Boat sinking in DE bay

[Bud Man]

Found this on another site, Be careful out there guys things can happen damn fast. This is the guys events of the day



the plan: go out of baypoint get a few stripers before the weather gets snotty. if the weather started picking up we were going into the back creeks to get some perch.

the actual day:
left baypoint headed out to 34 buoy, fished a few hours , nada. weather is nice, not windy,waters clean. since we didnt have any action we decided to make a move south. went to a new spot and set up. fished a little bit, then the wind picked up a little, still no bites so we head back up north. on the way north the console of my boat started sliding back a little pulling some screws from the t-top. stopped the boat and secured a rope from the bow cleat to the t-top to stop it from sliding back any further. get back underway and set up around # 2 buoy. anchor up again and shortly after it starts getting nasty, wind, waves. ok time to get out of here. clear all the rods, put them in the holders. sent the other guy to the front to pull the anchor. while on the front of the boat 2 waves over 5' come right over the bow, wash him onto the floor. boat is a center console so now its loaded with water. i throw him a kinfe , he cuts the anchor line while i start the boat and head into more massive waves. throttled up trying to get the boat up on plane. too much weight with all the water and heading into waves i guess, it tried, but nose went into the air for a bit, then the back went underwater. motor swamped, and stalled, water coming in from the back now. head to the front of the boat in almost knee deep water. back of the boat totally submerged and we were swimming. less than 45 seconds lapsed from the time the waves came over the bow to the time we were in the water, it happened fast. there was 1 boat around the same buoy, they saw what was happening and pulled anchor and headed to us. three guys out of fortescue yanked us out of the water and into their boat. i forget their names and the name of their boat, but thank you guys again.

boat was floating upright like a bobber with 4' or so above the water. the seat ripped off and floated away. i had a gas container in the boat as a reserve, it floated away, cooler some life jackets and such all floating. the capt of the boat circiled mine while another guy called 911. (their radio was malfunctioning). 911 transfered him to bivalve s.p.. they figured out we were in delaware waters, so they transfered him to the coast guard, (i think). coast guard got our location. delaware fish and wildlife was calling, 911 was calling, coast guard was calling. call sea tow, they say someone will call , got another call from someone, i thought it was sea tow, but i figured out later it must have been demwreck and not sea tow? we head in after someone says they were on their way to the boat. about an hour and a half later sea tow calls and says its not covered, and i can hire them to go get it. my brain was fried by this time, i was freezing, i got 40 phone cals from every government agency you can think of.

we get back to the dock, s.p. are driving by, we flag him down and get a ride back to my truck. oh yea i forgot to mention, while parking my truck and trailer at the marina in the morning, the truck gets burried in the soft sand next to the marsh... that detail slipped my mind untill we pulled into the marina and i see it. i had a friend pull it out, no big deal.


get home and try to sort out what i can. my phone was in my pocket when i went in the water so its dead. i pull into my driveway, my wifes their freaking out because the coasties called her , and she had no idea about what happened. just a scary call i guess hearing my boat went down. get in touch with sea tow and figure out the miscommunication with all the phone calls and everything. phil from seatow is a very nice guy, got everything sorted out, thanks phil. i call the coastie back he tells me i can be fined $32,000 a day for my boat sinking??????


meanwhile the boats adrift, the coastie calls back again and says demwreck found it and anchored it to a shoal between bridgeton and smyrna on the delaware side and gives me the coordinates. i call sea tow and some other salvage outfit, they refered me to a towboat usa guy out of delaware. i dont have an idea what it will cost to get it up, the towboat guy has to go look at it to give me a price.


every piece of fishing equipt. i had went down with the boat, rods , tackle box,plugs, boca grips, filet knives, nets. makita 18 volt lithium impact drill, husky 100 and some piece socket set, fishfinder, garmin gps, various other tools, and who knows what i forgot. if you snag any of these items please let me know, lol. i did save the gas can and my sons life jacket! i had my phone and wallet and keys in my pocket which i usually dont do.

so that was my day on the bay, eventful to say the least.

[fishocean]

Very scary stuff. The bay can get ugly. Material things can be replaced . Life cannot. Thank God nobody was hurt or killed. This could have been alot worse in 58 degree water.

[BlueH20Boss]

Personally i think the captain on that boat made a poor decision to anchor his boat knowing if the weather turned worse he was going to have to get out of there quickly. Being anchored in rough seas is tough on any boat, not to mention an open bowed small center console....If he HAD to stay out there and flirt with the weather, then he should have just drifted, maybe even with the engines idleing, or at least one, so they could G.T.F.outa there in a hurry. Thats my .2 on that one...I think experience plays a roll in this. Anyone who has been out in that bay on a questionable day knows it can turn on you in an instant. Sorry for the late post about this one, but does anyone else agree anchoring in that snot was a bad move?

[Captain Michael Buffington]

Personally i think the captain on that boat made a poor decision to anchor his boat knowing if the weather turned worse he was going to have to get out of there quickly. Being anchored in rough seas is tough on any boat, not to mention an open bowed small center console....If he HAD to stay out there and flirt with the weather, then he should have just drifted, maybe even with the engines idleing, or at least one, so they could G.T.F.outa there in a hurry. Thats my .2 on that one...I think experience plays a roll in this. Anyone who has been out in that bay on a questionable day knows it can turn on you in an instant. Sorry for the late post about this one, but does anyone else agree anchoring in that snot was a bad move?

and if its bobbing like a cork pull the plugs and attatch a line to the bow cleat and tow the water out on a center console.

Mike

[bigfish4me]

Its a shame.....that was his 2nd or 3rd trip out in his boat after buying it and fixing it up into a pretty nice looking boat....but it was only a 19' angler i believe.....glad those guys made it back safely.

[teddyp]

Here's a thought, if you're out in some slop and your T-top breaks free, it might be time to throw the towel in and head for the barn. If people used a little common sense in this sport alot of these problems would be avoided. I am very glad that knowone was hurt but if I had this happen to me I certainly wouldn't give that detailed account on line. Hope the insurance company doesn't see it.

[bigfish4me]

Here's a thought, if you're out in some slop and your T-top breaks free, it might be time to throw the towel in and head for the barn. If people used a little common sense in this sport alot of these problems would be avoided. I am very glad that knowone was hurt but if I had this happen to me I certainly wouldn't give that detailed account on line. Hope the insurance company doesn't see it.

Yup...i would have kept it to myself......by the time you say to yourself....gee its really blowing up.....you already missed your window.....especially in the delaware bay.