Boat Sink Veterans

[Freestyle]

Are there any forum members who have survived sinking their boat and are willing to share the story?

What went wrong?

How did it play out financially?

Are you still a boat owner?

I have no sunk boats to my credit but my wife earned her U-Boat Commander status sinking her BMW in a Tampa rain storm a few years back.

Bruce
Freestyle
1986 62 CPMY (54 MY with ext.)
Tampa

 

[RonNP]

Dan sunk his prior Hatteras. Maybe he can give you the full story. To his credit his hasn't sunk his latest Hatteras

 

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

Sunk a 30' inboard former US Navy personnel boat when I was 14. I was on the last leg of my qualifications as small boat captain at sea camp. We (I) hit a partially submerged log probably doing 15 knots that holed the port bow. Go fast and fill the boat up fast; stop and fill the boat up fast. Was accompanied by another training boat that came alongside and took us (8 I recall) aboard. We tied a line on with a life jacket to mark the spot about a half mile offshore on the Neuse River in about 20' of water.

About a week later, they dragged the boat ashore with a dozer and a long cable. That old wood boat went down like an anvil holding an anvil. You could easily recognize the boat thereafter. It was the one with 18" square patch on the hull.

Made my qualification and received a "Ship Wrecked Crewman" certificate--still have it. No financial penalties. You give a 14 year old command of a boat and ... And in those days, there was no report to the CG or any worries about the gas and oil in the water.

I've been doing much better lately.

 

[GCSI]

When in my early teens, Dad owned a twin engine boat that he raced. After a day of testing, had my brother and I (early teens), tie and wash boat while he went inside to shower. Later that night... he pulls us out of bed to help retrieve boat that sunk at dock (caught by rising tide). Threw us both into bay (in our underwear, in winter), to secure lines and start re- floating the boat. By following morning had fuel tanks cleared, both engines running and running it like we stole it to dry everything.

Skip forward almost 40 years. Rounding a hard shore in a RIB in rough seas (with daughter and four of her sorority sisters), and the engine literally flys off the transom. Daughter and I quickly put on fins and proceeded to swim dinghy away from rocks and back to Hatt. Since the girls had enough “fun” for that day we left outboard where it fell in about 15-20’ of water. Returned two days later when weather layed down a bit. After dragging daughter for about 15 minutes we located our migratory outboard (two others were in same area, although quite a bit older), ‘‘tied a line and eventually get it back on board. after flushing with fresh water, had it running in under two hours. Ran great for rest of my ownership (five years).

It was determined that on the night before of our fateful adventure, someone had attempted to steal the outboard (Yamaha) off of our dingy. In process had engine “ready to go” when something scared them away. Part of my “preflight” now involves verifying the engine is indeed attached to hull...

Amazing the things one learns from Dad.

 

[rob71]

I owned a 34 ft. Wood planked Down Easter lobster yacht.
Had 7 guests onboard for a birthday cruise on the Gulf of Mexico.
While heading out the group decided to sit on the bow to catch more breeze.
Now the hull from the waterline down was tight with no leaks. Unknown to me a few planks higher were not sealed tight, and they were now below water due to the added weight on the bow. It only took about 20 minutes when I glanced into the lower cabin and saw the floorboards floating around.
This was about 2 ft. of water from bow to stern in the boat and the bilge pumps failed due to batteries being submerged.
A quick u turn and I headed towards the nearest shallow area I knew (about 4 miles).
Boat continued to ride lower and lower and wallow side to side. The old Perkins kept on chugging while 1/2 submerged. We got to about 100 yards from shore and grounded in about 3 ft of water.
I swam to shore and borrowed a friends pontoon and retrieved the rest of the group that was now continuing their party.
Unfortunately a major low tide ensued and the boat rolled onto her side on the mud flat before I could get to her with a gas powered crash pump. I did refloat her the next day and she floated fine when emptied out of water.
No fuel leaked and quick response with a mechanic got the engine flushed out.
An unforgettable Birthday for my sister-in law !

 

[ageless]

An October Sunday that changed five peoples lives forever when myself, my son, my best friend(Danny) his son(Drew) and my best friends dad(Joe) were just outside bogue inlet in my 22'cc on their first king fishing trip. My son caught his first king, 12 Lb, on a naked cigar prop line, boy was he proud. We knew the weather was gonna get sloppy around 1300 so we planned to head in and fish inshore around 1130. As we headed back in the weather went to s*&t REAL fast as we got closer to the emerald isle pointe. We were soaked and cold but we were making headway around 8 knots. It was tough staying the course as each wave sent the bow to a 45+ degree rise, one after the other, then......
acutely without a minute hint of a problem the motor just shut off. I tried to restart it twice and got nothing. Just as quickly as the motor shut off there was water coming over the transom so I directed the boys and Joe to the bow and I followed while Danny was already on the radio calling the coast guard. As I reached the front, just that quick, I felt my heels start to rise and my instinct said,"we're rolling over". I grabbed my son and Drew and yelled "jump" pulling them with me as I felt the roll of the boat. As my head came above water I saw our 54g cooler next to me so I grabbed it and pulled it to my son and told him not to let go. I turned to look for the others and they were all together hanging to the starboard bow. I pushed my son and the cooler to them and instructed my son to hold whatever he could. I quickly realized the bow rail was with in reach so I instructed my son and Drew to wrap one leg around it so it was behind their knee while Danny was assisting his dad to hold on. The only other thing I knew to do was try to encourage the boys. There was a navy vessel a short distance from where we were fishing so I assured them they would be to us soon. Danny's dad was struggling bad. He had some health problems and at 69yo I knew it would be rough for him. After about 20 minutes Joe went unresponsive despite every effort to fight. Danny struggled to hold onto his dads now limp body. He gave it his all until he couldn't give anymore. I took hold of Joe and told Danny to hold onto the boys. I held him in a rescue hold until I felt my grip on the bow rail starting to slip. I then tried to find something to secure him to the boat but couldn't find anything. I looked at Danny and said, "I'm losing my grip." Danny said, "let him go, I love you dad". I made sure Joe was face up and I let him go. I have NEVER felt so helpless as I did at that moment. 3 minutes later my son yells, "they're here, there's a boat", pointing to the coasties just off the transom. I directed them to Joe, it had gotten so rough it took them 6 attempts, 4-5 minutes to pull Joe aboard. As this was happening, a Sea Tow vessel appears from the same direction as the coasties. He threw Danny a rescue line he tied to the bow rail. We sent the boys up the rope while the coasties capt threw Danny another rescue line pulling him to their vessel. As my son was pulled aboard Capt. Jay's Sea Tow boat I made my way up the same line. The coasties wanted us on their vessel but despite 2 attempts it was too rough. The coasties took Joe and Danny and myself and the boys went with Jay. Joe fought hard but was pronounced dead the next morning at 1120. Preliminary testing shows Joe experienced some cardiac event vs drowning, he had no water in his lungs.
This incident has been the driving factor for my sons post high school pathway

 

[oscarvan]

Back in my two man open sailboat racing days we pushed hard and flipped it, quite a few times. It was fitted with air bags and self bailers and with considerable effort you could right it where the sides would JUST be above the water and if the waves weren't too brutal sail it dry heading down wind after which you shivered your way back to shore. Not a real emergency for us due to training, but still, every time that water came over the edge you puckered.... Broached a few large boats over the years but never swamped one.... still when that water starts coming in over the decks and sloshing against the windows.....

On edit..... Posted this before I saw Ageless' post above. Sorry you had to live through that. Yes, like you said, it can all turn to sh1t in a heartbeat....

 

[Freeebird]

Ageless, I’m very sorry you had to experience that, but I’m glad it wasn’t worse. I’ve had a couple experiences I’ll share later, but nothing like yours.

 

[whoover]

No total loss but have taken on water. It was with a Trojan F30 while on holidays in the Trent Severn Canal. One of the bolts holding the shaft strut fell out and water was pouring in from a 3/8" hole. A single engine run to the nearest dock to wait for a haul out. Im sure some people wondered how me and my then wife could be so calm sitting there drinking wine in such a dire situation. Truth was I needed the cork to stuff in the hole while we waited.


One important thing I have learned is DONT PANIC!

Walt Hoover

 

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

I too express my sympathies to you, Ageless, for the loss and for the everlasting memories. Robert

 

[Freeebird]

Okay, i'll share my two stories of sinkings.

First was when I was around 16-17 years old and duck hunting with a friend. We were cruising along in a Monarch aluminum v-bottom when the tiller operated outboard kicked up after hitting something that pretty much stopped us in our tracks, throwing us both forward. We went to the stern to check the prop, and that's when I noticed we were... sinking. There was a big hole in the hull, so I told him to get the motor back down and get us beached on a sandbar before it got ugly... and VERY cold. It was freezing, and we were the only ones on the lake.

We managed to beach the boat on sandbar/island in the middle of a big stretch of water, and there we sat. This was well before the days of cell phones, and we basically had to just sit there while hoping someone would eventually come along, or our families would start searching for us when it got dark. Luckily a guy came along a few hours later and gave us a ride back to my friend's house where I had left my car. We took another friend's boat back and hauled in the wounded Monarch. We found the culprit which was a metal pole driven into the top of a stump that ripped a hole in the boat. Had it repaired a week or so later, and it was good to go.

Second involved my son, and luckily it was during summer when the water was warm. I had a 15' Gheenoe (made in Titusville, FL) which is basically a square sterned (outboard), fiberglass canoe with a flared hull which was really quite stable. He was around 7 at the time, and we were heading out on one of our adventure trips. We were cruising along at a leisurely 12MPH as verified by the Navionics app I had recently installed on my iPhone which was laying in the bottom of the boat. Little did I know it was about to be lying on the bottom of the river.

It was like slow motion as the outboard kicked up and out of my hand, and I then went overboard, back-first. I tell you, that was a strange feeling for sure. For whatever reason, the boat was going over, and the last thing I saw was my son with eyes as big as saucers as I hit the water. When I came back up to the surface, he was clinging to the side of the boat. Much to my horror, the outboard was still running, but thankfully only for a few more seconds. He was wearing his vest, and it definitely made me rethink not wearing one myself.

He was surprisingly calm as I swam towards him, and he turned to me and said, "Oh well, I guess we won't be finishing our trip" and, "we should have gone fishing". Luckily a couple of guys in a bass boat saw us go over and came running to our aid. One of them said he couldn't believe what he had just seen as we were cruising along and just rolled over. Once we got loaded up into their boat and put a line on the partially submerged Gheenoe (great floatation when full of water), I could see what lead to that particular chain of events. Joey Chitwood couldn't have staged that stunt any better as there was a partially submerged tree which caught the outboard with one limb, and the next limb had a good angle to it which rolled the boat as it ran up and over it.

They had us load our boat onto their trailer at the ramp (half mile away), and they were kind enough to take us back to the "mobile mansion" (my divorce transition 5th wheel camper on my lake lot) from where we started. I had the outboard running again within a few minutes, so the only loss was my iPhone. Luckily enough, our fishing rods survived the rollover as they were secured in the gunwale and held in place by being under the middle bench seat. We kept that little adventure to ourselves as anything I did or said could and would be used against me in a court (divorce) of law.

 

[Jammin']

We kept that little adventure to ourselves as anything I did or said could and would be used against me in a court (divorce) of law.

My ex accused me of child abuse decades ago because we went on a vacation in a car without air conditioning.

 

[Freeebird]

My ex accused me of child abuse decades ago because we went on a vacation in a car without air conditioning.

Ya gotta love it. I still have the best divorce courtroom drama story that I've heard (her attorney left in an ambulance), but this is one thread I don't want to take off track... for at least a few more days.

 

[Freeebird]

Can't believe Yachtsman Willy hasn't shown up for this one given he bought a sinker and resurrected it.

 

[jim rosenthal]

You beat me to it! Of course, YW didn't sink that boat, did he? I think he bought it from the guy who owned it when it sank, or is my memory faulty? Anyway he had some great photos to document its' resurrection.

I've had boats take on water in a minor way but nothing like the experiences here. And hope never to have them, frankly.

 

[rsmith]

Speaking of sinkers ft Pierce fl 2004 I bid on a 58 Fleming and a 52C Hatt out of this mess. Thank god I didn’t get the bids. The 52C a 58 YF and a bunch of others are still sitting at Crackerboys in Ft P. I don’t think you can ever get the salt oil and mold out of these sinkers. I’ve been on Lazarus boats that have been resurrected and no matter what anyone says or how many ozone machines they run in them that stench never goes away.

 

[jim rosenthal]

C'mon. Bird, I want to hear about how that lawyer managed to hit you right in the hand with his jaw, that time. Friend of mine in PA (Carlisle) just finished restoring a Gheenoe- loves it. His kids love it, too.

 

[Freeebird]

C'mon. Bird, I want to hear about how that lawyer managed to hit you right in the hand with his jaw, that time. Friend of mine in PA (Carlisle) just finished restoring a Gheenoe- loves it. His kids love it, too.

Well, since you're a moderator and you asked...

Long story short, after being in the courthouse for a little over ten hours before our case was heard (temporary parenting plan filed by the ex) after being there at 9AM, I watched a very "interesting" display from the ex and her attorney. I mean it was awesome as I got to see her entire war chest! Her attorney (on the clock since 8AM whereas mine was local and there for other cases) irritated the judge to the point that it was almost comical. He kept reminding her we weren't there for a divorce, and the only thing he wanted to hear about were things directly related to the welfare of our son.

The ex took the stand first and proceeded to reveal some very interesting facts, complete with color bar graphs! I really should have asked for those after everything was over as they were quite impressive. She's an MBA and is very good at presentations... had a pointer and everything. I'll skip the details, given this is a public forum, but let's just say that I couldn't believe she said what she did, in color, right there in front of God and everybody. My attorney certainly enjoyed it, and I'm pretty sure the judge's eyes crossed. It garnered a, bless your heart, from yours truly as I sat there and shook my head in stunned disbelief. Hey, at least she told the truth. Let's just say it had something to do with our wedding vows and let it go at that.

After she finished, my attorney said to me, "Get up there and let's get this over with". He asked how long I had owned by business along with a couple of other things related to my son. After my last answer, her attorney stood up and blurted out, "I think I'm going to be sick". I looked at her as did the judge and my attorney, all of us with puzzled looks on our faces as she sat back down and took her seat. I mean I personally thought my answers were pretty good.

Nothing more was said, and my attorney asked me another question. Before I could answer, she stood up again and told the judge she thought she may be ill. The judge asked if she needed medical attention and she responded that she wasn't sure, but she said she felt a little dizzy, and my attorney looked a little fuzzy. It was all I could do not to bust out laughing when my attorney responded with, "You're fine. I always look like that."

I left the stand and took a seat beside my attorney as we awaited the ambulance which could be heard in the distance. I leaned in toward him and quietly asked, "I take it this is a first for you?"

He responded (not as quietly as I think he intended), "Ah, I've seen people fake illness before". That's when the ex's attorney gave him a quick, Exorcist-like head spin and the best, go to hell look, I've ever seen on a woman who wasn't looking in my direction. My attorney then said, "Oh, I wasn't implying that was the case here".

At that point I excused myself to the restroom as to avoid laughing out loud in that courtroom! Yes, I walked (quickly) into that restroom and started laughing my ass off at how these proceedings had... proceeded. When I walked back into the courtroom, the EMT's were loading up the wife's attorney onto a gurney. No, I didn't laugh (on the outside), but the expression on my now defenseless, wife's face was priceless as her attorney was being wheeled out of the building . The judge addressed her by saying it was obvious we couldn't continue what she had started, and if she wanted to try again after her attorney was feeling better, she could. Meanwhile we were directed to do what we had been doing for some six months at that point, and that was to maintain equal time with our son.

In the spirit of this thread, I suppose all this could be related to shipwreck, but the ex and I survived (along with her attorney who fired her) and never entered another courtroom again. Gotta love a happy ending.

 

[Freestyle]

My wife and I have 7 marriages between us which, when combined with our business interests, means we have spent some time in court. Age has required some hospital time including replacing her hip this week.

We have concluded as follows:

A good year is when we spend more money on lawyers than doctors.

A great year is when we double that spend on diesel fuel.

Bruce

Freestyle
1986 62 CPMY
Tampa

 

[jim rosenthal]

Not for the first time, y'all have made me feel lucky.