So Im heading offshore with a charter yesterday Saturday August 23rd and as Im coming up on my spot in about 90ft I see this (pictures below). Another boat seems to be already anchored where I was headed. Although no one is on board and its upside down. Apparently the Coast Guard had already had interaction with this craft because they marked it with spray paint on the bow. This boat never moved the whole time while we were in the area which lead me to believe it must be anchored.
It had a bow pulpit on it, we could not visibly see the rope leading off but the current was streaming off the stern and when we were anchored and fishing the tide was running pretty hard off our stern too.
My question is why does the CG leave a hazard craft like this in open nearshore waters anchored up and in harms way of causing another accident?
By no means am I trying to criticize the operations of the CG because i’m grateful we have them, but the rational behind this doesn’t make good sense to me unless the owner or someone associated was going to salvage this boat immediately which didn’t happen.
Seems to me like it should have been removed or at least used as target practice for the 20mm or 50cal deck guns they have.
At least at that point it would be out of the way and not a nuisance to vessels transiting the area during the day or night!
Does anyone have any idea of who’s boat this was or the story behind it?
Years ago during a King tourney we saved a father/daughter team from their sinking boat. The CG came out, retrieved them from our boat, and watched as theirs slowly drifted off upside-down. Very scary…
That is really weird. Did you report it to the CG? Could you get the registration numbers?
What makes it weird is that we came across almost the same situation in the GOM a while back, 60 miles offshore. It looks like the same boat and even had USCG spray painted on the bow just like that one. It also was riddled with small caliber bullet holes, looked like .223.
One of our crew jumped in to make sure there were no bodies trapped underneath, all clear and there were a half dozen large triple tails under it. So we caught 3 of them.
Called the CG and reported it, along with the FL registration numbers. They said they were not aware of it, even with the spray paint. They sent out a helo and checked it out, then blew it to dust[:0]
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
I reported one last year that made it all the way from the Charleston 60 out to 40 fathoms around the G-town hole approximately forty miles away and the coast guard said they were already aware of it and I have reported many in the past that were left adrift and the CG has told me if its clearly marked USCG with spray paint which it was they know about it and have already processed the incident. There was also other boats in the area looking around it too and we looked hard for any signs of numbers or id anything else but nothing was visible. Does look similar though to your picture that is weird. I’m going to call them today to see if I can find out the story behind this but I really don’t think its going to be there after this NE blow anyway!
I guess with these conditions for a few days who knows where it will end up!
Conditions at 41004 as of
(1:50 pm EDT)
1750 GMT on 08/24/2014:
Unit of Measure: Time Zone:
Click on the graph icon in the table below to see a time series plot of the last five days of that observation.
5-day plot - Wind Direction Wind Direction (WDIR): NNE ( 30 deg true )
5-day plot - Wind Speed Wind Speed (WSPD): 25.3 kts
5-day plot - Wind Gust Wind Gust (GST): 29.1 kts
5-day plot - Wave Height Wave Height (WVHT): 7.2 ft
5-day plot - Dominant Wave Period Dominant Wave Period (DPD): 7 sec
5-day plot - Average Period Average Period (APD): 5.2 sec
5-day plot - Mean Wave Direction Mean Wave Direction (MWD): NE ( 46 deg true )
5-day plot - Atmospheric Pressure Atmospheric Pressure (PRES): 29.88 in
5-day plot - Pressure Tendency Pressure Tendency (PTDY): +0.01 in ( Rising )
5-day plot - Air Temperature Air Temperature (ATMP): 82.0 ?F
5-day plot - Water Temperature Water Temperature (WTMP): 84.2 ?F
5-day plot - Dew Point Dew Point (DEWP): 73.9 ?F
5-day plot - Heat Index Heat Index (HEAT): 88.0 ?F
5-day plot - Wind Speed at 10 Meters Wind Speed at 10 meters (WSPD10M): 27.2 kts
5-day plot - Wind Speed at 10 Meters Wind Speed at 20 meters (WSPD20M): 27.2 kts
5-day plot - Wind Speed, Wind Gust and Atmospheric Pressure Combined plot of Wind Speed, Gust, and Air Pressure
Had a friend on FaceBook sent this to me which gives some good information on the USCG’s position in regards to a situation like this and what we as boaters should do if you come up on a boat that has already been marked by the CG!
I hope this helps and be safe!
A good friend of mine is in the Coast Guard so I brought this to his attention. Hope this helps everyone be safe.
Sure. You have to look at this vessel as if it were just another piece of hazardous debris such as a piling or anything else that we as mariners come across while navigating. The Navigational Rules - specifically state in Rule 5 that all vessels at ALL times shall maintain a proper lookout by sight and sound and by using all available means (which translates into other electronic means such as radar, lidar, sonar, ect if so equipped).
The reason the boat was marked was to prevent us from conducting another search for unaccounted for personnel. In this case had the Teaser Two seen this vessel without the marking they would have reported it as a capsized vessel and then the USCG would have launched rescue crews to investigate and subsequently search until we could determine there was no possibility of survivors. Anytime you launch a helicopter or boat crew it is a risk and this process of marking a vessel prevents unnecessary risk. The Coast Guard’s responsibility ends with ensuring there are no more possible victims, marking and then reporting the vessel as a hazard to navigation. This is done with a marine information safety broadcast on VHF Channel 16.
In this scenario the best course of action would be for the Teaser to have reported an updated position of the vessel to the Coast Guard and then they would broadcast that information out to all Mariners via Ch. 16 for the next two or three days.
As for the hitting it and ripping out running gear and other comments. If you hit something you were not following the rules. Either you didn’t maintain a proper lookout (Rule 5) or safe speed (Rule 6). You always have to keep a sha
Seems to me like it should have been removed or at least used as target practice for the 20mm or 50cal deck guns they have.
I would think as much floatation (foam) that is built into a modern hull that you would just be creating more smaller hazards. Plus dumping and fuel, fluids that may be trapped. I would think a flag on a pole would be a better option, something you could see from a distance in less than perfect conditions.
Seems to me like it should have been removed or at least used as target practice for the 20mm or 50cal deck guns they have.
I would think as much floatation (foam) that is built into a modern hull that you would just be creating more smaller hazards. Plus dumping and fuel, fluids that may be trapped. I would think a flag on a pole would be a better option, something you could see from a distance in less than perfect conditions.
flotsam won't hurt as bad as getting a pole in the face at night.
Here’s one more reply from the CG in regards to blowing it up! I got a little chuckle out of this and NO Jason it did not show up on the radar!
Part two-
Bert Abeyta
Also just add one more thought yes we love using it for target practice but unfortunately environmental laws won’t allow us to fire live ammo into the water in certain areas ect. Not sure if that was the case here. Also ammo is very expensive and we are only allocated a certain amount for training every year. And one final comment, had a Buoy Tender come through with a big crane and seen it they would have snatched it up. But 90% of our ships and boats can’t do that sort of salvage work. If the commercial fishermen want us to remove these vessels in the future they could establish a trust fund that would provide the $$ we could use to pay a commercial salvage provider such as Sea Tow or Boat US. In the meantime I just recommend keeping a sharp lookout. Much cheaper and way more effective.
Today at 10:25am ? Sent from Messenger
What a messed up policy where environmental rules of sinking a <25 foot vessel in a big-a s s e d-ocean is preferred over the safety of the boating public.
“I am constantly amazed at the stupidity of the general public.”
~my dad
Equipment:
190cc Sea Pro w/130 Johnson
1- 19 year old (boy of leisure)
1 - 1 year old (fishing maniac)
1 - wife (The Warden)
What a messed up policy where environmental rules of sinking a <25 foot vessel in a big-a s s e d-ocean is preferred over the safety of the boating public.
“I am constantly amazed at the stupidity of the general public.”
~my dad
Equipment:
190cc Sea Pro w/130 Johnson
1- 19 year old (boy of leisure)
1 - 1 year old (fishing maniac)
1 - wife (The Warden)
ECFC
The worst part is that it's not like it's being removed!!! It's going to sink somewhere anyway or wash up on a beach and become someone else's problem!
They didn’t have any qualms about blowing the one we found to dust. Blasted it from the helo with I think a 20mm cannon. Trust me, there was nothing left you’d have to worry about running into [:0]
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
the real shame is this is going to drop in 90’ and i wont have the numbers to fish it.
On a serious note tho- has any one seen/been out that way since? That foam is going to get waterlogged eventually and submerge it even more. I’d rather see a large white hull 100yrds off than look back and see my motors sinking from smacking a partially submerged transom.
