Fisherman survives 10 hour swim

[Lone_Wolf]

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=385000

LW

[Sea-Dog]

Ten hours is a long time to be wondering about when a shark's gonna take a bite out of you.

Top marks to the bloke for having the guts to make the effort and survive.

We all hope that his mates are found safe.

[david johnstone]

yes i agree with you , that is one of my own personal fears when iam outside fishing , it realy drives home reality in what can happen out at sea,the shear will power of people is nothing short of amazing ,lets hope they find the other two fighting fit .

[themissus]

Second guy was found alive on Lennox Head beach this morning. Hope they find the third guy soon.
Cheers Kim.

[Shagga]

That is great news. Here's hoping they find the third alive and well.

[Local_Guy]

try treading water for 5 minutes. it will give u a huge appreciation to what this guy must have endured.

great to hear about the finding of the 2nd guy. lets hope today brings good fortune for the family of this lost sailor.

[garman1]

Brings back wearing a stormy lifejacket all the time such a good idea, I know I'm convinced !!!!!

[Foxy4]

All good news for two of them so far. Lets all pray and hope that they soon find the third crew person.

I am pissed off cause I am an Air Observer and got the urgent call to go last night, but have this Virus from a mozzie bite and am not up to it.

So heed my warning to you all about Mosquitoes. Always wear some form of repellent or cover up to protect yourself. It only takes one to bite and you could end up like me with this virus or even worse Ross River Fever. It is not pleasant to be in this situation.

[whitingkiller]

having worked on trawlers, i how what their families would have gone thru...
hooked up on the reef numerous times but lucky enough not to go down.

here's hoping the last guy is found alive

[Nicko]

Good thing they weren't drunk at the time cause they wouldn't have had a chance of making it back most likely.
If I was in a boat offshore with a few mates, I'd advise that everyone stays within the 0.05 range or just drink soda pops cause It'll mean death if something bad happens like a sinking ship.

[JEWIENEWIE]

We can only hope that the third is out there somewhere and has got through the night. After all the hype about the man eating shark sightings here in byron lets hope this eases some people. A man is in the water for 10 hrs,after his trawler sinks, probably loaded with fish, many ks offshore with cuts which would have been bleeding, and swims many ks to shore without being attacked. Very lucky? No sharks about? or Not such the Man eaters they are made out to be?
Lets hope the third is found alive and well, my wishes go out to the family awaiting...
Jewie

[spelchek]

Can't help but wonder what happened to the boats epirb.

[disorderly]

Can't help but wonder what happened to the boats epirb.

Supposedly it happened when the nets fouled in reef while turning.
I'd reckon in this situation it would be all over in a matter of seconds.
I wouldn't think there would be much time to do anything but try and get away from the sinking boat,rigging,lines and nets etc.
No doubt we will hear more about it.
The 2 survivors did a remarkable job getting back to shore .
Things don't look real good for the last bloke,though.http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/../yabbfiles/Templates/Forum/default/sad.gif

[Marlin_Mike]

The epirb probably went down with the boat.

To go from "OH SH**" to being in the water is so quick you havent got time to grab anything

Mike

[Outsider1]

I have been a deckie on a Prawn Trawler when it had a net snag on the bottom. It is a scary situation and reaction time is crucial. The Trawler's motor will literally pull the boat under if the skipper is not able to react quickly enough.:o:o

As mentioned, snagging on a turn would be really bad and probably taking longer for the skipper to realise the problem. In this case the motor would pull the boat over quick smart.

Lets hope for the best for the remaining missing crew member and a speedy recovery to the 2 guys found.

Dave

[whitingkiller]

disorderly,

you have to remember that the best prawning is as close to the reef as possible, so you are always pushing the limit to get that extra prawn in your nets..

on a good night you can hook up on "bommies" several times, but eventually the weight of the boat moving forward will pull it off..

when u do hook up, it is easy no to notice especially when a big swell is on and you are busily sorting the last shot's catch

have had friends sink their trawler, but survived, and they said that you don't even have time to grap the bolt cutters that are mounted right beside the drum lines..it happens that quickly

[spelchek]

So with all these anecdotes of how quick a trawler can go down due to nets catching (which i have heard before), trawler skippers/owners still arent mounting them (epirbs) on the decks in easy reach of crew OR (even better) in some sort of automatic release system? Quite unbelievable.

[disorderly]

So with all these anecdotes of how quick a trawler can go down due to nets catching (which i have heard before), trawler skippers/owners still arent mounting them (epirbs) on the decks in easy reach of crew OR (even better) in some sort of automatic release system? Quite unbelievable.

I've also wondered how long it might be before we see "personal epirbs" which come in a compact enough form for divers,fisherman,hikers to wear on their belts.
With the technology available surely this is not too much to askhttp://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/../yabbfiles/Templates/Forum/default/undecided.gif.

Scott

[Brumby]

I've also wondered how long it might be before we see "personal epirbs" which come in a compact enough form for divers,fisherman,hikers to wear on their belts.
With the technology available surely this is not too much to askhttp://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/../yabbfiles/Templates/Forum/default/undecided.gif.

Scott

Already available, certainly in 121.5mhz format, not sure about 406. Maybe another reason not to switch off the old system too quickly - better than nothing.

Haven't seen any more news about the third crewman - not good!

[Nicko]

No wonder prawns cost a lot from the market.

[gleeeza]

Some sort of preset clutch setup on the winch drums, couldn't be that hard to set up I imagine!

At least you would have some extra time to react which IMO would be worth the extra cost given that this is an ongoing problem and the consequences are dire at best.

There were pro's searching all over the shop today, on top of a massive response from the usual guys, very encouraging to see. I cant remember seeing that much crap floating in and around tide lines before today, and every bit of it gave me a sinking feeling in my guts. I really feel for the last blokes family I hope he pulls off a miracle.

Gleeeza

[disorderly]

Already available, certainly in 121.5mhz format, not sure about 406. Maybe another reason not to switch off the old system too quickly - better than nothing.



Oh I didn't realize.http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/../yabbfiles/Templates/Forum/default/embarassed.gif
Are they able to be taken underwater
I'm surprised that after the Lonergon's disappearance that there was not a push for something like this to be compulsory for divers.
Nothing worse than popping up after a dive and finding out the boat has left without you.....fortunately in my case the boat returned and found me(and a dive customer I was responsible for) after about an hour.http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/../yabbfiles/Templates/Forum/default/tongue.gifhttp://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/../yabbfiles/Templates/Forum/default/smiley.gif

scott

[Sea-Dog]

It certainly doesn't take much to flip a trawler over.

We came within a bees dick of going for a swim one night off Gladstone.

Trawling with the tide and got hooked up on one of the nets. The boat
quickly turned about 45 degrees and one of the arms started going under.

The skipper backed right off the revs and she still kept tilting over more and more.
Things started sliding from one side of the deck to the lower side.

We were heeled over at 30-35 degrees and increasing. Only by pulling the boat out of gear did she SLOWLY make the decision to stay the right way up.

Of course the dory was securely tied to the roof of the trawler and full of spare nets etc. The dory couldn't float free if we did go over.

It made for an interesting minute or two........

[Brumby]

Hey Disorderly, I know some of them are waterproof - racing yachties use them, but whether they'd withstand 15-20m I don't know. You'll probably find it is a cost thing too (re divers) ie yes it would make it safer but how far do you go?

[Fish Guts]

i think there should be a requirement for hydrostatic epirps mounted on the roof, similiar to hydrostatic life rafts.

[castlemaine]

Glad to see 2 safe, hope the other is located soon.
Used to go out with a mate offshore and he would give a quick drill everytime we approached the Bar. Life jackets on and showed us where the EPIRB was located and where to get to if we fell into the drink. He's had a few close calls in the early days and will not take any shortcuts.
On another note how many times do you see someone trying to get their anchor up off the bottom by tying off the rope on the transom? Saw a guy do that in a hire boat on the Logan River.