Post by goindeep on May 9, 2011 14:12:12 GMT -5
Had an interesting day of fishing last weekend. Last Saturday, (April 30th), Myself and 2 friends went on an inshore charter with a newly licensed Captain on his 20 foot Center Console...fished the Clearwater wreck about 6 miles out, caught some nice Mangrove Snappers, some nice Spanish Macks and had some big break-offs, as well as lots of short grouper. While we were fishing, about 50 or so yards off, we watched a boat start to take on water...it got so bad the crew had to abandon ship onto their friend's boat, tossing coolers, beer, gear, etc from their boat to their friend's boat. Three or four times the boat was about 75% under water, but somehow it kept coming back up afloat. Heres a quick pic I snapped on the sinking boat, the boat on the left is the one they all bailed on to.
We were sure that it was going under, and could only imagine what it would be like to be on a sinking boat like that. After an hour or so of the boat going almost under, then back up, then almost under, then back up, they ended up using a tow rope and slowly towed the boat back to shore, somehow keeping it just afloat enough to get it back to shore.
So we fished that spot for another hour, and we decided to head over to the Skyway Bridge for some grouper/kingfish action....but....uh-oh...now OUR bilge pump is not working, and WE'RE taking on water. ####. So we start limping back towards shore at about 5mph (we couldnt go any faster due to the water weight) while the Capt tries to get the pump working, to no avail...the weight from the water was bogging us down, and we dont have a hand bilge pump on board. So we get about halfway to shore, and myself and the other 2 passengers are now riding on the bow of the boat to keep weight off the back of the 20 foot center console boat...the Capt then asks me to steer the boat towards shore while he bails 5 gallon buckets of water form inside the center console...Yes, this is getting bad...but where else can you charter a boat and get to drive the darn thing?? Pretty cool! So we stop a few times here and there while he tries to get the pump working, but its clear that its not gonna happen. So we call the local search and rescue team to bring us a portable bilge pump, and they met us a mile or so out and escorted us back into the pass. By the time we got into the pass, we had so much water on board, we had no choice but to let them board and pump the water out so we could make it to the marina.
Resue crew pumping water using a gas powered pump:
Rescue boat that escorted us back in:
So it was a pretty interesting day. The captain refunded all of our money when we got back in, but I paid him for the half-day we got to fish. It was an eye-opening day for sure, especially for myself, as Im looking to buy a boat in the next few months. One things for sure, Ill definitely have a backup hand bilge pump or 2 on board. Funny thing is the Capt has owned that boat for a few years and never thought to put a hand bilge pump on board
Hey, at least we got an interesting story to tell, and we still brought home some quality fish and had an awesome fish fry! The Capt now has a couple back up bilge pumps on board and has invited us back out for another trip. Cant wait to give it another shot! He was a real cool guy and we're not letting that experience sour us on hiring him again.
One of my shorties:
Nom nom nom:
We were sure that it was going under, and could only imagine what it would be like to be on a sinking boat like that. After an hour or so of the boat going almost under, then back up, then almost under, then back up, they ended up using a tow rope and slowly towed the boat back to shore, somehow keeping it just afloat enough to get it back to shore.
So we fished that spot for another hour, and we decided to head over to the Skyway Bridge for some grouper/kingfish action....but....uh-oh...now OUR bilge pump is not working, and WE'RE taking on water. ####. So we start limping back towards shore at about 5mph (we couldnt go any faster due to the water weight) while the Capt tries to get the pump working, to no avail...the weight from the water was bogging us down, and we dont have a hand bilge pump on board. So we get about halfway to shore, and myself and the other 2 passengers are now riding on the bow of the boat to keep weight off the back of the 20 foot center console boat...the Capt then asks me to steer the boat towards shore while he bails 5 gallon buckets of water form inside the center console...Yes, this is getting bad...but where else can you charter a boat and get to drive the darn thing?? Pretty cool! So we stop a few times here and there while he tries to get the pump working, but its clear that its not gonna happen. So we call the local search and rescue team to bring us a portable bilge pump, and they met us a mile or so out and escorted us back into the pass. By the time we got into the pass, we had so much water on board, we had no choice but to let them board and pump the water out so we could make it to the marina.
Resue crew pumping water using a gas powered pump:
Rescue boat that escorted us back in:
So it was a pretty interesting day. The captain refunded all of our money when we got back in, but I paid him for the half-day we got to fish. It was an eye-opening day for sure, especially for myself, as Im looking to buy a boat in the next few months. One things for sure, Ill definitely have a backup hand bilge pump or 2 on board. Funny thing is the Capt has owned that boat for a few years and never thought to put a hand bilge pump on board
Hey, at least we got an interesting story to tell, and we still brought home some quality fish and had an awesome fish fry! The Capt now has a couple back up bilge pumps on board and has invited us back out for another trip. Cant wait to give it another shot! He was a real cool guy and we're not letting that experience sour us on hiring him again.
One of my shorties:
Nom nom nom:
