Three men survive night at sea

[STUIE63]

here is an article in the townsville bulltin newspaper
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2007/11/06/7958_hpnews.html
I reckon these guys were pretty lucky it brings the thread on how to store safety gear to another levelwithh all their gear going down with the boat in a matter of seconds
well it was really good to hear they survived this ordeal
Stuie

[death_ship]

Any idea on why it sank?

[STUIE63]

All I know is what's in the paper it must have been a decent size boat by the price the weather was good forecasts for the weekend and the boat sank very quickly
Stuie

[plaztix]

Sound like 3 very lucky blokes.

Read a story in the latest QLD Fishing mag about 3 mates who capsized their 4.5m tinny in sharky waters in NT. One bloke was bleeding from a prop gash. They clung to the overturned hull all night, unable to keep it upright. Spent hours the next day bailing it out and the rest of the day paddling back towards land. Were lucky to have been spotted just before dark.

Scary to think how easily these things happen.

Amazing stories of survival.

[finga]

Yes it does bring to light just how easily and quickly things can and do happen to the best of us.
Obviously these guys are well used to the sea and all her moods.
The sea can be a powerful enemy and deserves every bit of respect we can muster.
I'm just glad of the outcome.

[charleville]

There have been a couple of learnings for me from these types of incidents:-

1. There was a story in one of the fishing mags about three years ago about a couple of blokes who spent about three days in the water in a remote area in the NT. One of the worst things to happen to them in that experience was bad sunburn on bald heads so I now carry a bright orange cap in my safety grab bag alongside all of the other stuff like epirb, mirror, flares etc.

2. How many times do we hear of the safety of the people in the water being owed to an esky? That has made me think about my big esky. It does not have much to grab on to if one was to end up in the drink and the only thing to float out of the sunken boat was the esky.

Accordingly, I think that I shall drill some holes in the poly handles on the esky and affix some rope handles. I have been thinking about doing such for a while as the existing handles are useless if one is trying to grab the esky from outside of the boat and pull it close to the side or manoeuvre it somehow.


http://myskitch.com/charleville/skitched-20071106-102247.jpg



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[Dicko]

2. How many times do we hear of the safety of the people in the water being owed to an esky?

.

Quite a few. As long as it's not mounted down or up under a roofed area, it'll float when a boat goes down from underneath it.

A few years ago after reading an article of a couple of guys in the territory floating around for days with their esky I changed my set up in my previous little tinny (without positive flotation) as it used to go places it shouldn't have really gone.

On the side of the fibreglass esky I mounted the epirb & next to it a plastic container with the flares, mirror, mobile phone etc.

Swimming home is definitely not on my wish list of things to do, but if it happened, I'd prefer to have a flotation aid (esky), my safety gear and fresh water with me while drifting around waiting to be picked up. (A few creature comforts already in the esky like salami, cheese, tomatoes and a pack of BBQ shapes would probably come in handy too).

I can only guess that these misadventures happen in a bit of a hurry. When they do, you only then have one priority to remember, and that is the good old aussie tradition of staying close to the esky. ;D

Not trying to be funny, but what's the point in having all that gear mounted to a boat or buried deep in the bowels of an under floor hatch somewhere while it's on the bottom of the ocean and your dog paddling around on your pat malone ?

[bluefin59]

That story in Q.F.M made me realize the need for decent p.f.ds thats why i went out and bought hutchwilco jackets instead of those foam block ones ,i figure my life is worth at least $100 [to my wife atleast] ...matt

[bastard]

All my life jackets are under the seat upstairs but the epirb and flares and all the safety gear is stowed away under the floor and would be a mission to get to,i think i will buy a water proof bag and stow all the other safety gear under the seat upstairs to.

[KAGEY1]

Strewth Bluefin , Will The Coincidences Never Cease! I Too Have Hutchwilcos Going In The Formosa This Week. ( See My Post On The Formosa Thread)

[death_ship]

i got a safety grab bag with all the goodies in it including inflatable pfd thats sits beside my seat, any trouble and i have it all in a second. gives me a bit of peace of mind where i can see it and get it immediately. got it from bias.

[northernblue]

That story in Q.F.M made me realize the need for decent p.f.ds thats why i went out and bought hutchwilco jackets instead of those foam block ones ,i figure my life is worth at least $100 [to my wife atleast] ...matt

Matt, I need some advice mate,
My wife knows that I have a 350k life insurance policy....... and she tells me the foam block jackets are the best ;D

[Lutjanus johnii]

Read the story this morning. Lucky guys, that tide was in their favour, taking them back to land. Alot of things could have been against them. Wonder how they went betting today in the cup.

I've yet to fit a couple of open storage cutouts for EPIRB and Fire Ext. Might do that sooner than later.

[Dicko]

This guy was pretty lucky too,

They found him perched up on a marker buoy with the seagulls by back tracking his GPS

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,22715523-953,00.html

[STUIE63]

Dicko you're, not wrong this guy was lucky absolutely amazing story
Stuie

[Lutjanus johnii]

This was in todays Bulletin.



He said he was devastated to have lost his prized 7m aluminium-hull boat.
"I've had the salvagers out but they can't find it. It's gone," he said.
"It was probably about $80,000 altogether and I can't afford to do that again.
"The twin Yamaha 100 four-strokes were only 10 hours old."


That's Allot of boat to just dissapear. Surely the salvagers could get a something like a Side Imaging Sounder to find this thing. How long can a motor be underwater before it is totally screwed???



Mr Fleming said he hoped to find a similar boat that he could fix up to get his retirement dreams back on track.
"Someone out there has probably got a wreck in the backyard that they don't want," he said.
"I'll be able to fix it up. Any dealers that want to come on board with replacement boat motors would be welcome, too.
"I'd be a great advertisement, the new boat's going to be called Survivor."


Does this mean he didn't have insurance???.



Mr Fleming's boat, the Sea-bitch, went down in seconds, taking with it flares, an EPIRB and GPS equipment.
"I only had time to turn around and it was going down," Mr Fleming said.
"I reckon the hull must have split.
"Within 30 seconds we were in the water. One of the fellas just had time to jump in the cabin and grab the life-jackets."


For the Boat to sink in 30 seconds how much would have to had split???. 7m Plate hull. Surely this wasn't a backyard built boat. If it was a known builder, And if I was them I would want to find out where it failed and why. I presume maybe the hull was old and didn't have any flotation??? would it have still gone down with nuetral floatation?.

Sorry for all the questions, but I am interested so it doesn't happen to me.

[Shanoss]

I heard that the boat had been extended. ie: transom cut off and a few extra feet were spliced in. Just a rumour though

[Lutjanus johnii]

Fair enough one little part of the weld failing but for the hull to "split" seems a bit of a worry. Surely the water pressure wouldn't open it up???

[Shanoss]

I also heard the bungs had been left out.... more rumours though. would be interested to hear the real story.. he is keeping very quiet