Friend's horror story retold....

[rogerbum]

All,

As some of you may have read, I had a great weekend at Neah Bay a few weeks ago during which I introduced a friend to the wonders of salmon and black rock cod fishing when the fishing is good. We'll call him " Mr. X" to protect his identity... Anyway, the same friend called my last Thurs AM to indicate that he and another buddy ("Mr. Y") were planning on going out to Neah Bay on Fri. (7/22/2005) in his friend's boat - a 16' center console aluminum something or other with "an old unreliable Johnson" - single engine no other source of power and "not a deep vee". He asked, "Hey Roger, do you think we could get out to the same spot (about 1 -2 miles SW of Tatoosh Island) we were fishing in for the Sea bass in this boat?".

I indicated that IF the water was as flat as it was the day we were out AND if they went out and back a little prior to and just after slack tide, they could MAYBE do OK - BUT
1) The water is almost never as flat as it was the one day we went around the corner to fish - I reminded him we went around Tatoosh on three separate days on the previous trip, but only felt comfortable fishing out there 1 day out of three and that day the water was unusually calm for that area.
2) The NW Surfwatch site (I link that I think BC provided on another thread) was indicating that the swells would be much higher on Fri the 22nd than the day we fished.
3) He could catch all the salmon he wanted just outside of the breakwater at Neah Bay and if he stayed there, he could always duck back in if things got rough.
4) Heavy fog can roll in at any time out there
5) I would never consider going past Tatoosh in an open bow 16' anything...

I also asked:
Does "Y" have:
A good radio? - "Yes he has a radio"
A GPS? - "no"
A Compass? "maybe"
An Anchor? "Why do we need an anchor?" - I indicated that if the engine quit and one was drifting out to sea a good radio would probably get you the coast guard and probably would result in a rescue before one was in Asia, but if one was drifting in... and anchor might be a good thing to toss over prior to getting dashed upon the rocks...

We talked for a little while - I offered to lend a spare anchor, my handheld GPS, and a spare handheld VHF. Even though my house is bertween his and the ferry terminal - he declined as he was walking on and could only carry so much... However, he did agree that they should only fish just outside of the breakwater at Neah Bay.

So here's what happened to him...

Left Thurs night drove to Neah Bay and arrived round midnight. Slept a few hours and was up around 4:30 to hit the water at sun-up. Mr Y - brough a friend along "Mr Z". Z had no boating experience or fishing experience.

They got around the breakwater near Waddah island early in the AM. High tide was at 1:11AM and low tide was several hours away at 8:35AM. First line was in the water by 5AM and prior to even getting in the downrigger, they had an 8lb hatchery coho. It was shaping up to be a good fishing day. They had a little swells and a little wind waves but nothing much there in the Straights.

Soon all three had their lines out and the action was pretty good, lots of fish, something on every 5-10 mins. This went on for a couple of hours during which time the swell and wind waves increased. X said "Y- you should quit fishing and simply concentrate on driving the boat and watching the water, it's getting a bit rough and at least one of us should pay attention solely to the water" - Y "had it under control", was "watching the water" and kept right on fishing.

A little while later my friend "X" notices that the fish he is reeling in is visible in the swell but that he has to look UP to see his fish. He thinks it's a bit strange to be reeling in a fish that is above his head and after landing the fish says "Y - we really should go back now, the swells are getting pretty nasty". Y agrees but neither of them can see land right away. After rising up to the top of a new swell - they finally spot land - Tatoosh island is now a mile or two behind them to the EAST. The combination of their slow troll and the current has moved them about 8 miles down the straight and out into the blue...(I wonder how close they came to getting dashed on Duncan rocks on the way past.... BTW - it seems that having a rock in the water named after you is probably not something to aspire to...)

So Y agrees - "Yes we should get going". The swells (according to X) were 8-10' with whitecaps on the top. My guess is they were perhaps a little smaller but they were predicted to be 6-8' when I looked Fri AM. Power gets applied to the old Johnson which promptly quits. X is now about to lose it "We're in deep $%@# Y!" etc.

Y - "Not to worry, we probably just ran out of gas in the one tank, all we need to do is swap the line over to the other tank". X is in the bow, Y is at the center console, Z (remember Z... the inexperienced one) is the guy near the fuel tanks. Moving around in the boat isn't really an option right now so Y talks Z through moving the fuel line from one tank to the other. Z gets the line detached from tank 1, jams it into tank 2 and breaks off the connector. Now my buddy is completely freaking out...

Fortunately, the only redundant piece of equipment Y has on board is a spare fuel line. He takes it out and leans back into the stern and hooks that up while laying spread eagle on his stomach (not a lot of space and he's working to keep the center of gravity low). After a little messing around the Johnson fires and they get headed in with the large following seas. It takes awhile (and perhaps results in the loss of a few pairs of underwear) but Y manages to deftly maneuver the boat down the swells and back in to calmer water. They all get to live another day and probably won't make the same mistake(s) again. There is a long list of mistakes that were made - for entertainment maybe we can enumerate them all....

Roger on the SeaDNA (glad I have a C-Dory, with redundant everything and a hell of a lot more sense than X, Y and Z)...

two edits to correct some (but probably not all) of the typos....

[starcrafttom]

mommy said " stupid is as stupid does"

[gljjr]

I'm sure glad they are ok and able to tell the story!

My dad told me a story about he and his dad fishing Neah when he was a kid (late '40s or early 50's). My grandfather had a 5hp outboard that he used to use on the rental boats from the marina. They were fishing probably about where you took X the first time (somewhere south of Tatoosh) and the surf came up. They are in a 14' rental with a 5hp motor! He said that was the longest roller coaster ride of his life! Maybe that is why my dad never once set foot in a boat smaller than a ferry in the salt all the time I can remember until he bought a house on the water in Key Center in 1995 some 40+ years later!

The thing is my grandfather used to fish like that all the time! It is amazing that they were able to stay alive in such cases.

[Redƒox]

Well told and thnx I'll have ta tell of some of my crazy-days sometime this winter maybe

[Cutty Sark]

I was out there this weekend too. Definatly not the weather to be out in an open bow boat. I would say the swells were max 7-8 feet, with a chop to boot. But it wasn't pleasant. We fished the straight, and tried at la push on friday for a couple hours but it was too rough to stay out on the coast, we packed up and were in the water up at neah bay by a little after lunch. Much better weather inside the straight, but still very choppy. At least the fish were plentiful. Those guys are lucky! I would never head out there without a kicker. scary stuff.

sark

[rogerbum]

OK - while I drew a few responses, I didn't entice anyone into making a list of mistakes. I thought I'd share my own list since I think a few of the mistakes are instructional - at least for me if no one else. If you're a pilot, the FAA sends you quarterly accident reports so that you can read them and learn from the mistakes of others. Thinking through what mistakes others make is a good exercise. I'd be willing to bet that almost all of us has made one of the mistakes listed below at one time or another. Usually trouble results from making more than one mistake at the same time. Hence, I thought some additional discussion my be helpful....

Mistakes made:
1) Neither X nor Y paid attention to their position and instead focused on the fishing (since Z is a newbie, I didn't think it was right hold him responsble for this). Knowing one's position is (of course) particularly critical if one winds up in a dense fog without either radar or a GPS. That is, if there is no way other than visual cues to ascertain position and those cues are not available due to darkness or fog, you have to know exactly where you are at.

2) They left the dock with no navigational equipment or charts. (1) would have been easier if someone had looked at a chart on occasion or better yet monitored position on a GPS. The latter would be much easier in the wind on an open boat. Had the fog rolled in while they were out past Tatoosh with no idea of their position and no idea of direction, they would really have been screwed. They probably could have figured out direction by the direction of the swells and perhaps the brightness of the sky but when they were about 8 miles from the original position, knowing what to do is a problem. Inside the straight, I would go slowly south until I could either see land or until the depth finder read about 60' and then followed depth the contour back east. If one assumes he is inside the straight when one is in fact 2 miles west, you might never hit land by going south.

3) They allowed the weather/waves to get too bad before a decision was made to deal with it. In particular, Y dismissed X's attempt to call attention to the very real need to have at least one person keeping track of the position. Generally, if you're a little concerned about things, you should stop and really think a bit and handle situations before they get worse.

4) X didn't try hard enough to get his point across once Y dismissed it. X could have stopped fishing and taken over the helm or insisted that Y pay more attention. He admitted to me that things were partially his fault for not doing this. Guys often do this kind of thing - they are either to worried that they will look weak or afraid that they will insult the other fellow to really stick up for their own opinions. That may be OK at times but not when it involves your own safety.

5) They didn't discuss any potential problem situations/dangers/and actions to take prior to leaving the dock. Had they thought this through, perhaps Z would not have been in the stern or perhaps Z could have been trained on how to switch the fuel line prior to being in a near emergency situation. I'm willing to bet that Z couldn't operate the radio and didn't know on what channel to call the coast guard had he wound up alone with the radio. I'm certainly not perfect about this but I generally make a point of showing any passenger on my boat where the various safety equipment is and how to use it all. I also provide some basic instructions on contacting the coast guard. Sometimes this seems like overkill, but it's probably a good thing for us all to do regardless of the day and the intended boating location. Even on a good day in calm seas, one of us could have a heart attack, stroke, seizure etc. and it might be REAL handy if someone else on the boat and contact the coasties, steer and find the way back home (or at a bare minimum, shift the boat into neutral and call the coasties).

6) Once things were looking pretty bad, they should have at least alerted the coast guard to their position and set up a regular call schedule. Had they taken one big swell over the side, it's not clear how long the radio would still operate -especially if it was wired into a single battery that was on the floor. One might not have time to get a detailed message off to the coast guard if you wait until you REALLY need them. The coast guard would of course prefer that you don't get into trouble, but they are more than willing to monitor a potentially dangerous situation even if you don't need to be rescued. Don't abuse the system but definitely don't wait until it's too late to report a potential problem.

7) They introduced a newbie to fishing in tough and ultimately dangerous conditions. Who knows what Z thinks now? He might never want to go fishing again or he might not realize how potentially dangerous the situation was. It's always good to use very controlled situations when introducing someone to a new sport - especially fishing. Also, if you do push things a little, don't do it with an inexperience person aboard. They generally don't add much in an emergency situation and could become a liability if things are tough.

What mistakes did I miss?...

[B~C]

I only count one mistake, they left the dock. It sure sounds fortunate that that their lack of knowledge didn't cost them dearly.

[gljjr]

I agree with Ken, They had no business being out there without charts and compass. I've been out there without a GPS but never again. We were fishing the rocks on Tatoosh due to the fog bank starting there. After about an hour the fog had rolled past us and the water had gotten a bit rougher. When we headed back the swells were quite large with 3' wind waves. Luckily the swells were well spaced and we had no problems coming in (this was in my sled last year). I will not head out there again without a GPS though. Just too iffy on the fog!

I can't imagine how the fellow Z felt. That would be a seriously bad feeling being totally helpless with someone not paying attention to the conditions.

I guess I'm a bit different. If it is too icky out I insist on coming in. I just look at my fishing partner(s) and say "Look, I'm here to have fun. This isn't fun!". That is usually enough to head in!

[wailedcentipede]

if your going to be stupid ...you got to be tough ...

[Jack in Alaska]

Darwins Theory at work once again......they escaped the list THIS TIME.

They were all stuck in "Stupid Gear"

[Pat Anderson]

Yes, well, ahem...wasn't going to say anything, but since your brought it up, a comment about improving the gene pool does come to mind...

[dogon dory]

Sorry, Folks - Post Deleted By Author