Your boat can sink too

Tell us about your own or others' fishing, boating, 4X4 or camping trip gone wrong. With pictures.
Post Reply
User avatar
Matt Flynn
Site Administrator
Site Administrator
Posts: 16186
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 9:30 am
Location: Somewhat Southerly
Contact:

Your boat can sink too

Post by Matt Flynn »

Just a reminder on cracked hulls and other things that can cause a boat to sink ...

https://www.facebook.com/AustralianMari ... 017090610/

This incident off the NT's Dundee in September reminded me of a similar event that happened to a mate wide of Dundee years ago, his hull cracked and the boat was only saved because they were running with another boat, and it was only bailing constantly with a bucket while under tow that got the boat back to the ramp.

Then there was a dinghy that caught fire off Dundee years ago, leaving two fellas in the water for quite a long time, and the story on here about Dick Pasfield and his son, they had a hull crack off the remote Kimberley coast, they fixed it with melted lead sinkers and made it home :D

The boat from the above AMSA-linked incident looked like a relatively new hull and in good nick. I don't know what caused the sinking but it doesn't matter - electrolysis, cracks, poor transducer mounts or other mods, forgotten bungs, a submerged log or shipping container, Moby Dick or even just a sudden storm can do the job.

In the NT, tying up in a river during big tides can lead to boats getting hung on the bank or tipping sideways and sinking. Big storms can also fill dinghies with a lot of water - an auto bilge pump is a good investment.

If you put flotation under a timber deck be sure the deck is screwed down well or it might just pop off if the boat sinks.

Point of post - regularly check boat, have safety gear in good order, don't have life jackets in some hard-to-reach spot, and don't assume a newish boat won't sink.

Pretty amazing that the boat was actually retrieved after the sinking, what a job that would have been.

And no one was hurt, but a story to tell for the rest of their days 8)


Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to “Bad Trips”