Did I ever tell ya about the time.....

[Moonstruck]

A southern bedtime story starts like this.

"Now, baby, you ain't gonna believe this $hit".

 

[OFB]

Oh ya the teen years.

Ok another story. I have shared this before but I still get a laugh when I think back at it.

Be 1975? April weekday cool out but the sun was bright in the blue sky.

Get to launch ramp and pack the tinny from the car top down the ramp to the water. Load the 9.9 on the back along with fishing gear and the 12 pack of brew. Set for the day.

The plan was to fish on the other side of Chatam / DiscoveryIslands off Oak Bay greater Victoria area.

Off we go on calm water cruising along at a blistering pace of about 10 / 12 or so miles an hour. But it was cold being early in the morn in April. I had a down filled winter coat on hood up and all. I be facing my bud sitting on the front seat looking backwards trying to keep some warmth in. We be about 1/2 hour to 45 min out just clearing the islands.

BANG! This black thing runs down the side of the boat and the little tinny starts to roll. I grab on to the gunnel as she goes over. I remember trying to grab on to the keel as she turned turtle. I watch my bud get sucked out the back and into the water. I look up to see the little prop spinning away till it went under.

Man it got quiet real quiet. My bud comes up for air all tangled in rope. So over I go, help him out. But that down filled coat and them boots I got on are starting to make the swimming deal a bit difficult. The boat has about 6 inches of the bow out of the water that’s it. So bud, grabs on to it. Its like trying to hang on to a dead head. But it keeps him kinda afloat. I got to get my boots off. ICE CREAM HEAD ACHE. But I manage to shed the boots. The swimming deal is hard, just getting air is tough with this dam winter coat on.

Well we hit a half sunk mooring can that had freed its self from some spot. Bud missed it running strait with me blocking his line of view.

So I grab on to the mooring can since it looked real good at this point. I watch all the stuff like PFDs, fuel tank, oars, BEER, simply float away or sink. Buddy lets go of the tinny and joins me at the can. There we are holing on to a half sunk mooring can watching the nose of the tinny just float away with all the other stuff.

I look around and we be miles off OakBay. We also be miles from the islands. Ya and the tide is taking us out. This isn’t good and there be no way I am going to make it swimming for either. I look at bud a say. I wont make that swim, he looks at me and says he can not make it either.

I say well I am going to scream for help. He says sounds good to him. Man I screamed as hard as I could for as long as I could.

Some guy cutting his grass in OakBay had just turned off his lawn mower and heard the faint call for help. So he called it in. Some nice lady walking her dog heard my yelps from Ten Mile Point and called it in. No one could see us but they could hear the faint calls for help. Not sure how long we had been in the water but the search guys had been at it for almost an hour.

Then some guys from the Victoria yacht club in a rib pulled our sorry Asses from the water. As I lay on the bottom of the boat, unable to see, I can barely hear, I am shaking, I cant feel anything.

Then

Who was screaming for help?

Me !

He says man do you have a good set of lungs.

They transport us too shore and we get to meet the ambulance, Sannich, Oak Bay Fire rescue, along with members from the CCG and Oak bay Police along with Sannich police.

While standing in the parking lot of Victoria yacht club. Tryin to splain what happened. Club members that had gone out in search started to return. They be arriving with all the stuff that floated away. Including the tinny with 9.9 outboard attached. Everything was returned but one oar. The tinny however had been split open down the side.

Buddies pop was not happy and it took a few months working evenings for him to replace the boat and fix the power etc.

Fun Times.

 

[FlyWright]

Great story, OFB! You're lucky to still be here.

 

[GFC]

OFB your story scared the crap outa me as I read it. Glad you made it!

 

[nmuir]

OFB.
Lived in Oak Bay around the same time and can relate. Lucky you pulled that one off - hypothemic water and a good rip tide! Yikes.
Gotta like being a teenager in a tinny with a 9.9 - life was complete! A few stories of running them around Shawnigan Lake but we will save that for another day.

 

[AusCan]

Whew! - lucky there OFB, amazing how load you can yell when you need to.

My closest call was in an old 1960's plywood runaboat, a locally built Australian boat with an 80hp Johnson outboard. I set off with my brother-in-law and a friend from the boat ramp early, planning to make it to the my secret spot at mouth of the Port River before high tide, when the snapper are always biting. It was still dark, clear with no wind, and the moon gave plenty of light. We cruised down the undeveloped mangrove lined North Arm, the Johnson purring nicely and getting the boat up on plane easily. Life was good!
I handed over the helm to Terry, my brother-in-law and pulled out my newly acquired handheld GPS to check the distance to the secret fishing spot. Turning onto the main shipping channel, the lights of the industrial complexes reflected beautifully on the mirror-like water. I was facing aft showing my buddy the GPS, and noticed we were cruising at about 20 knots. I was just thinking - This is a bit fast considering it is still dark; Maybe I should tell Terry to slow d....... WHAM!
We stopped dead in the water, and the 3 of us were hurled into the bulkhead with a wave of water flooding the cockpit. I picked myself up, trying to work out what happened. Surprisingly the boat was in one piece and we were not sinking. Everyone was still alive, although bruised and battered. I looked to see what we hit but there was no other boat in sight, no channel markers nearby, nothing floating in the water. What the #### did we hit? Terry had the air knocked out of him and was having trouble talking. "Big wave; A wall of water" he finally croaks. But how? We were still miles from the river mouth; No other boat to cause a wake. It doen't make sense.

After surveying the damage (cuts and bruises, fuel tank ripped out of hold down, compass destroyed by flying bodies, tackle box contents spread everywhere, but no apparent hull damage) we cleaned up, we continued on our way. It was getting light now and we had missed the turn of tide.
We looked at the big new complex on the riverside where they were building the Navy's new submarines. Then I realized what must have happened. I heard that they were beginning sea trials on these 250+ foot monster Collins class submarines. At the time they were the largest non-nuclear submarines in the world. They obviously throw out a big wake when they dive.
I still wonder if they saw us coming and had to take evasive action. Luckily I don't think they were armed yet.