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A Sad day

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.

ivan

looking for deeper water
Jan 26, 2002
1,503
48
0
hi

This is a crap story about everything that can go wrong :(

My mate and I decided to head out to the reef today in my 12ft tinny with a 15hp Mariner. We got up and got everything ready took the boat down the beach launched the boat and got going at 6:45 am. The reef we were planning to dive was roughly 20miles off shore the wind was blowing at 15-20knots from the SE into our face.

I held the throttle wide open into the waves all the way out it was extemely rough ride and we cracked the hull of the boat in 2 places water leaked in slowly :hmm

After an hour and 15mins of travelling into the waves the engine started dying and stopping so we stopped a few times and changed fuel tanks over it kept getting worse and we decided to stop and turn around for A LOOOONG trip home. We still dont know what's wrong with the engine but on the way home we held it full throttle and it was only doing about 2knots it wouldnt go any faster.

So it took a total of 4hours and 10mins of travel time to make it back to the coast, I managed to stop on a spot on the way home for about 30mins and speared 2 Coral trout and a nice Mangrove jack, but we still had a long journey home and not to mention bailing out water all the way home.

Not a fun day, hope you guys had some better spearing.

cheers
 
Ivan,
Sometimes those days happen. At least you came back unhurt and with all your equipment, even if you have some repair to do on the motor and boat.

Last Saturday my dive buddy wanted to take his wife, who had never been offshore before, because it was her birthday and their anniversary (same day, how convent!). They started her on Dramamine the night before. She had taken 3 pills by the time we hit the water. I wondered if we should change plans, but my friend said, “lets keep the plan, I think she can handle it”.

I could tell in the first 20 minutes that she was going to be problem. Went 45 miles out to big rig in 350 feet (108 meters) of water. Took 2 hours to get there. I stressed to her the importance of getting her gear on and in the water quickly, before she became sick, as I slipped into the water to go tie up to the rig.

After tying up I was handed my gun. The rig was full of amberjacks. I shot one. When I came back she was crumpled over crying. My friend was all geared up and I could see the stress on his face. He really wanted to get in with me, but he didn’t dare. He said, he thought we better go back. I said sure, and jumped in and we started back. I told him, if his wife wanted to get out of the motion for a little bit, we could stop off at an unmanned rig and I’m sure, my wife would be willing to get on the rig with her. It’s a strategy we have successfully used many times with sick people. We give them something to drink and eat, and usually they recover and don’t throw up the rest of the trip. It was my final attempt to get some more hunting in. He turned around and looked at her and said, “I don’t think she would be willing to try it”. End of trip.

We all thought, it was just seasickness, but she ended up getting real sick later, and they had to spend the night in the hospital. The doctors are still doing tests on her. What a nice anniversary and birthday present!

What’s your plan to fix the cracked hull and motor?
don
 
Don't worry man, at least you have boat to repair:waterwork
 
Originally posted by ivan
My mate and I decided to head out to the reef today in my 12ft tinny with a 15hp Mariner. The reef we were planning to dive was roughly 20miles off shore the wind was blowing at 15-20knots from the SE into our face.

You tried to go more than 30km offshore in a 12ft tinny... :hmm
Did you at least have a radio to call the Cost Watch when you got in trouble?
 
hi

Shadow up here it is common for people to travel far off the coast in small boats. Some others I know tavel over 35miles off the coast in 12ft-13ft boats. Back in the 70's my old man travelled out there in a 10ft tinny with a 6hp engine. And no we didnt have a radio which is pretty dumb :naughty

Thanks Don and Murat, We are taking the motor to the local shop to fix and I guess I'll get someone to do some welding on the boat :D

cheers
 
And down here (NSW) its common for people to get fined for taking an under-equiped boat out that far.

Its common sense. If your'e out that far, have a radio. Otherwise the Search and Rescue people are gonna spend way too much time looking for you. And these days they'll do their best to make sure you pay the bill..
 
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hi

Hey man take it easy my NSW mate.

If anything happens I have oars there and 2 arms it would probably only take 4-5hours to row in anyway. :D

cheers
 
hi

Thanks mate.

That pic was serious I guess I was lucky. That could go on the rotten.com site :D

cheers
 
To get to blue water, I always go past VHS and cell phone range. I have an EPIRB which is suppose to work about anywhere in the world, but the one thing that scares me is: what if there is a medical emergency that requires immediate attention.? It takes about 3 hours for the Coast Guard to go through all their checks and get out there. If it was a medical and not a mechanical problem, I could drive the boat back in that time.

Medical emergency doesn’t seem to far fetch since were dealing with spears, knifes, sharks and, barracuda. I know some of the local Coast Guard men and the delay is from their national center, not local. The only thing I can think of is a satellite phone. I need to check their prices again.

Ivan, does the wind ever change unexpectedly and blow out to sea there?
don
 
Don, offshore in Texas you will almost always be able to caontact some of the manned rigs. They can lend assistance in contacting USCG. If their personnel copter is nearby, you wouldnt be the first one they have helped. We are lucky in the Gulf to have these resources 100+ miles offshore.
 
they should monitor 16 and in our area they often use 09 or 10 as a working channel. A good way to develope a repetior with these guys is to call them before tying up to "see if there are any activities which would make it unsafe to tie" such as sandblasting or painting, ect. Then if you ever need them they kinda know who you are.
 
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Genius info Mikey. veeery smooth.

The idea of establishing rapport with property owners will ultimately decide whether or not we get to dive the good spots.
 
Developing a rapport with the men on top is definitely a good idea. We talk to the workers on the sides all the time, but have never tried to contact the tower by radio. The men on top are going to be the ones who make the big decisions.

One time we made it to a rig after 3 other boats were already there, drifting on the outskirts. They were welding and do some other things to the rig. One boat was a friend, and after talking to him for a bit I said, we are going to go tie up. He said, they are not letting anyone tie up. I said, just watch. We idled up to the rig and my wife got on the bow and asked two men. It was obvious they had not seen a woman in days. One of them called up to the tower with a plan on where we could tie up and not be in the way. They even took our hook and attached it to the rig for us.
don
 
"Well I shot to much (insert prize gamefish here ) today and was wondering if you boys want some for dinner? My Treat!"


That has always had great results for me in the past. I treat it as kind of a toll and always shoot a little extra for the land owner/ person in charge. asking ahead of time helps to, find out what their favorite fish is, and deliver!

Willer
 
those guys love to watch fisherman, divers and especially women! Thay are bored out of their friggin minds. Sometimes they will hoot and holler louder than you when you come up with a big snapper, just ask Anderson(or maybe they liked looking at him:confused: ).
 
the LD's are thick this time of year!!!! Just got the message from the little lass to call you as I was typing this..."Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that Sven called...":head
 
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