Well here is the story of our adventure on Saturday. We moved the O-NO to Georgetown on Friday for the month of July. We left the dock at Georgetown Landing Marina at 4:30 and headed out. The wind had been blowing out of the SW for three days and the seas were pretty rough. We were able to make 21 mph and at 7:00 were in 120 ft of water and ready to start fishing. We came out the top of huge wave and the O-NO got “air”. When we reentered the water, the fun started. A pipe coupling on the back of the steering head broke dumping steering fluid all over the cockpit floor. Now we have no steering and oil all over the floor and you can’t stand up. We determined the steering could not be “patched or repaired” at sea. All we could do was go in circles.
Got on the radio to call Sea Tow in Georgetown. Communications were a problem because of the rough seas and the distance out (40 miles). Tried the second radio only to find the big antenna did not survive the reentry either. Another boat called and volunteered to “relay” the call to Sea Tow. I do not remember the boat mane but thanks anyway. “A friend in need is a friend indeed.” Got out the sat phone and made the call to Sea Tow. Relayed our information and position and the tow boat was dispatched.
We were drifting to the NE about 2 mph. We put out the anchor with all our rope. The anchor slowed us down and after 2 hours finally caught on something. Sea Tow got to us at 11:15. The waves made the “hook-up” a challenge but by 12:00 we were underway. The GPS said 39.8 miles to the jetties and at 6/7 mph, it was a long afternoon. I turned on the generator and the AC and got in the bunk for a long nap. The young people decided to “Fish the Tow” and put over lines and picked up 2 barracuda as we passed the City of Richmond. Tide was coming in and so we were making 10 mph on Winyah Bay. We were at the dock at 7:45.
The Sea Tow guys figured up the bill and it came to $3,100 for the tow. As a Sea Tow member my cost was $ 0.00.
Sat at the house and listened to the call from the 2nd base station ST Chas)here on james island…for some reason we could hear you better than st gtown (atmospherics)and the wife got a a chuckle from the boat name, so don’t change it 1-its bad luck and 2 I get a kick outa the boat names that call us…
I feel for you - glad you made it back OK. You do everything you can before you leave the dock to maximize your time with lines in the water and then the unexpected happens. Couple trips back on the way out while it was still dark we caught air of a huge wave and a hole opened up in the sea underneath us. The hinges on one of the hardtop electronic box covers exploded but other than that we were pretty lucky. My eyes are about 6 ft above the deck and I was looking up at more than a few waves as we trolled that day. In hindsight we should have waited for a better day. In a seperate but related story, I bought my boat as an insurance sale. The owners teenage kids took it 40 miles out in 40kt winds blowing offshore with 10-12ft seas. The dock hands confirmed it was blowing that hard when they left the dock so they knew what they were in for. I never got their story directly but judging from the damage I am guessing they were lulled into a false sense of security by the following seas on the way out and then got knocked down while trying turn around. The hard top frame was cracked in a dozen places, the hartop frame ■■■■■■■■ mounts had sheared all the mounting screws off (4 mounting feet with 3 x 1/4-20 thru bolts each!), the mounting legs were bent enough to open up a 2 inch gap between the feet and the ■■■■■■■■, the port canvas was shredded, the companionway hatch was cracked in half, the port jump seat was ripped out. It must have scared the **** out of the kids. Apparently they made it back to the dock on their own. I don’t think I need to say what the moral of that story is.
Glad you all made it in safe,Thank god for Sea-Tow,"when I see everybody putting on rain-gear and the sun is shining going out the inlet it’s time for me to jump overboard and i’ll see you back at the dock.
