18 ft half cab rescued from near the pin bar

[Jeremy]

had a fish down the pin Sat arvo. Pulled the pin about 7.30 thinking the wind had dies out, but it turned out we were protected out of the wind where we were and there was still at least 20 knots of Southerly. I came up Kalinga bank to the yellow X at the NE corner of Crusoe and turned right to head back to Jacobs Well. It was a black night and I got a bit disorientated :-[. White caps everywhere and I lost track of the channel markers. Dunno how but I ended up down near the pin bar. I only realised where I was when the depth increased over 10 m :-[ :-[. Yes I do have a compass on my dash which I was not using, and I do have a GPS which I had left at home on purpose.

Anyway, I was heading over to what seemed to be a moored vessell to ask for directions, and when I got to within 50 m of them we could see that the boat, an 18' half cab or similar (red and white?) was aground on the sand east of Swan Bay, there were at least a couple of people in the water waving to us. The boat was on at least a 30-45 degree angle on its side and was probably taking on water.

As I approached them, it started to get quite shallow, with quite a bit of chop and white water, so I turned the nost back into the wind and headed back into deeper water. I heard a female voice screaming at me 'help, help, don't leave us'. So flashed my spottie at them a few times to let them know I could hear/see them and did anther pass as close as I safely could. I yelled at them that I would notify the VMR to come to their assistance, but I doubt that they could hear me as they certainly didn't acknowledge.

I then headed back into deeper water and back towards crusoe, where I made the call to VMR Jacobs Well, and headed back to the ramp. I later confirmed with the VMR that they had found the vessel and had it under tow.

What occurred to me, was how lucky these people were that I had made a wrong turn! How cold and wet they would have been and how heartbreaking to see the pride and joy getting smashed by the waves. I doubt very seriously that there would have been any other boats going near the bar that night.

Why didn't they signal to me from a distance with a torch or a flare, which any number of boats along Crusoe could have seen? Why didn't they have a marine rodio themselves to call the VMR?

Anyway, interesting story I thought. Hope it wasn't anyone from ausfish. It would be interesting to hear their side of the story as to how they got into difficulty and their experience when they saw me and saw me leave, and the rescue.

Jeremy

[Murks]

Well done Jeremy,
I was out down the pin on a recon trip today and saw three boats aground in and around Whalleys Gutter..Asked each of them if they were okay and all of them were hardly interested in acknowledging my concern...it wont stop me from asking in the future...good on you for getting lost and offering assitance and in fact creating the rescue effort...dangerous place to go in weather like yesterday if ya haven't got any comms even a mobile would do.....I also gotta ask, why leave ya GPS at home?...at night I wont go anywhere without it...
Brett

[Jeremy]

I also gotta ask, why leave ya GPS at home?
Brett

Just figured I wouldn't need it. Not as if there was some spots I had marked which I wouldn't find without the GPS! But I will definitely take it again if I intend to stay past dark to save getting lost again.

Jeremy

[Seahorse]

what size boat were u in. what happened in the end. did they get rescued. very scary moments by the sound of it. did u or vmr get them

[TheDeepSix]

Jeremy,

The same thing happened to me once in Moreton bay. The guy didnt have a radio so I called VMR Sandgate for him and waited with him until the coast guard vessel got there. He didnt even thanks us, great hey >:(
Cheers
Chris

[Camo]

Good on ya Jeremy, and for what it's worth I think you did the right thing not rushing into shallow water and getting into trouble as well. If that had happened you would have been no help to anybody.

Contacting VMR is the right call, and I would have done the same thing, if I was in your place. You would have to hope that they had at least some safty gear of their own, and should have been able to manage until VMR arrived. It's hard to imagine how they could get into that position in any case. How fast were they going to get that high and dry, and at night as well. Good on ya mate, and if they thought you left and didn't help well that's their problem. You know better, and so do we.

Camo

[Grand_Marlin]

G'day Jeremy,

It just goes to show ... it doesnt matter how much experience any of us have ... we can still get into trouble.

Good on you for keeping your wits about you (as I guess you were a bit panicky yourself from being lost) and good to see that you did the best thing possible and didnt end up in trouble right beside them.

Cheers

Pete

[bidkev]

Good call Jeremy.........no point in getting yourself into difficulties as well. bet they were cursing you though as you drove off ;D

I've been down at the pin when it's been blowing heavy and dark and it really is a difficult place to find your way around even with the beacons....some simply don't work half the time.......tbh, I find it pretty scary down there.

kev

[Jeremy]

It's hard to imagine how they could get into that position in any case. #How fast were they going to get that high and dry, and at night as well.

Camo, It might have been the same boat I saw anchored down that way earlier in the arvo. My best guess is that maybe their anchor dragged when the wind picked up and they couldn't start the motor.

G_M, good to see you back Pete. Not panicky, but I was definitely getting a bit concerned, particularly with two relatively inexperienced deckies with me.

Jeremy

[jimbo59]

Jeremy,why did u head back to the ramp after calling vmr ?

The poor buggers would have felt a bit more relieved if u would have hung off at a safer distance until they were rescued.

John palermo told me he was crossing s p bar at 11;30 pm and nearly smashed into a uptuned boat with 4 men in the water.1 was dead on the bottom,they were visiting police on holidays from solomon islands and decided to go reef fishing.
He said it must have been the big fella upstairs cause it took him 1 hour to get the boat started at the ramp. Me thinks the same thing happened to you,thats why u were lost

[CHRIS_aka_GWH]

...

He said it must have been the big fella upstairs cause it took him 1 hour to get the boat started at the ramp. Me thinks the same thing happened to you,thats why u were lost


from what i learnt at sunday school, i reckon the BIG FELLA upstairs and his water-walking son know enough fisherman to keep the rescues "in-house". # # ;)

well done jeremy, those folks should be glad you were about.


chris

[Jeremy]

Jeremy,why did u head back to the ramp after calling vmr ?

The poor buggers would have felt a bit more relieved if u would have hung off at a safer distance until they were #rescued.


Simple answer is I guess I had thought I had done all I could and I wanted to get back to the ramp for my own safety and that of my crew. I did pass the VMR rescue boat on my way back, and I did check with the VMR that they had located the vessell before I left.




John palermo told me he was crossing s p bar at 11;30 pm and nearly smashed into a uptuned boat with 4 men in the water.1 was dead on the bottom,they were visiting police on holidays from solomon islands and decided to go reef fishing.
He said it must have been the big fella upstairs cause it took him 1 hour to get the boat started at the ramp. Me thinks the same thing happened to you,thats why u were lost

Interesting story. Yes maybe there were forces beyone my control which caused me to get lost. At least that is what I would like to think ;D ;D

Jeremy

[Jeremy]

Another aspect to this story I would like to add is that when I made the call to VMR, I reported a "vessell in distress" It did cross my mind to use "MAYDAY RELAY", but I thought at the time better not to due to all the extra regulations and laws that are invoked when "MAYDAY" is used, and I definitely did not want to get held up un-necessarily at the boat ramp due to paper work etc.

In retrospect, I have wondered whether perhaps I should have used the "MAYDAY RELAY", as this would have meant the police would be involved and there would have been a compulsory check of the safety equipment on board the vessell and breath test etc.

Various pros and cons etc, and I know some will say just leave the poor bugger alone. I am still not sure whether that would have been better, and anyway can't what has happened.

Jeremy

[Braddles]

I think you did a good job... Reflecting on these critical incidents once they happen (from the comfort of your warm house) it is only human nature to wonder if you should or should not have done something else / different...

I perhaps would have stayed with them / in eye sight of them so they were comforted in the knowledge they were not alone and help was on the way - but I wasnt there in that situation - and like you said - you must protect your own safety and that of your crew if conditiosn were adverse.

just FYI, an alternative to MAYDAY (if life threatening emergency eg: collison or medical emergency such as crew with chest pain at sea- mayday is appropriate) is a PAN call.

The spoken words PAN PAN PAN PAN PAN PAN (spoken three times) is an urgency call when you can not justify a distress call but have an urgent message to transmit concerning the safety of your own or another vessel.

Good on you for helping another boaty out tho...

[Dirtysanchez]

Jeremy, don't beat yourself up man, you did well and probably saved those poor buggers.

Hindsight is irrelevant because you acted instinctively on the moment and it sounds like they were OK

They should have had a radio or mobile though.. even in my little tinny I have the mobile in a plastic sealable bag & all the local VMR numbers in there !

That other story is sad, where is the SP bar please guys ?

[marlinqld]

souh pasage between moreton and stradbroke islands

[Dirtysanchez]

OK, thank you for the clarification
Thats a reknown bar for being dangerous isn't it ?

People who aren't familiar with it would have to be a bit mis informed or downright crazy to attempt to cross it (I believe)

Err, no disrespect to the poor buggers who fell foul of it by the way