This isn’t really a fishing report, but with so many fishermen reading this forum, I just wondered if anyone knew any particulars of what caused the sportfisher to take on water and capsize out of Venice, LA, yesterday. All I’ve read just says the boat lost one engine, started taking on water, capsized, and 4 of the 5 onboard died from hypothermia. There has to be more to the story.
Sounds like it was a 28 Grady White. The 40 degree water coming down the Mississippi resulted in hypothermia. Very sad.
http://www.thehulltruth.com/gulf-coast/330877-boating-accident-mouth-river.html
Set the trap boys, we going to pass through them again!!
We fished out of there last March and to tell you the truth, I doubt I will ever do it again. That is some VERY cold water comming down the river and the warm(ing) air EQUALS lots of fog. Add in the fact they have SO MUCH commercial traffic and you have a recipe for disaster. Not that this was the cause, but it was the most stressful day of offshore charter fishing I’ve been on. May God be with the families of the deceased.
Once again it doesn’t look like they had an EPIRB on board. They were only a few miles from shore too.
“Sometimes I think it’s a shame, when I start feelin better when I’m feelin no pain…”.
GW 205
F200 Yam
Thats one of the reasons I don’t get excited about fishing offshore this time of year. Hypothermia scares the ■■■■■ out of me. I’m not sure even an epirb would of helped. Forty degree water will kill you in a hurry.
My wife gave me a hard time the other day when three immersion suits showed up on the door step. After sharing this story with her, she now understands.
Just heard from a friend of mine who guides out of Venice. He said that the boat, a twin outboard Grady White, hit the submerged rock wall/jetty on the east side of South Pass. That tore off one of their motors and cracked the hull, which caused them to take on water and subsequently capsize. They hit the jetty at 7:30 a.m., but weren’t picked up until 1:30 p.m. Guess that explains how they got to be 3 miles off shore. Current is pretty strong around the mouth of South Pass.
Is the underwater concrete wall identified with some sort of markers by the coast guard? Can you say lawsuit?
“Sometimes I think it’s a shame, when I start feelin better when I’m feelin no pain…”.
GW 205
F200 Yam
quote:
Originally posted by sshaardaIs the underwater concrete wall identified with some sort of markers by the coast guard? Can you say lawsuit?
“Sometimes I think it’s a shame, when I start feelin better when I’m feelin no pain…”.
GW 205
F200 Yam
No, the jetty is not marked, and I’ve never understood why it’s not marked. To me, I’ve felt it was a very serious hazard ever since my first trip down there. Several years ago, my buddy who has a houseboat there was fishing nearby and saw a big cruiser run right across the rocks. It ripped the bottom out of the boat and it sank right there. Fortunately, that was in warmer weather, and no one died.
What is sad is that a small amount of time and money would have saved these lives. 
“Sometimes I think it’s a shame, when I start feelin better when I’m feelin no pain…”.
GW 205
F200 Yam
When we went out of there last year, we couldn’t see the submerged jetty on our way out due to the fog. Coming back you could see it, but it is not marked. There was less than 75’ visibility that AM so unless it had radar reflectors all along it, there would have been no way to see it if you were unfamiliar with the area.
Would like to hear the rest of the story. 40 degrees would not take long for hypothermia to set in. Run this scenario through your mind. How would you respond?
Bam! Hit jetty/floating object.
Loose a motor. Taking on water rapidly!
You are slammed against the console and knocked silly,
You are away from the wheel,
Damaged motor is off.
Other motor is still at high throttle.
Boat is spinning.
Buddy is hurt in floor from impact.
Crew is panicking.
You are laying on the floor from the impact and grab the kill switch to shut off the motor.
Now, buddy is hurt and needs help, boat is taking on water, it is rough, vis is low. A few waves are starting to wash in.
What do you do?
Re-fire the motor and try to keep the head into the seas? What if this causes the hole in the hull you don’t know about to fill faster?
Help your injured buddy?
Call Mayday?
Activate EPIRB?
Put on life jacket and survival suit?
Hurry you only have a few seconds to make this decision!
BAM, another wave comes over the stern, boat is unstable now. Going down fast. Batteries are underwater. Losing electronics. VHF is dead.
Crew member shifts to the side to help the hurt guy, BAM, next wave is all you need and she rolls.
I have no idea what really happened. But we all say we would have done this or that. Fact is when the crap hits the fan you better have rehearsed this MANY times and you still may not have a chance. I can not play arm chair QB on a situation like this cause when it happens that fast not sure I can say I would have done any better.
Only thing we can do is try to learn from this situation and hope we are never presented with it.
Set the trap boys, we going to pass through them again!!
if you are unfamilier with an area in zero vis…go slow…I will bet that the charts for that area shows summered jetties…I can’t see the stern being torn off a Grady White and sinking hitting something at 10 mph…
26’ Twinvee Cat
Twin Suzuki 175’s
www.creeksidemetalworks.com
Scoutin, you lay out an interesting/challenging scenario. No doubt, things go bad just that quickly many times. How often do YOU wear a life jacket in the “All Rise” when you’re running? Not that a life jacket would have helped those poor souls, but I’d rather take my chances with a life jacket ON than with it off. I’m going to turn over a new leaf regarding wearing my PFD.
I have fished that jetty/rock wall MANY times. If waves are breaking, you can see it in spots. At high tide and no wave action, you can not see it. The only way out of South Pass is to run ALL THE WAY TO THE LAST MARKER…BEFORE you turn. It looks like you’re well out of harms way, but down there, looks are very deceiving.
Scoutin, running out of South Pass and turning east too soon is very similar to running out of Edisto and turning north before you clear those sand bars. Remember???
quote:
Originally posted by hwilcoxScoutin, running out of South Pass and turning east too soon is very similar to running out of Edisto and turning north before you clear those sand bars. Remember???
Will never forget it. I learned alot in those few seconds. More of a conscious fear to remember how small that boat is against Mother ocean.
We would have had plenty of time to put on life jackets, call mayday, activate the EPIRB, grab the ditch bag, get food and supplies, etc. in the DARK that morning… or something.
Set the trap boys, we going to pass through them again!!
It is not marked. The jetty was built like in the 1890’s by James Eads. Overtime the silt runoff from the river, currents, etc have changed the mouth of South Pass. You can even run straight out or you will hit the sandbar.
Venice is a hell of a good place to fish but it is also flatout dangerous to people that do not know exactly what they are doing. It is horrible that this happened as they did not even have enough life jackets for all those on board, no epirb, no survival suits, etc.
Looks pretty skinny getting through that jetty…
Map search: 28.99, -89.14
“I am constantly amazed at the stupidity of the general public.”
~my dad
Equipment:
190cc Sea Pro w/130 Johnson
1- 16 year old
1 - 12 year old
1 - wife (The Warden)
ECFC
[quote]Originally posted by claim
Looks pretty skinny getting through that jetty…
Map search: 28.99, -89.14
The problem: When you’re running down South Pass, once you clear the obvious river bank on the port side, it appears that you can turn that way and head to open water. That jetty which is not visible in these pix, nor when you’re in the river, runs the rest of the way out…paralelling the right bank. And you can imagine the danger when an unknowing captain is coming into South Pass from that side (east). It APPEARS that you can run right over to the obvious river bank, turn right, and head up the pass…but you never get across that jetty.
There is GREAT fishing right out at the end of that jetty where the current swirls around the end. I’ll be there the second week in June…if not sooner.
that underwater jetty is just as dangerous, if not more so due to the remoteness of it, as the underwater sea wall in Perdido Pass that 4 or 5 out of town people hit every year and destroy their boat. Only difference is that sea wall is in view of the condo’s and 50 feet off the beach.
we came in southwest pass this morning at 0300 and found the overturned boat drifting off the southwest pass sea buoy. We reported it to the USCG and saw a chopper heading that way.
So sad!!!
Thanks,
Paul
GW 257 Advance