gradydawg

I was offshore out of Boca Grande today and heard two distress calls for the Sarasota/Longboat Key area. One for a 25 Competition and one for a 36 Yellowfin. Hopefully everyone is ok. USCG was in regular communication. Any updates?

sanddollar2

I heard the 36’ (I believe) yellowfin report off Sarasota. I was Sitting right off Anna Maria around noon. Coast guard sent assets and assisted into Longboat Pass I believe. Sounded like it was coming in at around 6 knots and I believe about 25 miles offshore, so possibly a disabled engine?

They called off the lookout within about 30 - 60 min. I remember that because I thought it must have been a slow day to get coast guard out to them that quickly.

ukadrianj

Four rescued off Sarasota yesterday: https://www.tampabay.com/news/2020/0...four-on-board/



Glad everyone is safe.

JAGSARE1

Hope they didn't send a distress call for a disabled engine.

GASeminole

That does NOT look like a Competition hull at all, and there is no such thing as a 24 ft Competition, though I know the media rarely has the knowledge or inclination to confirm details of what they are publishing, including stock photos they often use.

DEBTICATED

There's only a couple Comps in our area. Wasn't me.

ukadrianj

The article doesn't say anything about the type of boat, just the length.

GASeminole

Read the original post (and the rest in the thread)

ono loco

don't know of many twin 36 YFs why the 6 knots I wonder?

Romeomikehotel

This kind of stuff is why I will never own a boat that’s not loaded with floatation foam.
Extra storage or any other benefits of not having it doesn’t mean jack when your boats upside down and you’re waiting in the water for the CG.

ukadrianj

Oh right, I missed that.

ALL OUT

The floatation doesn’t keep the boat from turtling. I’d rather not have floatation and a life raft. Floatation doesn’t help if the boat catches on fire.

slipkid

Life raft plus gpirb and make sure both are easily deployable would obviously be the best scenario.

Romeomikehotel

Very true, should have said properly placed floatation.

Locks on your house don’t help if it catches fire either but you still have them... kinda two different subjects

scooperfl

There is no "properly placed floatation". All CC's will turtle if swamped in any kind of sea. When filled with water, there simply is no stability right side up. Once upside down, few people could climb up on an offshore hull and stay there in any kind of sea. IMO, floatation in an offshore boat is a gimmick. It is simply a lot cheaper to squirt foam than build and install hatches, liners, and drainage.

By the way, I was offshore on Sunday. Smooth going out, came back in a confused 3-4' that was particularly miserable. Thankfully, I was not the one that called.

DocHoliday

What happens when the boat salvage company gets the boat? Do they try to sell it back to the owner? Does the owner do a total loss with the insurance company? Who does what to who for how much money?

triumphrick

How many 25' - 30' boats carry liferafts??

I would be damned glad my turtled boat with its big white hull was still afloat so I could be spotted.

Two Epirbs, plenty of easily accessible life jackets and a lifeline (mooring rope) tied to the hull and I could wait the hour it would take to be found.

SHAMROCK69

they don’t own it to sell it back. Typically they agree to a price with the insurance company prior to going to get the boat and more often then not it is not really salvage but wreck removal because the post casualty value of the boat is less then the cost to retrieve it.

lurker25

While I agree that few people could climb up on an overturned offshore hull, I disagree that it is a gimmick. You could tie a rope to the lower unit and hold on to it to make yourself a bigger target to be found. You would still be in the water but at least give yourself a better chance to be found. It does surprise me the number of people that think flotation keeps them upright.

scooperfl

An overturned boat is far harder to see than people realize. We found an overturned boat with a bright white bottom in the Keys a few years ago. With occasional whitecaps and only casually watching for boat traffic ahead of us, I did not see it off to the side until we were within 100 yards of it. Unless the boat is actively searching for birds or people in the water, you are not likely to be seen any easier than someone waving or splashing.

Obtaining line from an overturned boat is also likely to be difficult. Lines left untied on deck would simply sink, other items would float away. Diving under an overturned boat, entering a locker (which you have few of because the spaces are filled with foam), and getting line untangled and out in offshore conditions, without a mask, would also likely require skill that most do not have.

Other evidence being the football player incident, where it took two days of intensive searching by the CG (with planes, helicopters, boats etc.) to find an overturned boat in a relatively small area (for an ocean). In another case, despite a very long and intensive search, the missing Tequesta boys were not found, but their overturned boat was three months later off Bermuda. Again, the initial search area was relatively small (for an ocean) and the search was started fairly quickly. In either case, a $400 EPIRB (or even a $250 PLB) would have resulted in an entirely different outcome.

So, I still think flotation is a gimmick and also apparently instills a false sense of security offshore.