You have to be carefull on the water.

S

starcrafttom

Active member
Heres a news report from the big C. you have to be carefull when pulling pots. This was on the river on a out going tide but it can happen on the salt with swift tides.

Two dead after pleasure boat capsizes
Posted by Richard Read, The Oregonian February 23, 2008 13:09PM
Categories: Breaking News
Two men from the Salem-Newberg area died and a third man was missing near the Columbia River's mouth Saturday morning after their pleasure boat capsized, U.S. Coast Guard officials said.

The men, whose names were not released pending notification of family, were crabbing less than a mile inside the Columbia River, said Bob Coster, Coast Guard civilian search and rescue controller in Astoria. The men were aboard a 16-foot aluminum vessel.

"Apparently they fouled their lower unit on a crab-pot line, and that capsized them," Coster said.

The Coast Guard recovered two bodies, one of which washed up on shore in the Clatsop Spit near Hammond. A Coast Guard crew reported finding a second body while righting the boat, according to The Associated Press. Neither man was wearing a life jacket, Coster said.

Weather conditions were "absolutely beautiful" when the Coast Guard got the call at 10:37 a.m. concerning the accident, Coster said. Wind was 6 mph out of the east, and the water temperature was 44 degrees.
 
Yep - seems like we see one of these (or two) per year on the Columbia. Either a trap fouls the lower unit or people get the anchor line tangled. In a heavy current (and especially with a low freeboard boat), it's easy to get the stern pulled under. Doesn't take long and the boat's swamped. Most people don't realize what's happening and hence don't react quick enough to get cut loose before it's too late. Sad but unless more people hear about this kind of thing and get way more careful (wear those PFDs!), we will see more of these deaths in the coming years.
 
Subsequent reports indicated none of them was wearing a PFD. Very sad, because where they capsized, it is a short way to shore. 44 F is pretty cold to swim far.

We are used to this, or maybe hardened to these ocurrences, down here.

A deal like that can happen in a flash, in heavy current, like they had.

I was out on the river, launching at the East End in Astoria, later that day. It was truly a bluebird day, but with an insistent east wind.
 
the news reports I saw said it was a 14 ft. boat and one of the three men was wearing a pfd. They haven't found the third body yet. The search was called off after the first 6 hours. So, the boat being overloaded is also a possibility. The other 2 things to mention are: use the weights to keep your crab lines down deep enough to keep from fouling boats and keep a razor knife or razor sharp knife within easy reach at all times on the Columbia. You may just have seconds to act.

The three victims were a local pastor and two grown sons. He had eight other children, many grandchildren. Close family.

C.W.
 
I for one am not invincable, although, when I was about 18 I probably thought I was. Now I know, and still sometimes I wonder. :wink:
It's a lesson we should not need to learn the hard way. I don't want to be reading about any of my friends here in that sort of news.
Harvey
SleepyC
 
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