpLv7gs

Had to turn the volume down on that moron recording the whole thing. Also, I don't think I saw a single person put on a life jacket. Unbelievable.

[freeheel4life]

https://youtu.be/LwTd89pmGPQ

Guy with the jet does have it together....only thing they miss is having the truck in 4 to prevent the wheel slip. Audios not working for me so I guess I am lucky.

Is rather appalling that nobody had a vest on. Water temp at this reservoir has been very cold due to lots of snowpack melting in this drainage, last time I was out saw a low of 52degrees water temp(assuming triducer is accurate). Certainly would have been a different story if it happened in the middle of the lake.

Only problem with the motoring into the wind theory a few have have thrown out there is in this case you would eventually end up at the backside of a large earthen damn which is nothing but a huge pile of boat shredding volcanic rock. Could have possibly tried to hide behind it as a wind shelter, but certainly nowhere to just beach it and wait at that end. There was plenty of beachable area on either side of that launch tho. Would have resulted in significant gel coat damage though.

Hindsight is always 20/20. When the **** hits the fan sometimes the first reaction isn't the best. Super glad everyone is okay. Hopefully everyone can take something away from this. I sure did.

[Germaine Marine]

Sucks, but avoidable if you plan ahead for a worst case like this. Do yourself a favor if you are a new owner and run through what if scenarios in your head even if they sound far fetched and unreasonable. Ive always lived by the mantra that you can never over prepare. Bad decisions are usually the killer here and bad decisions usually are caused by a lack of preparation.