Against my better judgement, I went out with a buddy on his boat on Saturday afternoon. We fished a creek out of the wind for a while with no bites. We were headed back to the landing about 5:30 when we noticed a fire truck and Mt. P. Police car at the landing (Remleys). When we got to the landing the wind is stacking the waves up pretty bad, with 3’ being the norm. I let buddy off his boat to grab the truck and then backed away. There is a boat, on the trailer, in the far left lane and they are draining water out of the bilge. Firemen were walking around and it appeared that they were doing a safety check or something. I was starting to get wet with the waves coming over the transom and the wind pushing the spray. We got loaded and I learned that the boat had flipped at the landing. Not sure what happened, just that it flipped and the FD responded. Anyone have the details? It was nasty at the landing with the wind and waves, that’s for sure.
19’ Sea-Pro CC
“Swagger Wagon”
Yamaha 115 - 2 stroke
how sad. goes to show that a PLB isn’t just for offshore anglers.
“If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel .” Benjamin Netanyahu
It also makes the case for wearing a life jacket while running…which I plan to do from now on, especially when alone. The wind coming across the lake must have made it really nasty by the mouth of the Diversion Canal. It is truly a sad story. We used to fish the Cooper in a 14’ jon boat and had a few scary times in the river near the Virginia St. landing. Inshore waters can get really nasty given the right conditions.
PioneerLouie
Pioneer Venture 175, Johnson 90
Summerville, SC
I was out on teh yak Saturday. It wasn’t too bad at first, but when the wind changed directions it got ugly FAST. I headed for the landing when Copahee sound turned into big rollers and whitecaps.
Most scared I’ve ever been on my 20’ boat was on a sunny, breezy day on Moultrie. No matter how fast you went of which way you turned, the waves attacked. Every element was perfect to rile that lake up. Couldn’t begin to imagine it in a jon boat.
This thread is an excellent opportunity for me to pose the question…what is the point in going fishing in cold windy weather when the same fish will be there when the temp. is above 70 degrees and the winds are calm? We live in a climate that only poses a consistant threat to comfort and safety for at most 2 1/2 months per year with nice gaps of comfortable weather in between to boot. There are numerous sporting activities that don’t require freezing and getting wet, burning gas, and beating the holy crap out of your equipment. I’m a duck hunter so don’t bring that into the equation…the legal season mandates when you can do that. To me catching fish is much more enjoyable when I can do it in a t-shirt and short pants with a cooler full of cold drinks and an occasional boatload of beautiful Charleston talent cruising by. I prefer the breeze to refresh me rather than bite me like an angry osprey, and make my face and hands hurt all the way to the bones. I realize that guides need to eat and pay bills, and more power to them for enduring the misery that goes with that effort, and the paying client gets what they pay for, but my refrain is for the average joe with a boat and a couple of rods and reels. Whether the fish are schooled up or scattered over a country mile makes no matter, the pure enjoyment of being out in warm weather trumps the experience and helps offset the safety element to boot. I’m not the run and gun rebel of my youth, but even in my 20’s I recognized the discomfort of jumping the bow wake of a Delaware yacht in the ditch, or a container ship in the harbor when the icy salty spray hit me in the face. You hard core types are a mystery to me. If you could just leave a few for seed until April I’ll see you at the landing. Until then I think I’ll go quail hunting.
Bossdog is right. Checking the weather before we head out (or even make plans to head out) is mandatory for us. With the exception of our ‘shake-down’ cruise when we got our new boat 6 years ago, if it is really nasty, we find other things to do…like watch fishing on TV. We tested out our boat in 15-25 mph winds but only brought 2 rods which never left the rod holders. We tried fishing on plenty enough nasty days, and have been caught out in the harbor when things turned bad and had to make the trek all the way back to Bushy Park to know those days are simply not worth it. It is also good to know the limits of your boat. Our boat can easily handle some big harbor chop but we would rather not do that anymore. Maybe older…maybe wiser…I’m not sure. If you have to fish in a tournament and it turns nasty that is one thing, and you are probably well prepared for the conditions, but to put your life and your passengers’ lives in danger for a day or two of fishing is irresponsible…and very sad.
PioneerLouie
Pioneer Venture 175, Johnson 90
Summerville, SC
