Chumly

https://patch.com/florida/bradenton/...on-coast-guard

Could have been real bad. Does not take long for things to go bad quickly 40 miles offshore. A bilge pump failure coupled with a slow leaking splashwell deck plate can go unnoticed until you have wet feet. I am not sure what was leaking in this situation . Glad things worked out ok for these two. Having twin outboards in this situation means nothing. Scroll down.

Two Rescued After Boat Sinks 40 Miles Off Bradenton: Coast Guard

Larry McCain of Parrish and Dennis Amo of Sarasota were rescued after their 24-foot boat sank Saturday morning, the Coast Guard said.

By Tiffany Razzano, Patch Staff

Dec 12, 2020 11:16 pm ET

Reply​A MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater​ rescued two men from a 24-foot boat 40 miles west of Bradenton Saturday morning. (U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary)BRADENTON, FL — Two fishermen were rescued from the water Saturday morning after their 24-foot boat sank 40 miles west of Bradenton, according to a U.S. Coast Guard 7th District PA Detachment Tampa Bay news release.

The two men pulled from the water to safety were Larry McCain, 52, of Parrish, and Dennis Amo, 64, of Sarasota.

At 10:30 a.m., a personal locator beacon (PLB) notification alerted the Coast Guard that the men were in distress. A Coast Guard Auxiliary air crew diverted from its patrol and located the two men wearing life jackets clinging to the hull of the boat.

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Watch Now A MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Clearwater were called in and hoisted the men from the water, the Coast Guard said. The men were brought to Air Station Clearwater. No injuries were reported.

McCain told the Coast Guard that he and Amo left the 59th Street boat ramp in Bradenton early Saturday morning for a fishing outing. After fishing for red grouper for a few hours, the rear of the boat began to sink. The men threw their fish in the boat and tried to drive the boat forward, but there wasn't enough power to overcome the weight of the water, the Coast Guard said.

jfish8

Double bilge pumps and high water alarm located low enough that I can fix an issue before it gets bad are mandatory for me if I'm headed offshore.

Cat-a-holic

I had a similar scare a few years ago, but luckily not offshore. I was about 50 miles up the coast in my new (to me) World Cat, just fishing and cruising with my wife and kids. Got ready to head back when I noticed I was low in the water on the starboard side. Turned on the starboard bilge pump and emptied water for about 10 minutes. Had a major thunderstorm storm bearing down on us from shore and decided to head back while the bilge pump was emptying the starboard bilge. Went about a mile when the pump quit. At that point I had no idea where the water was coming from. Plugs were in, hatch plates secure. Couldn't really figure it out. But with the situation, I decided to run in to a local marina and, try to figure it out and wait out the storm.

After the marina kindly let me moor temporarily I went in the marina store, bought an extra bilge pump and rigged it up to connect directly to my battery with a hose into the splash well. The storm abated after beating hell out of my boat, but I pumped all the water out and headed back out. Got back in the dark without further incident.

It was the next day when I figured out where the water was coming from - the raw water hose had split, and so I was pumping water into the hull all the time I ran the baitwell pump, which I had been running on intermitant most of the day. Yes, I felt like an idiot.

On the whole not such a big emergency, but it did make me think. When you have multiple issues bearing down on you its easy to over look the obvious. Had I been offshore, this little problem could have easily escalated into a sinking scenario similar to what happened to these guys.

Phins360

NO high water alarm. Mandatory if going offshore.

Only one bilge pump.

Never trust your float switches. Bilge pumps usually last long, the float switches, not so much.

Experienced offshore operators get into a ritual of checking their spaces during the trip. Check the bilge(s). Check engine room (if you have one), check any under deck space. No need to be OCD about it, but if you are not in the habit of doing this at least once during a trip, you might want to rethink how you operate out there. Alarms, pumps and switches fail all the time. Nothing fails your Mark 1 eyeball.

At least the weather was good.

20biminitwist

Wrong time of year for a swim. Water temp was 60 degrees Friday in the gulf

I fear cold water fishing more than anything. That PFD ain't gonna do you much good for very long.

Phins360

All these guys going out there without raft aboard, not smart either.

They'll spend 4k on avionics for the boat, but not 1500-2000 on a raft? Not telling how to spend their $$$. But for my money, we have the best 6 person raft money can buy on our boat.

At least they had a PLB.

bw17

I had the best 6 person offshore raft money could buy on my boat. Double insulated floors, ballast tanks, canopy. The thing weighed 72 lbs and was hard to store, and would have been almost impossible to drag topside in an emergency

When it was time to repack, I bought the lightest most basic 6 person valise raft I could find. 22 lbs and stores under a seat cushion

sometimes less is more. I carry an EPIRB, PLB and an InReach. I don’t need a raft that I can live on for 40 hours. You just need one to keep you out of the water until the coast guard arrives

mudkaiser

We were running in yesterday and spotted it. Of course we didnt know anything about it and called it in. Picked up the cooler and life jacket. Contacting him about his cooler. So what happens to the boat at this point , I'd sure hate to hit that running 35mph......

mudkaiser

That sucks

Intrepid

As others have said, this is why I have a high water alarm. In addition, I have a 1000 GPH punp with 20 feet of wire with aligator clips I carry. If my bilge pump fails, I can hook this auxiliary pump to a battery and use it. I can also assist someone at sea if their batteries are dead. True stoy, I am wet slipped and my slip neighbor who is a snowbird calls me and tells me he just got a call that his boat seemed low in the water. We both have onboard battery chargers. I go to the boats and immediately notice his swim platform is under water. 28' Carver. I check his float switch, it's working but the bilge pump won't come on. I get my auxiliary pump and connect to all three of his batteris. Nothing. I then connect it to one of my batteries and quickly dewater the boat. Apparently the pump did its job until the batteries went dead. He had another friend check his electical system and he had another problem in his electrical panel and his battery charger wasn't working.

Phins360

You have a raft. That is good. These guys did not. that is bad. Especially in 60 degree water. Again, good thing they had some form of emer locating device.

High quality rafts are going to cost more, not necessarily weigh more. No need to be an ass about it. We fish 100+ offshore though, so yeah I want something that is well made. Of course its in a cradle on the bow. Hydro release too. Same as EPIRB. Just in case you were wondering.

Sorry you had to struggle with loading a piece of lifesaving equipment on and off your boat. I'm sure you would bitch about loading the coolers, tanks, rods. ice and everything else.

But you know that really wasn't the meaning of my post didn't you.

oceandansar

Wow . I started installing the high water alarm and pump in my new to me boat. No way I’m sleeping on the boat without it.

JG400

I have wired an alarm to my bilge pumps that sound when ever the bilge pump is running. The bilge pump shouldn't run much more that 20 to 30 seconds and it's way more important to know that the pumps are running than waiting for a high water alarm to go off. I also have a high water alarm in case the bilge pump switch has an issue. My boat is a 27 foot NorthCoast hard top with two standard bilge pumps and I have added a 2500 GPH manually started pump as well. Cheap insurance.

Jake

PS, An alarm like the one in the link can be wired in parallel with the pump and will sound while the pump is running. If you don't like the noise put the alarm in the bilge, you'll still hear it. https://www.amazon.com/Icstation-85dB-Active-Piezo-Electronic/dp/B01LAYWUDO/ref=sr_1_11?crid=1RLNUZ3HX9F09&dchild=1&keywords=12+volt+alarm&qid=1607910675&sprefix=12+volt+alarm%2Caps%2C162&sr=8-11

Phins360

Depends on where the high water alarms are located. Placement is key.

MiamiJay

Okay ... the two bilge pumps, raft, inflatable vests, EPIRB, PLB, InReach, Ditch bag with HH VHF and all the other stuff isn’t enough. Any recommendations on a high water alarm?

ptag

I use this one
https://www.westmarine.com/buy/rule-...hoCFbQQAvD_BwE

Kableguy

With a newer boat will the boat eventually sink to the bottom or just float around at the surface like that? Will someone head out and recover it and restore it or return it to the owners?

zfastmalibu

Almost happened to me off of Venice. The live well in my boat over flowed into the hull and the bilge pumped it out. Terrible design. Bilge quit, didnt notice anything until it was time to head in and I couldnt get on plane. Hull was full of water and everyone had to stay on the bow while I bailed for about an hour. Got enough water out to get on plane and get in. Could have been bad.

Ironworker

Absolutely dual bilge pumps and high water alarm.

If my younger days I almost sank a brand new Grady White. I was anxiously to fish the boat and had not installed the second bilge or alarm. We were about 60 nm from shore when I noticed the boat getting heavy but the bilge pump was not pumping water. I looked in the bilge and it had about a foot of water. The pump was running but no water was being pumped overboard.

We hauled @ss back to the boat ramp. When we got the boat on the trailer, we found that the bilge hose had clogged with leftover bits of fiberglass strands and a through hull was leaking.

I learned a lot of lessons from that trip.

blindmullet

We have seen the Coasties sink scuttled boats in the past. It's pretty cool to see at night.