More than a few potential Darwin Award candidates in these posts!
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Small boat and cold water
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I don't have any similar stories or anything different to add about the effects of cumulative bad decisions.
At least they were wearing PFDs.
I'll say this about foam flotation. I think you'll find that the flotation rating of foam is predicated on that foam being DRY. If the foam is water logged, as so many find in their boats, the flotation rating is useless. If the foam is waterlogged (before the boat sinking), then the "hidden" weight of that water counts against the weight rating of the boat.
At least they were wearing PFDs.
I'll say this about foam flotation. I think you'll find that the flotation rating of foam is predicated on that foam being DRY. If the foam is water logged, as so many find in their boats, the flotation rating is useless. If the foam is waterlogged (before the boat sinking), then the "hidden" weight of that water counts against the weight rating of the boat.
The floatation calculation is based on:
- Load capacity of boat ("max weight" on HIN tag)?
- Or based on the amount floatation needed to float the empty hull level with max rated outboard?
- Or some other criteria of the USCG?
A lot of boats are missing part or all the original floatation that they had when the boat left the factory.
Also the floatation is not always placed to prevent the boat from turning "Turtle" when swamped or flooded.
Had a friend whos boat was swamped on calm day at a inlet by a rogue wave. He and his young passenger spent a hour or so before being rescued off the bottom of the boat.
- Load capacity of boat ("max weight" on HIN tag)?
- Or based on the amount floatation needed to float the empty hull level with max rated outboard?
- Or some other criteria of the USCG?
A lot of boats are missing part or all the original floatation that they had when the boat left the factory.
Also the floatation is not always placed to prevent the boat from turning "Turtle" when swamped or flooded.
Had a friend whos boat was swamped on calm day at a inlet by a rogue wave. He and his young passenger spent a hour or so before being rescued off the bottom of the boat.
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Yes, have pulled more than a few off the over-turned hulls of small boats. IIRC my brother and I are up to 11 on-the-water rescues ... and I want to STOP counting ... (meaning - BEHAVE, BE SMART people!)
20 or so years ago a buddies wife called me to tell me her 75 year old husband went fishing and never returned that afternoon, after figuring out where went from several who refused to go with him, we found him passed out drunk adrift with his 50ft anchor out in 900ft of water with four rods in the water and a flooded motor.
(He had hung a 150hp on a 15ft trihull and would regularly go places no 15ft boat owner should ever contemplate going), We found him using radar early the next morning unknowingly drifting south east passed out cold with a half empty bottle of scotch. When we woke him he said he had flooded the motor and figured he'd take a nap and wait while he fished some more but he passed out again and just drifted not realizing he was in 900ft water with only 50ft of anchor line. We towed him in that day but it was far from the last time he got stuck somewhere in that boat.
How he lived to see 92 is beyond me. The last time he went out, he had argued with the wife over going and his last words were that he'd be lucky to die out there vs getting old and not being able to fish. When he didn't return that time she calle dthe police and coast guard too. They foud him almost just as far off shore out of gas, and drunk
That ended his driving days, he was 86 then with a touch of dementia so a few of us took his boat and stripped it and cut it up for scrap under orders from his wife. After cutting up the boat it was amazing it held together as long as it did. I had many layers of plusood in the floors, a half ton of water and soaked foam, and a fake registration.
The boat was cheap or free and but had no title so he 'borrowed ' one from another boat. He never got caught and somehow managed to run it like hat for more than 10 years.
(He had hung a 150hp on a 15ft trihull and would regularly go places no 15ft boat owner should ever contemplate going), We found him using radar early the next morning unknowingly drifting south east passed out cold with a half empty bottle of scotch. When we woke him he said he had flooded the motor and figured he'd take a nap and wait while he fished some more but he passed out again and just drifted not realizing he was in 900ft water with only 50ft of anchor line. We towed him in that day but it was far from the last time he got stuck somewhere in that boat.
How he lived to see 92 is beyond me. The last time he went out, he had argued with the wife over going and his last words were that he'd be lucky to die out there vs getting old and not being able to fish. When he didn't return that time she calle dthe police and coast guard too. They foud him almost just as far off shore out of gas, and drunk
That ended his driving days, he was 86 then with a touch of dementia so a few of us took his boat and stripped it and cut it up for scrap under orders from his wife. After cutting up the boat it was amazing it held together as long as it did. I had many layers of plusood in the floors, a half ton of water and soaked foam, and a fake registration.
The boat was cheap or free and but had no title so he 'borrowed ' one from another boat. He never got caught and somehow managed to run it like hat for more than 10 years.
freeisforme
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Old glass boats with rotten wood buried in several layers of plywood with water logged foam are all too common. About half of the guys I know keep their boat outside year round, uncovered. Many have patches on top of patches and motors that barely run but they keep going.
All are broke old guys who retired years ago and most won't spend a nickle to do it right if cheap suffices for now.
When I lived in FL I had a neighbor there who owned a 1950's era half wood, half fiberglass 14ft boat. He would run out of Gov. cut in Miami every weekend, he'd go out late on Friday, and stay on the water till he caught fish, sometimes staying out in that tiny boat for three days sleeping under the bow deck adrift in the ocean. A few times he drifted too far, one time he drifted into a storm and nearly sunk the boat. He did it till he was in his early 80's. He gave the boat away after he fell overboard trying to rinse his hands of cut bait and almost didn't get back in the boat. The boat had a mid 50's Johnson 15hp on it that was missing its cover for years. He'd also take a bottle of Jim Beam with him as well, he said it helped him sleep and not worry about the boat sinking while he slept out there.
He would go out there, with no radio, no phone, no tools, and no registration on the boat, He said he had paid enough for the boat back when it was new and he's not paying any more for it. As far as I know he never got stopped or asked for papers and never got any tickets.
All are broke old guys who retired years ago and most won't spend a nickle to do it right if cheap suffices for now.
When I lived in FL I had a neighbor there who owned a 1950's era half wood, half fiberglass 14ft boat. He would run out of Gov. cut in Miami every weekend, he'd go out late on Friday, and stay on the water till he caught fish, sometimes staying out in that tiny boat for three days sleeping under the bow deck adrift in the ocean. A few times he drifted too far, one time he drifted into a storm and nearly sunk the boat. He did it till he was in his early 80's. He gave the boat away after he fell overboard trying to rinse his hands of cut bait and almost didn't get back in the boat. The boat had a mid 50's Johnson 15hp on it that was missing its cover for years. He'd also take a bottle of Jim Beam with him as well, he said it helped him sleep and not worry about the boat sinking while he slept out there.
He would go out there, with no radio, no phone, no tools, and no registration on the boat, He said he had paid enough for the boat back when it was new and he's not paying any more for it. As far as I know he never got stopped or asked for papers and never got any tickets.
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The life jackets saved those two old guys no doubt. lucky hypothermia didn’t get them.
Cold water and cold air temps ain’t no joke. When I was about ten years old some friends and I were down on the local creek messing around on the ice. It was well below freezing and the water had a decent layer of ice on it, along with some snow. We decided to jump up and down on the ice to see if we could crack it. We succeeded! Was over a hole about 4 foot deep. My buddies managed to scamper off to the bank without going in. I wasn’t so lucky I was out in the middle and went in and got soaked up to my neck. The closest place for me to go was my grandmother’s house about a mile away. Within a few minutes my clothes were frozen solid to the point I could barely move my knees. After what seemed like an eternity I made it to the house, a painful frozen walk. Luckily my uncle was there and he knew immediately I was dealing with hypothermia and frostbite on my feet. Having served in Korea he dealt with this kind of thing before and knew what to do. They immediately put me in a tub of Luke warm water and massaged my toes that had begun to turn dusky grey. I was very lucky he was there. It doesn’t take long to get into trouble with water and freezing temps. To this day my feet hurt when they get cold.
Cold water and cold air temps ain’t no joke. When I was about ten years old some friends and I were down on the local creek messing around on the ice. It was well below freezing and the water had a decent layer of ice on it, along with some snow. We decided to jump up and down on the ice to see if we could crack it. We succeeded! Was over a hole about 4 foot deep. My buddies managed to scamper off to the bank without going in. I wasn’t so lucky I was out in the middle and went in and got soaked up to my neck. The closest place for me to go was my grandmother’s house about a mile away. Within a few minutes my clothes were frozen solid to the point I could barely move my knees. After what seemed like an eternity I made it to the house, a painful frozen walk. Luckily my uncle was there and he knew immediately I was dealing with hypothermia and frostbite on my feet. Having served in Korea he dealt with this kind of thing before and knew what to do. They immediately put me in a tub of Luke warm water and massaged my toes that had begun to turn dusky grey. I was very lucky he was there. It doesn’t take long to get into trouble with water and freezing temps. To this day my feet hurt when they get cold.
I knew a guy like that years ago in NJ, he ran an old trihull, he and a buddy would run that thing miles off shore, often going out for several days at at time just sleeping in the open boat, under a tarp if it rained. They had a frame for a Bimini top but no top, they just carried a blue tarp and duct tape.
One of them finally died, well into his 70's, but the other one kept fishing. Then one weekend he didn't return, his wife had called and asked if anyone had seen him. Apparently he went out on Friday night, alone, in May. She said he filled up the boat, (he had mounted two 40 gallon tanks in boxes above deck under the two back to back seats), and he would carry four full 6 gallon tanks just in case. He was 81 at the time. It was Sunday night when his wife started calling around. She called the coast guard on Monday to report him missing but she had no idea where he fished or where he went.
After no one saw him by Tues morning, a few of us went with another buddy who had a mini speed boat that he ran offshore from time to time, it could cover a lot of water fast. With 400 gallons of fuel on board and twin engines it could run at a decent speed for hours and still be able to make it back, plus the boat had a 150 gallon reserve tank just in case. We started out around 8am, got to the area where he normall fished and starting scanning using the radar. We searched till about 2am, then got a call that someone saw a small boat about 32 miles off shore about 40 miles south of us. We headed that way and after a bit of searching and scanning we found him, he was out of gas, still fishing, with a cooler full of beer and two bottles of Scotch. He couldn't figure out why we came looking for him, he had no idea how long he was out there, he had been eating fish he caught, drinking and he figured that sooner or later, even with no engine, he'd drift into land sooner or later. He said he was fine and didn't want a tow.
We didn't give him any choice and tied up his boat and got back to the dock. He had gone better than 100 miles in all. Leaving out of Cape May and heading north about 80 miles and off shore about 35 or so. He was drifting south about even with Ocean City, NJ when we found him, about 30 miles from land in a 15ft trihull with more sketchy patches and bad repairs than we could count. He wasn't worried because he had four batteries, a solar panel to charge the batteries, and 8 bilge pumps all wired separately. Including one 1500gph monster. He didn't think he was in trouble at all, he was perfectly content with just letting the current take him where it may. He had fish, and alcohol, he was happy.
We hauled the boat back to my buddies place, it sat there for two weeks, and over the time the transom gave way and the motor fell back, nearly completely off the boat. The boat had 9 layers of 3/4" plywood on the floor, each later added to fix the last one that rotted away. It had two 40 gallon tanks, and he had five 6 gallon tanks, all empty when we found him. His wife offered to pay us to loose the boat somewhere.
They moved away later that year, moving to a senior only development out of state but the boat sat there for years until my buddy finally pulled the motor off it and buried it somewhere. He lived for another 15 or so years from what I heard, but I think his wife pretty much put an end to his offshore fishing in small boats. I still have the motor, it does run great but he's lucky it and the boat didn't end up at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean back then.
