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Missing Fisherman Found Dead


Todd in NY

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I checked out a Canadian Police ship in Port Colborne a few weeks ago. It carried a couple “go fast” small boats. Also noted were heavy deck plates for mounting heavy fire arms. As a. Police boat it would also monitor smuggling and other illicit activities.

 

 

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It is a high endurance vessel who could patrol for longer periods compared to the smaller response boats.

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17 hours ago, Decoy Hound said:

The thru hull fitting have always worried me, I had two, a wash down and a intake for the live wells. I've eliminated both, pumps, lines, fitting and all. Welded them closed(aluminum boat) didn't want to take a chance. Never used either live well and I can wash the boat when I get home.

The Grady White I just bought has 4 thru Hull fittings that are below or even with the waterline. Two for wash down, and two for the live/wells. It was taking on 5 to 10 gallons every time we went fishing. I found it was the thru hull fittings leaking, the two on the left side.My worry now, after reading this,  is that if they fail, or the hose fails, I would have a real emergency. Do I really meed them? Probably not. I could wash everything down into the belly and let it drain out the boat plug hole in the transom. Maybe I will insert plugs in all of them, eliminating the hoses. None of mine have check valves. 1982 Grady.

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The Grady White I just bought has 4 thru Hull fittings that are below or even with the waterline. Two for wash down, and two for the live/wells. It was taking on 5 to 10 gallons every time we went fishing. I found it was the thru hull fittings leaking, the two on the left side.My worry now, after reading this,  is that if they fail, or the hose fails, I would have a real emergency. Do I really meed them? Probably not. I could wash everything down into the belly and let it drain out the boat plug hole in the transom. Maybe I will insert plugs in all of them, eliminating the hoses. None of mine have check valves. 1982 Grady.
Just outta curiosity couldn't you pump it out with bilge? I make a habit to kick mine on every so often (more than I'm sure I need to)

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Boy it is a small world. Today I'm sitting at work and a guy showed up to do some maitanance on a piece of equipment. Noticed that he was driving a large Dodge Diesel pick up. In making small talk asked him if he towed anything with his truck and he said all the time. He told me he has a Large boat that he tows up to his camp on lake ontario. I asked him if he knew about this incident and he said he did. Aparenantly the guy was from PA but had a camp at Sebers Marina out of North sandy. The guy that I was talking to said he is neighbors with the guy at the marina. Said the guy had been fishing the lake for along time and that he knew him personally and said what ever happened must have been a catistrophic failure. The guy that I was talking to said the boat wasn't brand new but he had fished off it many times before and it seemed like it was well taken care of. I didn't want to dig in to details but the guy that was working here said he was a experienced fisherman and experienced on lake ontario. He said one of the other guys at the camp was one of the survivors and the captain had gotten the 2 survivors life jackets and then went back down in to the cuddy to get one for him self and the boat just went under. It seems to me we are talking about more than a broken threw hull mount that went bad to make the vessel sink that fast. I guess I don't really know what it takes to make a boat sink that quick and hope I never have to find out. Be safe out there. Check your pumps and have a good plan in place in case you need to implement it. I know after talking with this guy all of my life jackets that are stowed in my cuddy under bunks and covered with all the "IMPORTANT "fishing stuff are going to be made much more easy to get to incase of emergency. I guess you just never know.

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Stone,,, your boat probably has an auto bilge pump switch most boats do . in the case of the boat that went down some thing major failed and there is no bilge pump that can keep up with the amount of water that was coming into their boat .  i had this happen to me and buddy this year , i was fishing cayuga on a day that just kept pouring like mad about half way threw the day i notice the yellow light on the dash was on . i knew what it was and look back to see if the bilge was pumping out water , found it wasn't had to take some mechanic  wire and fish out the mud bees then all ways good .  the cuddy is the worst place you can be when a boat is taken on water , you end up trap inside the cuddy like the guy did . i kept my life jackets with in arm reach from the seats and a buoy ring also .

Edited by fisherdude
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Stone,,, your boat probably has an auto bilge pump switch most boats do . in the case of the boat that went down some thing major failed and there is no bilge pump that can keep up with the amount of water that was coming into their boat .  i had this happen to me and buddy this year , i was fishing cayuga on a day that just kept pouring like mad about half way threw the day i notice the yellow light on the dash was on . i knew what it was and look back to see if the bilge was pumping out water , found it wasn't had to take some mechanic  wire and fish out the mud bees then all ways good .  the cuddy is the worst place you can be when a boat is taken on water , you end up trap inside the cuddy like the guy did . i kept my life jackets with in arm reach from the seats and a buggy ring also .
Yea I just meant the 5 to 10 gal a day he was talking about. How would I check about an auto bilge? The boat in the op I'm sure had catastrophic failure and it honestly scares me as I am new to boats and very very new to any sizable water. I too keep my jackets on top deck that I could get in seconds if needed and always have 1 for everyone plus extras and throwables.

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2 minutes ago, stoneam2006 said:

Yea I just meant the 5 to 10 gal a day he was talking about. How would I check about an auto bilge? The boat in the op I'm sure had catastrophic failure and it honestly scares me as I am new to boats and very very new to any sizable water. I too keep my jackets on top deck that I could get in seconds if needed and always have 1 for everyone plus extras and throwables.

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my auto switch is separate form my bilge pump and mounted next to the bilge pump some bilge pumps are all in one . take a garden house and fill it up so the bilge pump is under water should kick on if you have one .

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my auto switch is separate form my bilge pump and mounted next to the bilge pump some bilge pumps are all in one . take a garden house and fill it up so the bilge pump is under water should kick on if you have one .
Lol I guess I probably could ha e thought about that for a minute...thabks will do

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13 minutes ago, stoneam2006 said:

Yea I just meant the 5 to 10 gal a day he was talking about. How would I check about an auto bilge? The boat in the op I'm sure had catastrophic failure and it honestly scares me as I am new to boats and very very new to any sizable water. I too keep my jackets on top deck that I could get in seconds if needed and always have 1 for everyone plus extras and throwables.

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if a live well intake failed and water was coming into the boat the bilge would have trouble staying up with the water coming in , but will buy you some time . pick up your lines and put the boat up on plane that will stop the water from coming in the boat . then get it to a beach or trailer . i carry rubber plugs with the wing nuts that will fit in to the intake holes just have go swimming to put them in . or beach the boat 

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Something I have carried for years but have never needed is a portable D cell battery operated bilge pump just for emergencies. They are about $50 and although maybe not as powerful as the regular one  it could help and certainly better than trying to bail out a bilge by hand  that may be difficult to reach or with a dead main battery and it can be placed anywhere in the boat. Supposedly they cab throughput 200 gals. per hr and up to 5 hrs on alkaline D cells. A short section of garden hose can be attached to hang over the side

Edited by Sk8man
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I have two bilge pumps and a 1/4 turn ball valve on the wash down thru hull fitting.  If my bilge pumps fail, I can take the wash down hose off the thru hull fitting after closing the ball valve and use the wash down as a back up. 

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3 hours ago, garrymny said:

The Grady White I just bought has 4 thru Hull fittings that are below or even with the waterline. Two for wash down, and two for the live/wells. It was taking on 5 to 10 gallons every time we went fishing. I found it was the thru hull fittings leaking, the two on the left side.My worry now, after reading this,  is that if they fail, or the hose fails, I would have a real emergency. Do I really meed them? Probably not. I could wash everything down into the belly and let it drain out the boat plug hole in the transom. Maybe I will insert plugs in all of them, eliminating the hoses. None of mine have check valves. 1982 Grady.

 Just about any shut off valve that is not made of steel will work on your thru hull fittings Not sure exactly how your fittings were leaking ,were they cracked or was it the hose that fits onto the fitting that was leaking ? I believe you have a solid glass hull so there wouldn't be any water intrusion into the hull. At any rate a check valve will stop the water at the fitting and that is the route I would take before plugging any though hull fittings. The less water in "the belly" of the boat the better ,especially when you have a 35 year old boat with wood encapsulated stringers, At some point you have to trust your equipment ,know your safety routine and enjoy yourself out there, otherwise you would never leave the dock.

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7 minutes ago, mahine111 said:

Reading the report and how fast water was getting looks like bellows failure in my opinion....

  Way to much water coming in that quickly that the Captain couldn't retrieve his life preserver and get out of the cabin. You could have a ripped bellows, through hull fittings leaking, drain plug open and it still should take 15-minutes after you notice the water before it went down. I have had boats with bad bellows and no way with the drives shaft and gimbal bearing in the way is that amount of water going to enter the boat. I would guess they either hit something on plane or the transom was so rotted that the out drive fell off ,either from impact or the transom just gave out.

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Best thing you can do to help prevent a tragedy like this is to make sure you have all safety equipment on board, in good condition and easily accessible.  Make sure all thru hulls are properly bedded with the correct sealant (not caulk or silicone).  Inspect hoses yearly for dry rot, cracks or leaks, and make sure all are double clamped with stainless clamps.  Ball valves near thru hulls are good as well.  Bellows inspected and replaced at regular intervals if it's an I/O.  At least a couple bilge pumps as well as an indicator at the dash when a pump is on, wire right into a float switch - this could give you an early indication that something is seeping if you notice the bilge kicking on more than usual.  High water alarm as well.  Rags on board can be used to plug holes in a pinch and slow down rate at which water comes in.  One last thing is to know your boat...inside and out.  Things can still happen fast no doubt.

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