capsized boat

At least he had a clean bottom on the vessel....

Why was the vessel disabled, and not under power? I understand the guy stole it and so may not have known how to run it, but he obviously motored it out there so he knew something.

I too am amazed at the skill and dedication of the coast guard crews, and swimmer.

bowball said:

Why was the vessel disabled, and not under power? I understand the guy stole it and so may not have known how to run it, but he obviously motored it out there so he knew something.

I too am amazed at the skill and dedication of the coast guard crews, and swimmer.

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Considering the sea state, my bet would be clogged fuel filters and not enough knowledge (or filters available on board) to get the engines running again.

rslifkin said:

Considering the sea state, my bet would be clogged fuel filters and not enough knowledge (or filters available on board) to get the engines running again.

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Quite possible, so many other options in this situation too given we don't know how much experience he has around boats... ran out of fuel in a day tank, caught something in the prop (I saw at least fenders and power cable not stowed, but unstowed docklines could stop you dead), was in an altered mental state, didn't know where he was or where he was going (reports indicate no location was sent with the mayday), or just got scared and paniced....


Likely some combination.

I didn't see an AIS track of the vessel at first glance, but only looked briefly.

On the news last night the video showed the subject boat blocked by one boat on either end. They had him stopped and he was on swim grid giving up when the boat was rolled over. Are we not getting the same news?

SteveK said:

On the news last night the video showed the subject boat blocked by one boat on either end. They had him stopped and he was on swim grid giving up when the boat was rolled over. Are we not getting the same news?

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The USCG release was clear that conditions were too bad for assistance from one of their 3+ on scene vessels, I'd guess what you are seeing is more the USCG vessels avoiding being beam on to the seas while trying to stay close in case he goes in the water.

This was not them trying to stop a suspect and stolen vessel, they had no idea the boat was stolen until after the rescue was complete.

MarineTraffic AIS playback

I captured this AIS playback of USCG tracks courtesy of MarineTraffic.com:

I don't know exactly where the rescue happened but I'd guess around the one minute mark.

They marine traffic playback sure looks like they were herding the stolen vessel which did not appear to have AIS on.

SteveK said:

They marine traffic playback sure looks like they were herding the stolen vessel which did not appear to have AIS on.

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It's hard to say, as they were out on a training mission when this happened. So their actions prior to the rescue aren't necessarily 100% related to the rescue.

I recently read a good book about the sinking of the replica BOUNTY during Superstorm Sandy some years back.
The CG rescue swimmers are in the thick of it. Very good read.

Don't you PNW folks lock up your boats?

78puget-trawler said:

I recently read a good book about the sinking of the replica BOUNTY during Superstorm Sandy some years back.
The CG rescue swimmers are in the thick of it. Very good read.

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Ya gonna give us a hint?

AlaskaProf said:

Ya gonna give us a hint?

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Rescue of the Bounty,

Michael J. Tougias and Douglas A. Campbell

Title seems odd as the Bounty was not rescued.

There was also a documentary on the Bounty sinking but I don’t recall the name. But it was on The Weather Channel.

Hi,

what thoughts do you have if they had lowered the driving anchor "drogue" into the sea, which would have turned the bow to the incoming wave?

NBs

rgano said:

Don't you PNW folks lock up your boats?

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I actually know a lot of people that don’t lock their boats. Keys left in ignition switches too.
Really though, boats as a rule seem pretty easy to break into. My brother had his hatteras 52 stolen in tacoma several years back. It was locked at the time. Pretty ballsy thing to do, not many big sport fishers in Puget sound with a full tower so easy to spot.

Bmarler said:

I actually know a lot of people that don’t lock their boats. Keys left in ignition switches too.
Really though, boats as a rule seem pretty easy to break into. My brother had his hatteras 52 stolen in tacoma several years back. It was locked at the time. Pretty ballsy thing to do, not many big sport fishers in Puget sound with a full tower so easy to spot.

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I agree, I see tons of boats with the keys in the ignitions. Our keys are only there underway and at anchor. Otherwise they're stowed in the tool cabinet which has a hook to hang the keys on.

But as mentioned, boats aren't usually hard to break into. I think it would take someone longer to find the engine keys on our boat than it would to get a door open.

Plus, with a little bit of electrical knowledge, someone could easily get a boat (especially with an outside helm) started without the keys.

So, what happened to the stolen rolled boat? Did it get towed back into harbor?

North Baltic sea said:

Hi,

what thoughts do you have if they had lowered the driving anchor "drogue" into the sea, which would have turned the bow to the incoming wave?

NBs

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Good question - and a way to turn an unfortunate circumstance into a learning experience.

Given the outcome, dropping anchor as a drogue would not have made it worse and very likely would have made it better....I think. The rescue swimmer, a credible source albeit in an incredible situation from a poor vantage point, estimated the wave at 35-feet. Had the boat been bow-to the wave without power, would it have pitch-poled? The swimer and victim would likely have faired much worse - but mostly because incredibly bad timing to be attempting rescue at the very moment an uber-wave hits.

First, when a boat is adrift, it wants to go roughly beam-to prevailing winds. I know, common sense says the bow would point into the wind like a weather vane atop a barn. I forget the exact reasoning behind hydro-dynamic and aero-dynamic tensioning, but suffice to say, the boat wants to go beam-to. It's why boats 'sail' back and forth at anchor - it goes one direction trying to get beam-to until the anchor rode tension takes over and reverses. Rinse/Repeat. I used to demonstrate this with when I used my boat as a training platform for close quarter maneuvers.

As you could see from the USCG video, being beam-to is a really bad thing. Personally, being a single engine boat owner with ambitious cruising plans, I worry about being adrift for two reasons: first, heavy rolling that would complicate repairs. Second, lee-shore. As part of my prep, I just purchased a Burke SeaBrake. It's not a true storm anchor or even a full drogue. But being fairly compact and under $300 for my boat, seemed like a worthwhile bit of insurance. I have 200-feet of 5/8" double braid and 30-feet of 5/16" chain for the rode for it, which is also my 3rd rode aboard. While I would certainly depoly it in storm condtions, I doubt it would last long due to chafe. But who knows - couldn't hurt.

Good question and topic.

Peter

Interestingly, as bad as being beam-to in large seas is, that boat appeared to be riding quite well considering the sea state, at least until that breaker came through and smacked it.

Would a drogue or sea anchor have helped. It's hard to say but I'll take a shot at thinking it through. I've never used one so this is a thought experiment not real experience

A sea anchor or drogue probably would have helped at sea where the main force encountered is the wind usually coming from the same direction as the seas.

But when wind and sea direction are different the situation is entirely different. This is possible on bars like the Columbia Rvier bar where the sea direction can be changed by the channel and land masses. If you've flown over a place like that on a windy day you can see the different directions the waves take as they move ashore and come up the channel. The wind is also funneled by the land mass, in this case the high bluffs of North Head and Cape Disappointment, changing direction. In other words there is no guarantee the seas and winds will be from the same direction.

There is another consideration as well. The tidal currents. Simply stated the sea anchor or drogue will be 'pulled' by the currents. The force on the boat's underwater shape will be the same. In the absence of winds that would lead you to think the the boat + sea anchor / drogue would move together with the tidal current. But let's not jump to that conclusion yet. It's not at all unusual in narrow channels especially river bars with powerful currents for currents at the surface to be moving in different velocities and in different directions than the currents below. Think about what can happen with a rising tide and strong river outflow. Is the sea anchor / drogue on the surface or below?

Now bring the wind back into the equation. As I've said, I've not used a sea anchor or drogue. But I have had to anchor to work in situations where the wind + waves were in opposite direction to the currents. Unless one or the other is much more powerful then the boat behaves just as mvweebles says, it lays beam to the seas. Doesn't matter where the anchor attachment point is.

So, to my thinking, the answer is who knows? It could improve the situation or make it much worse very quickly. If a good mariner with the experience had the gear aboard and the skill to use it then it may have been worth a try. But be ready to trip or abandon the sea anchor / drogue in an instant.

I doubt any here on TF would have attempted to cross that bar under those conditions. So, for us, an interesting mental exercise. The knucklehead who got caught out there? That's another story.

rgano said:

Don't you PNW folks lock up your boats?

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I do lock my boat to discourage casual theft of its contents, but I don’t worry about leaving my key in the ignition because (I’ve always wondered) what are you going to do with a stolen trawler in the PNW? Sell it? To whom? Joy ride at eight knots? Chop it for parts? Where and how?

Which brings me to what this nutter was trying to accomplish. Get back to Canada without hitting a border crossing? Gunkhole his way down to Mexico in the middle of winter? Any news or theories?

Sababa said:

Which brings me to what this nutter was trying to accomplish. Get back to Canada without hitting a border crossing? Gunkhole his way down to Mexico in the middle of winter? Any news or theories?

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He is a whack job that left a dead fish on the porch of a movie house from 40 years ago... he is crazy and there is probably no sane answer to the question. The bummer is a perfectly good boat took a beating because of his actions. And, this is the biggest issue.. he put the rescue services at risk and luckily through training no one was seriously hurt. Still cost's plenty to execute a operation like this.
I sometimes wonder how the USCG rescue swimmers fit their big balls into the wetsuit!. I knew a rescue swimmer based out of Port Angeles, on a training mission they would fly out to the middle of the Straits in the middle of the night, drop the swimmer and fly back to base to simulate a refuel then go back and pick up the swimmer.

No than you very much!


HOLLYWOOD

Maybe he is at one of the homeless encampments in Portland planning his next nautical adventure.

One time I must

rslifkin said:

I agree, I see tons of boats with the keys in the

Plus, with a little bit of electrical knowledge, someone could easily get a boat (especially with an outside helm) started without the keys.

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let one boat in one insecure place twin Perkins 4236, very easy to start without any keys....no choice I remove the ...starter

rslifkin said:

Plus, with a little bit of electrical knowledge, someone could easily get a boat (especially with an outside helm) started without the keys.

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Agree. That's why I always rig a discreet, unlabeled battery switch in the circuit for the starting batts. A knowledgeable boater with enough time would eventually figure it out, but the casual / impulsive / delusional boat thief would probably get impatient and look elsewhere for lower-hanging fruit.

For those of us with electronic engine controls, e.g. MMCs, another discreet anti-theft device is the breaker for the 12v. circuit powering the shifters and throttles.

Blissboat said:

Agree. That's why I always rig a discreet, unlabeled battery switch in the circuit for the starting batts. A knowledgeable boater with enough time would eventually figure it out, but the casual / impulsive / delusional boat thief would probably get impatient and look elsewhere for lower-hanging fruit.

For those of us with electronic engine controls, e.g. MMCs, another discreet anti-theft device is the breaker for the 12v. circuit powering the shifters and throttles.

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Good point. If I were somewhere that I was really worried I could trip the (unlabeled and not in the main DC panel) ignition breakers for the engines. That would definitely slow someone down a good bit unless they were good at troubleshooting.

Imagine turning the ignition key and instead of engine start a loud ear splitting siren sounds off. Better than a hidden switch that is silent. I leave the keys in the ignition.

There is a loud lube oil alarm on mine that goes off when key is turned. I do lock my boat and the key is not in.
In watching the vid it appears he may have not been rolled if he was able to get the bow to the swell, maybe...

From talking with folks there seems to be two schools of thought.
One school is to not use extensive locking and security measures. With battery powered tools a thief or thieves will get in. In the process destroy much of the boat to achieve entry. In the process of disabling security measures and entry you’re left with a really big bill. A real plus for metal boats is entry is usually more difficult. They usually don’t want the boat just the valuables, electronics and other things they can fence.
The other school thinks like the people running from the bear. If entry is more difficult than the next guy and alarms go off they won’t be chosen.
In the cruising community who are usually at anchor not in slips or on moorings many leave the key in and access to a helm. Their feeling is when they aren’t on the boat if it drags or starts to sink they want fellow cruisers to be able to save the boat.
Like with guns different folks different boats. Our view has been guns at home but not on the boat. We were international so guns were too much trouble. This may change. Haven’t thought it through. Locking up and to degree depending upon setting.