Mans got to know his limitations, or his gas tanks.

This goes to show you if you are going out in the ocean that far from shore you should have a good kicker motor,VHF radio , enough gas , and Sea Tow . I dont know exactly how far Sea tow goes. I think Boat US only goes out 70 miles. I'm suprised that The Bear ship took them in to SFO. I'm glad every thing worked out for them
 
Tom, ol' buddy,

If you are going to keep doing rescues, you may want to stretch the Susan E another 478 feet or so to match the length of the Golden Bear. I'm guessing Oldgrowth Dave may be able to assist you with that stretch... and just imagine how much extra fuel you could carry in those saddle tanks! :wink:

Best wishes,
Jim
 
The Golden Bear is a training ship of the California Maritime Academy. Here is a cut and paste from another article on this incident:

The Coast Guard strongly advises mariners to ensure that their boat is outfitted properly, and used only for its intended purpose. This includes having properly functioning navigation, communication, signaling, and safety equipment, as well as being mindful of the risks associated with taking a small boat offshore. Additionally, all boaters are highly encouraged to leave a "float plan" with a responsible party prior to departing, making sure to include information about intended route, the names and land-side contact information for all persons onboard, the return date and time, and vessel description.

I think Mr. Fisherman (Ray) is often found about as far off shore as this boat tuna fishing, but I am pretty sure he is prepared to deal with this kind of stuff. And where the heck is Ray these days? I miss his blow-torch tuna snacks!
 
tuff decision for the captain of the golden bear. save the life, absolutely. save the vessel, i don't think i would have risked my crew's health for a vessel of little monetary value. the captain of the fishing boat should bare the loss for his stupidity and jeapordizing the rescue ship and crew.
i'd invoice the fishing boat captain for golden bear's fuel, loss of income and payroll. life is tuff, it is tuffer when you're stupid!
pat
 
Why not save the vessel? its flat sea's and a good training opportunity. I think that the Golden bear took them to the bay area because thats where the golden bear was going. Its there home port. the fisherman where out of Monterey. In the articale it states that the engine stopped running. It does not say if it was lack of fuel or malfuntion. I did not catch that the first time thru. I think that we should offer what ever help we can, when we can and not worry about making them "pay the price", kind of mean really.
 
Since the GB is the training ship--she may have already been going back to SF. Hoisting a 17 foot aboard is probably as easy as her fast rescue boats.

It makes you wonder why people do go offshore in this small a boat--and how lucky they were.

We stood by a disabled boat off Pt. Conception when a Vessel Assist (I use this generically) boast was in route. The towing vessel came from Channel Islands, and could not communicate with the vessel in distress, whose batteries were dead from attempting to start the engines, after multiple fuel filter plug ups. I would have towed him, had Vessel Assist not been called. As it was, our standing by the vessel for 5 hours put us into Santa Barbara after dark. Since that entrance changes, the harbor master was happy to come out and lead us in. The tow vessel arrived about 4 hours later and put the broken down vessel behind us on an end tie. I was surprised that there was no tow vessel in Santa Barbara and that the tow vessel was slow (may have been close to the limit of his range).
 
hi nick,
you're right, my fourth grade education limits my spelling abilities. i'll be more careful in the future. incidentally, you're probably getting ready for the nc trip. linda and i talked about joining you guys, and hoped that we could but time restraints just got in the way. have a great time, post pictures! (please, no topless types), well, maybe just one for the byrdman!

hi susan e.
my point regarding fee's for service were regarding property and as such, i still stand behind that recommendation. when people are held accountable for their actions, they tend to make better decisions. i'm sure there are share holders of golden bear, and probably not so willing to give their hard earned money away, relative to some foolish captain's poor planning.
i recently towed in a dead-in-the-water 29' maxim cruiser, the tow distance was approx. 5 miles, cost them $400.+. when i arrived for the tow, they had no fenders, no lines attached to cheats, and the anchor chain was draped on the fiberglass bow. they were standing on the bow drinking beer! my charge was 175 per hr starting from the time i left the dock and did not stop until i returned to my slip.
i believe they are not likely to repeat that experience.
best regards to all,
pat
 
Is that a 110 Evenrude ? .... I guess they could not have predicted engine failure... but to be out that far without a back-up motor...is really dumb..... 70 miles ? Wow... that must have taken a bunch of fuel to get out that far....I once had a 88hp Johnson and for it to go 70 miles I would have needed to tow a fuel barge.... heck I would have loved a ride home too..... sure hope they didn't get that ride for free.... but they probably did...

Joel
SEA3PO
 
Hey Bob...(Thataway) ... Your a better person than I am.... I guess I am just getting cranky after all the darn 911 calls I respond to from "Idiots" that want a free ride to the hospital.....one woman early this week told me that if she went by her own car she would have to wait hours in the lobby to be seen, but if she came in by ambulance she got service quickly.... I felt like giving her service..... course she was welfare ...
and damm proud of it.... Grrrrrrrr !!!!

Think I might have made contact with SeaTow and given GPS location...then wished all a nice wait...and ...poof...gone..
(at least I would have liked to have done that)

Joel
SEA3PO
 
The Golden Bear is berthed about 2 miles from my house. Man she's a beaut!! From what I heard the Bear headed into dry dock after the rescue and they left the fishing boat on their deck and said for the fisherman to come back to retrieve their boat when the Bear set sails again in a few weeks. So I guess they gave the fishermen a few days to think about their dumb decision(s). :lol: Its amazing what tuna fever will make people do!!
 
Many many years ago (before cell phones were widely used) I was fishing just outside the Gate (launched from Berkeley) and I had engine (battery)problems and I could not start the motor by rope. I was pretty close to the surf line and I used the VHF to call the Coast Gaurd. With a sea anchor and the regular anchor we managed to stay out of the surf for several hours until the CG arrived.

They came out and towed us to just inside the Golden Gate, where they tied us off to a vacant military pier in Marin Co. (Fort Baker?) At that point they expressed that they had fulfilled their obligation to get us to safe harbor and they left. I remember it was a several mile walk to Sausalito with not a pay phone I found along the way. Several hours later we were able to get it started and recovered. I was a little perturbed that the CG couldn't have taken us just a few miles further where lots of boat resources and a ramp were available.

But it taught me a very good lesson and I never went out there again without a back up battery and a small kicker. I suppose that's what the CG probably had in their mind.

I also suspect the rules are still the same today. Coast Gaurd is there to save lives, not cover stupid fisherman misjudgements.

The article did not say what the final outcome of these guys boat was but I'll bet the Golden Bear didn't just sit around waiting for these guys to go get their trailer so that they could sling load it for them!

Chris
 
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