Tofino Boat Sinking - Two Dead April 30, 2017

[Peter & Judy]

[Peter & Judy]

I'll try this again.

A boating accident near Tofino, BC resulted in two deaths. I only have details from the CBC link below. More information is will come out as the investigation continues. Many thanks to the Canadian Coast Guard, the private vessels and aircraft for their help in the search, rescue and recovery in this tragedy.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/tofino-sinking-2-dead-1.4093296

[thataway]

Sad to hear about the loss of life. If there had been PLB with each person--or perhaps even hand held VHF it is possible that rescue could have been faster.
Too many unknowns, but a warning to all of us.

I don't recognize that hull configuration as being one of the usual production 8 to 9 meter cats.

[jbdba01]

Given my recent trip that's spooky stuff. What was the make/model of the cat? I might have missed it in the article.

I've read a coupe articles about cats going down. Most involved poor maintenance - bilges did not work.

For my trip I brought along a 6' hose and a manual bilge - just in case.

[Aurelia]

That can be a rough portion of the coast with unpredictable waves. I just led another paddling group out there last month for 5 days. We had to delay our initial launch due to a strong late-season wind event. More safety gear on each person is a good idea and one of the reasons we sought out new PFDs (for C-dory use) with built in pockets for signaling goods and radio/PLB carrying.

http://www.lfsmarineoutdoor.com/safety-gear/inflatable-lifejackets-and-pfds/onyx-a-m-24-deluxe-automatic-manual-inflatable-life-jacket.html

Greg

[Foggy]

This is truly unfortunate but happens frequently as people are unprepared and/or
unaware of the deadly consequences of being submerged in cold water. Just
because you are on a boat doesn't mean it can't happen to you. The moral is
be informed and be prepared if you MUST go out on cold water. A search of
recent surface water temperature in the area of the incident revealed it was 50*F,
probably a little lower in my opinion.

Below are some points about same from a paper I wrote some years back about
cold water shock and hypothermia.

* In northern latitudes during March, April and May the highest percentage of
deaths occur from people going out on dangerously cold water. (2)

* Alaska has 10 X the national boating fatality rate. (9)

* An average person has a 50/50 chance of surviving a 50 yard swim in 50* F water.(13)
* A 50 year old person in 50* F water has a 50/50 chance of surviving 50 minutes. (13)
[In this incident, 5 people were in about 50* F water for 1.5 hours]

* When the water temperature is < 60* F, wear “specialized insulating clothing”
(wet/dry suits, Polartec 2000, etc)

A life jacket, alone without specialized protective clothing, in cold water is no
assurance you will survive cold water shock or hypothermia. * Strong
swimmers wearing a PFD have died before covering 100 yards in cold water. (14)

Refs:
(2) “Baby It’s Cold Outside (believe it or not)”, Pennsylvania Fish & Boat
Commission, Apr 21, 2005, www.sites.state.pa.us
(9) “Cold Injuries Guidelines”, Version 2003, State of Alaska, www.chems.alaska.gov
(13) “Safety On (and in) the Water”, www.capital.net/com/nckayak/nck_safety_p4.html
(14) “Hypothermia and Cold Shock”, P Siedel, USCG Aux,
www.auxguidanceskills.info/press/hypothermia.html

Aye.
PS: Unfortunately, the most stable position for a catamaran in the water is
upside down.

[Peter & Judy]

CBC has updated this article with more information. It seems that the distress call did not give an exact location of the sinking and this slowed the search efforts. A DSC call with a GPS location might have speeded up the search and saved lives.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/tofino-sinking-2-dead-1.4093296

[Saxe Point]

Sadly, this article highlights how more attention should be paid to well established safety practices to avoid confusion, delays and errors.

Instead of querying why there wasn't an "all channels" mayday relay, or a mayday relay on the locally used channel (6, the real question is why weren't the other boats monitoring channel 16. To me, monitoring 16 is a moral obligation rooted in fairness and a sense of helping one another: if I want people to help me in an emergency, I must reciprocate. The coast guard explained in this article why 16 is the distress channel.

On another level, as has been mentioned already, a DSC emergency call would possibly have made a difference. That would have pulled all the VHF radios in range in and amounted to the "all channels" call that was referred to. But, again sadly, that does not appear to have happened.

[/url]http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/tofino-emergency-callout-did-not-broadcast-on-popular-channel-1.4096454[url][/url]

[thataway]

Just to make the link above Easier to access.

I certainly agree,--why were most of the other boats on Chanel 68? They expected the CG to put out an "All channels" broadcast of the distress. In the USA I am not aware of an "All Channels" protocol.

This speaks for having the radio priority on 16 and use dual watch for monitoring 68. Again, the Distress DSC will not work unless the boat has an MMSI number programed into the radio. Then there would have been an alert to other boats.

[bobjarrard]

I looked at the picture of the cat on the first link and it does not look to me like it "sank" but that it "foundered" or "took on a large amount of water and lost stability". I know the conditions at the time of the event might of been worse than what we see in the photo but a 27' cat should be able to handle 4' waves and 20 mph winds or worse. There most be more to the story that is not yet reported. I have sailed an eight foot open Sabot in conditions about as bad given only having 8" of free board, not fun but I made it back to shore after a Santana wind kicked up. Sobering turn of events.
Bob

[BTDT]

I just can't understand the reluctance to buy personal locator beacons. A floating ACR beacon is often on sale for $200. The only thing you have to do is unfold the antenna and press a button and your GPS position is relayed via satellite to search and rescue. Not only are they notified exactly where you are, but if you register it with NOAA (at no charge) the rescuers know who you are, the description of your boat, and home base.

Although I have a VHF with DSC and a registered MMSI along with a handheld VHF, I still prefer the idea of having my PLB attached to my person when the s--- hits the fan.

Rant is over and I have gone to my corner

[bobjarrard]

Over the years I have benefited from group purchase discounts extended to members of other forums I belong to and think that there are enough C-Brats that need to take a step in the right direction in terms of safety gear to secure some beneficial pricing levels. Perhaps start with one item at a time and then move up a wish list every 90 days or so. There will always be the matter of what order of purchase but we have "senior members" to whom we can just cede that decision as all the major bases will get covered in due time. Perhaps we could start a thread on which items seem most important and which models might fit the bill given dealer/manufacturer co-operation. Any good flotation device is better than none or one that does not fit or is in poor condition. Same for beacons and dual watch radios. Bob

[Peter & Judy]

The victims of the Tofino boating accident have been identified.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/tofino-boat-capsize-sinking-accident-1.4096627

[Peter & Judy]

More news and video from Tofino.

http://www.westerlynews.ca/news/2-dead-3-in-stable-condition-after-boat-goes-down-near-tofino/

[Pandion]