Always happens to some one else?

[jackson4300]

Well just having a think about something I got told this afternoon, one of those things that you think it won't happen to you or anyone you know, always happens to some one else.

At about 6 pm got a phone call from my dad, he had gone up to Darwin last Thursday with a mate to go fishing, wasn't due back till tomorrow. He has 2 mates in darwin who both have boats, they go to a place called the 4 mile, its a freshwater billabong but gets saltwater in it when it floods. Apparently the 4 of them got a couple hundred barra plus a few Saratoga between them (all catch and release). But that was until Tuesday. They had booked accommodation and were going to stay for the rest of the week and go out into the 'ocean'. But that was just my dad, his mate he took up there and one of the fellas who lives up there with a boat.

My dad got back yesterday in the afternoon. A laceration to his arm and severely sun burnt, the other two guys were just severely sunburnt. On the way out something went wrong with the steering and the boat flipped. The were in the water for several hours on the hull until they were able to get the boat back upright, then a further 15 hours floating around until finally they were found. When the boat flipped my dad got hit by the prop which is how he got the laceration on his arm.

The boat is a throw away job, all the gear they took is now on the oceans floor, included in that gear is the new rod and rell combo my dad bought especially for the trip which was around $1,500 and another similar priced combo which was only around 2 months old.

Please everyone take care when travelling on the water, have safety equipment that can still be used if your boat is capsized and make sure someone knows you have gone and when they should expect you back.

[el_carpo]

15 hours in and on the ocean with a cut arm. Thank God there weren't sharks around. Your father and his buddies are very lucky men. After he heals up, tell him to buy a lottery ticket. Glad it worked out in the end. Sorry they lost their fishing gear and all but that's nothing in the big picture of what could have happened. Whew!

[juju]

They are bloody lucky to get out of that...

[cormorant]

Glad to hear he is OK.

When he stops shaking it would be good to hear what actually went wrong, what size / style of boat and whether it was sea conditions or a failure that put em in the drink.

Hope he gets well soon and still wants to fish.

[themissus]

I think they just used up all 9 lives. Glad to here they are OK. At least fishing gear can be replaced.
Cheers Kim.

[Deiter]

In the water for 15 hours with a bleeding wound...there would have been sharks around, no doubt about it. Lucky they weren't hungry i guess. VERY lucky.
Glad to hear they're all ok.
Would love to hear the extended version when it becomed available.
Damo

[jackson4300]

Caught up with him today, yes lucky indeed,

Full story, a little long but a true story of survival.

After fishing the four mile and came back to town about Monday afternoon, they headed to some accommodation close to the ramp where they were going to launch. Of course they wanted to get out for a fish straight away but were restricted and could only get out or come back in during high tide so that there was enough water. They decided to head out at about 3pm which was high tide, the bloke who had the accommodation ( just some huts) knew they were going out but they hadn't told him what time they would be back which they expected to get back at 7pm, the next high tide. Apparently they got out to their spot which was only 4-5 km out from the land and had a ball, he said they had about 4 jewies over the 1 meter mark, a couple just under, golden snapper, and lots of other great fish, kept a few for a feed.
They were going to start heading back in at 6pm which left them an hour, plenty of time, but fishing got the better of them and stayed out till 6:30pm. After noticing the time they gave it a little more throttle coming back, when the boat went up a swell the drivers seat collapsed and the bloke driving fell on the steering arm which caused the boat to turn pretty much 90 degrees which is when the boat went over. Everything on the boat shot off into the water including the three of them. My dad was sitting at the front and when the boat went over got hit by the prop on his arm and his shirt got caught in it. The situation now is he is stuck underwater, he described it as though it was like some one grabbing your foot and holding you under, just below the surface. One of the blokes was frantically trying to pull him out while the other one was looking for a knife to cut his shirt away. He eventually was able to get his shirt off and get to the surface.
They knew there biggest chance was the epirb, fat chance though, it was floating around in the ocean somewhere. when the boat went over, like I said everything went over as well, including the anchor which was still attached. They spent the first part of the night holding onto the chimes, and yes thinking of the sharks they had caught and seen while they were fishing but not saying anything about it. After a few hours of this they knew they had to flip or try to get the boat the right way up which they did and stayed hanging onto the boat for the rest of the night. Before they flipped it right way up it was sitting in the water with the nose above water and the stern under the water, due to the motor pulling it down with its weight, the boat was also with the hull out of the water. When they flipped it all that was different was the hull was back in the water, stern was still submerged. Hard to say, my dad had to draw a picture to really show how it looked.
Anyway as soon as first light came they knew they had to do something. My dad said he spent the night thinking of what to do and eventually thought of something that might work. He got the two other blokes to get into the water and pull the front of the boat down while my dad was inside, this managed to get the stern of the boat just above the water. My dad had their dolphin torch, he now loves them as they sort of saved his life, he took the bulb and battery out and now had a bailing tool. He bailed until one of the other blokes could get in. While my dad was bailing the other bloke got the cover off the motor and used that to bail. The bloke who owned the boat remebered the bilge, but he said no battery, gone with everything else. But my dad remembered the battery he took out of torch and hooked that up to the bilge and it worked. Eventually the last bloke was able to get in and they bailed until they finally had a dry floating boat (still anchored). They all fell asleep purely from exhaustion and dehydration.
Once all were conscious again they managed to come up with a brilliant idea, since the tide was so strong when it was running, they waited till the tide was coming in and pulled the anchor, and with the other two blokes paddling with their hands they managed about 3km towards the land before they could see the boat ramp. This is when I reckon they all were being pushed to their limits, they saw a bloke heading out. This was at about 11am
They waved the lifejackets and made as much noise as they could and the bloke heading out came over. They explained to him and he gave them a tow back to the ramp. If that guy is a member of ausfish I would like to thank him, not for just saving my dads life, but all three of the guys.
My dad got on the next flight home as soon as he could and was back in Brisbane by Wednesday morning.
The cuts my dad has got on his arm aren’t to bad, the saltwater closed them up pretty good but he still needed to go for x-rays, he is seeing a doctor a couple more times on the weekend still.
All three guys have 1 and 2 degrees burn purely from the sun and were pretty dehydrated. Not to sure on the make of the boat but would have been about a 10ft tinny with a 30 I think on the back.
All three blokes are still going to try and go up there next year for the long weekend, and I may go up there at Christmas holidays next year as well.
My dad is now going to log on and off with the seaway and also make sure some one knows where he is going and what time he is expected to be back by. He has bought 5 dolphin torches and is going to by some new life jackets for our boat. The ones they had on were the $10.00 block ones which left them all with grazes and marks from where they had been on, get what you pay for I suppose.
Also maybe some of you blokes with the smaller boats who carry your epirbs just lose with other stuff should get them fitted so that it doesn't get lost if this happens to you.

[jackson4300]

Conditions were great when they headed out but picked up to about a 20 knot wind during the night, dropped off to around a 15 knot wind in the morning.

[Reef_fisher]

Been thinking about buying one of those jackets that you wear all the time and inflate when needed, might just get a few, and yes the epirb is held in with the propper bracket. Had a near miss once myself but managed to right the boat before any harm was done. You just don't know what will happen sometimes to cause a problem.

[chuss]

Freaking flaming bugger of a day!! So glad that it worked out and they used their noggins to get out of the situation. I've heard of people in the same situation trying to swim for it..

That really was a freak accident, but it could happen to anyone, even the most experienced boaties.

I guess lesson of the day is to keep them lifejackets handy, a bucket tied to a rope tied to the boat, keep a dolphin torch or 2, plus a water activated EPIRB is a life saver..

[Fish Guts]

glad everyone came out safe at the end of the day. credit to your dad with using the torch battery to power the bilge. that dolphin torch should be going straight to the pool room.

cheers

fish guts

[dogsbody]

Hell of a story, smart thinker your old man. Glad to hear all is well.


Dave.

[jackson4300]

Thanks fellas, he is lucky, but apparently the numbers he put in for the lotto arent as lucky :P
But yea, just remember when you buy a life jacket, spend the extra $20, 30, 40 or whatever because it can save your life and your life i think may be a bit more valuable.