sunken boat

[rickmarlin62]

has anybody seen the foto of large plate alloy boat sitting on the bottom at the banks nsw

[Noelm]

Nope, got any info or a link?

[Noelm]

Perhaps it's the that went down at "the Peak" off Sydney some time ago.

[rickmarlin62]

that's the one..found it elsewhere..its on boatsales and fishing world....il try an put link up...rick

[shakey55]

Here it is Rick

A pretty scary situation. They were lucky there was another boat around that day.

116812

https://www.boatsales.com.au/editorial/details/the-amazing-survival-story-of-a-fishing-boat-that-sank-at-the-peak-59842/


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[PixieAU]

Thanks for link. Was a good read

[ben475]

Not a bad read.

[ranmar850]

He sounds a bit clueless to me. I know everyone has 20/20 hindsight, and it's easy to sling off at others, but he really did his best to get all those holes to line up.
1) forecast of WSW getting up to 25 knots in the afternoon, and he's out past The Peak? Anyone from Sydney should know that you'd take that forecast with a big dose of caution. 25 knot WSW is bad out there, but it's likely to get a lot worse.
2)" I noticed a fair bit of water in the back of the boat, didn't think much of it, turned both bilge pumps on" FFS. Wouldn't you investigate that a bit further? And did he notice that the pumps just kept pumping, or couldn't he see his outlets? Alarm bells would be screaming at me.
3) " a couple of hours later..." bilge pumps still running, boat rolling oddly, 50 knots of wind, and they are still trying to fish? Again, FFS.

Other things in there as well, but the only take away he seemed to get from this was that HIS LIFEJACKETS WEREN'T EASILY ACCESSIBLE? This really takes the cake--he shouldn't have let himself get into that position--he just ignored the bleedin' obvious, and continued to do so.
if you are thinking--"there but for the grace of god, goes I", maybe you shouldn't be on the water either. He ignored a lot of really obvious danger signs and just kept fishing, a long way offshore and in deteriorating weather. Maybe my instincts for danger at sea are better developed than the average fisho after 26 continuous years behind the wheel of a commercial fishing boat ranging far and wide offshore, and yes, things can go downhill in an instant at sea, but he had plenty of warnings, and chose to ignore them. The one thing that made those holes line up was him, and it sounds like he is very lucky to be alive. Lifejackets accessible? Wear an inflatable offshore at all times, and it's always accessible ::)

[rickmarlin62]

im with you on this one ranmar...sounds like he was on a mission to fail the whole time...my little inflatables sit in the side pocket next to where we stand on either side of boat...no good up under the front where you cant get at them in a hurry....thanks for putting up the link an fotos guys..i thought people may enjoy readin bout that one...rick

[ranmar850]

Yes, awesome photos. The top of The Peak is , what, about 30 fathoms? Back when I lived in Sydney, blokes would dive it on compressed air, (no mix)on a shot line--go down to where you started feeling a bit narc'ed and come back up. Always in pairs, to keep an eye on one another. Risky business, never did it myself.
I've certainly been guilty of having lifejackets stashed away, we all have. Nowadays, I find it easier to just slip the inflatable on, you forget they are there. Although maybe not in FNQ heat and humidity.

[Dignity]

Darwin Awards failed this time.

[GBC]

50 knots. I was searching for survivors of the Rockin Robin and another missing Cat in 50 knots in 1990. Seas were 10 metres inside the reef. Pros don't line fish and amateurs certainly don't have a quick drop in sustained 30 knots let alone 50. Anything more than a couple of hundred metres from cover is getting smashed up. We'd often get 40+ each morning when the tunnel storms (morning glories) rolled down the Gulf and we had to prepare for those or lose gear off the trawler.

[Noelm]

Perhaps the wind speed has been somewhat embellished?

[ranmar850]

Perhaps the wind speed has been somewhat embellished?
yes, I thought so, although I didn't mention it. Some people confuse knots with km/hr, believe it or not. 50 knots is full gale strength, I couldn't imagine wanting to do a quick drop in that. 50 knots WSW over The Peak, in a 6m boat, is more like a struggle for survival than a rough trip home.

[Noelm]

For sure, I once turned back to the Banks off Greenwell Point when I was nearly at the Shoalhaven River entrance and I remembered that there was a Quintrex still anchored when I left, the wind was "only" about 25-30 knots from the West, when I found them, they were still anchored, bailing with buckets, they said they couldn't get the anchor up! I told them to let it go with something tied to the rope and I will get it for them, by the time I got it up, they had made about 50 yards headway, I got them to head to Currarong so it would be at least kind of side on, that was a long trip home that one.

[Smakka2301]

I reckon the skipper of that story is being shy about the real reasons why things turned out like they did.
Perhaps the reason why the wake of the ferry hit hard was because the hull was already taking water ... and why there is water in the back of the boat is because he forgot the bungs.
Does insurance cover Darwinian dumbness ?
I guess they never go and recover the boat to find out do they !

[Noelm]

Bungs in or out doesn't matter when you are moving forward, only matters if you stop.

[ben475]

I was wondering if the bungs were the reason behind all the water in the boat also.

50 knot = 92 kmh winds, i wouldnt want to eveb be outside let alone out in the boat.

[Jason Green]

In about 2013 we pooled our money and had a heap of work done on it over that year, including a hard top roof put on it, an ally fabricator took it for about six months and welded all the corrosion spots, modified the back, put in a checker plate floor and painted it.
Maybe she just cracked


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[catshark]

The story reads there was a hard impact from a ferrys wake, and then goes on to state that , as the boat was sinking airbubbles could be seen coming from the front keel area. sure was lucky he didnt go down with his craft, also states that an ally fabricator had it for six months to correct all the corrosion spots, well one would think that the bottom of the hull simply peeled away like a skin on a custard.....

[Jason Green]

Might be what happened weld repairs are worse than new fabrication due to contamination from dirt oil rust etc and also previous stresses that have occurred on the parent material
during its natural life
Does not take much stress to make a crack run and open up that you don’t even know was there

Just wondering do they NDT marine repairs for pleasure craft or do you have to request it when you need to have repairs done



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[ranmar850]

I've ad long experience with plate hulls, both commercial and pleasure ( more big commercial), and we never had NDT done on repairs or modifications. If you requested it on a pleasure boat after having some fabricator do a patch-up job on an old platey, they'd fall about laughing, I reckon.
With some plate designs there are areas you simply can't get to from inside, to wash, clean or inspect. if salt builds up and dries out, usually via the process of just a little water getting in each time, and being allowed to dry, the salt builds up and it will go right through. A lot of salt water sloshing around doesn't do any harm, but small amounts, left to dry, are the killers. I've seen 6mm plate on a commercial hull go through in just 2 years, due to this, and the fact he had some spare gear stacked over it, directly under the wheelhouse , which never moved. Sloppy on his part. The whole section of hull had to be cut out and replaced . In fact, when you get this kind of pinholing, it is often the only way to properly repair it. Just gouging it out and welding it up may not be a good fix. I've got a mate in this position at the moment-- older ( 25 years?) plate hull was put in the water a couple of years ago after a trip down a very bad track , and promptly started taking water. We pulled it out, and water was pissing from multiple holes alongside the keel towards the bow. This bloke is certainly not big on maintenance or cleanliness of his boats, and he'd owned this one for 20 years. I reckon the vibration of two hours of horrendous corrugations had finally knocked out the corrosion that was in there from salt buildup. I had some of that Knead-it putty, the waterproof version, which we forced into the holes, and built up around them, and stopped the leaks. This stuff is excellent for running repairs on alloy. He's had a welder look at it, and he just shook his head, because you'd have to rip the whole front deck up to get to it, and theres' no guarantees it would even be properly fixable even if you could get to it, without spending more money than the whole boat would be worth.

I don't reckon the original subject left the bungs out, because that would probably have manifested itself a lot quicker than it did. I think the old girl just gave up.

[catshark]

good point there Ranmar, good tip about the putty and gotta agree the old girl gave up and what a spot to go down, glad the fishos made it out alive but awesome the old girl went down to her briney grave on a well known spot.

[ranmar850]

That Knead-it putty is gold for quick fixes. I keep a tube of it in the ute, and, if I have to chuck it out and replace every three years or so, so what? I've fixed alloy cooling water castings, both fresh and salt, when the parts weren't readily availbale, and the fix has worked until I've got around to replacing the part.
The repair I mentioned above on that boat was at least three years ago, and he reckons it still doesn't make any water.::)