Jupiter Inlet Boat Sinking

Goes to show perspective. Both owners of the assistance towing company I work love the old Shamrocks. I am still running one after 15 years, but only part time now.

Have a fleet of 4 of them covering one of the companies largest franchises. One guy still has a shell of one on his lot, just in case.

My comment is always ...the shamrock is like a swiss army knife, not great at anything, but good at anything.

I will say the original owner did put 454s and oversized 4 bladed props on them. Slowed them down a bit, but man they could dig a boat out and pull like crazy..

operator error ?

On Facebook they said there was already a ton of water in her bilge and it moved up to the bow in that one wave.

Gmarr said:

On Facebook they said there was already a ton of water in her bilge and it moved up to the bow in that one wave.

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Yup and hello free surface effect. The bow did dig in before going under.

Isn't there something about pumping the bilges before entering a harbor?

Gmarr said:

On Facebook they said there was already a ton of water in her bilge and it moved up to the bow in that one wave.

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Does it say anything about the cause of a ton of water in her bilge?

There has been quite a bit of un-fun at the Sebastian Inlet also.

Five people rescued after two boats overturn in the Sebastian Inlet

A scenario where something like a Seabrake might have been useful, if deployed early enough:

https://www.burkemarine.com.au/pages/seabrake

Benthic2 said:

I guess the trick is to not find yourself in that position..... I'm thinking if he slowed down...the wave behind him would lift his stern further....if she sped up, he'd drive the bow into the wave....if you turn, you could get rolled..... I think his fate was sealed before the video even started

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Ben,
“Not finding yourself in that position”
Indeed one needs to climb up on the next wave far enough so the wave aft dosn’t threaten your boat attitude to the extent that you get pooped or (in this case) get your stern high up so your bow goes below the surface. One needs to look aft more than fwd. But most are wide eyed looking fwd so the wave comming up aft can have it’s way with you and your boat.

Big waves move faster than small waves. Gots to keep very aware of what is behind you. A big one can sneak up on you while you have the bow on a smaller one.

Greetings,
Mr. MM. Interesting unit that seabrake BUT I think IF this vessel was carrying that much water/load, such a device would keep the stern lower causing a poop condition particularly IF it was water in the bilge and the free surface effect, previously mentioned, took effect.

The Sebastian one isn't even in bad conditions. Just shows how even skilled boaters can make one small mistake and find themselves in that situation. Also, shows the risk of towing.

Kudos to FWC and others involved in the rescue.

MurrayM said:

A scenario where something like a Seabrake might have been useful, if deployed early enough:

https://www.burkemarine.com.au/pages/seabrake

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Hmmmm, no prices posted in the URL.

menzies said:

I believe it was a Shamrock.

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Reported as a 26 stapleton, 9ft beam. But i’ve never heard of them.

diver dave said:

Reported as a 26 stapleton, 9ft beam. But i’ve never heard of them.

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Found a pic of the bow of one of those online...

diver dave said:

Reported as a 26 stapleton, 9ft beam. But i’ve never heard of them.

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Yea, I have basically the Shamrock 22 in that picture and that didn’t look like my boat to me.

The Shamrock does some odd things at times, but she has tremendous bow rise if you push the throttle a little, and that’s a tall bow. Good analogy with the Swiss Army knife, too.

Soon after getting my captains license in 1973 I ran a 55' steel crew boat with a pair of Detroit Diesel 12V 71 engines in and out of that same inlet for two summers. I was taking crew to a dredge off the beach for beach re-nourishment, four trips a day, so 8 trips through Jupiter Inlet each day.
The Atlantic Coast pilot then stated that it was not a navigable inlet and there was a big sign post on the ICW warning not to use the inlet. I knew where the shoals were and where the waves would build, but if there was any kind of a big swell I would go south to the Lake Worth (Palm Beach) Inlet. That added a lot of time to the trip but I always has passengers and never wanted to take a chance. The dredge guys would complain about the extra time but none ever had to swim to the beach.

That Stapelton bow does not have any reserve buoyancy, not enough volume. By the time that wide flare touches the water, it is already too late.
The bow volume may have been a factor too.

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr. MM. Interesting unit that seabrake BUT I think IF this vessel was carrying that much water/load, such a device would keep the stern lower causing a poop condition particularly IF it was water in the bilge and the free surface effect, previously mentioned, took effect.

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Hi RT,

My thinking was that if he'd used something like a Seabrake earlier, once things started getting gnarly, he might not have shipped so much water before entering the area where he sank. The device appears to allow controlled forward progress downwind in following seas without broaching, and if set up properly, I don't think it would hold the stern too low either.

I see the seabrake very useful in open water seas or large long period swells breaking in an inlet.

The short steep chop like in the video and what I am used to in eastern US breaking inlets under most conditions, I would not use any sort of drogue. I might/would on a boat I was towing though.

Unless I missed something, in the video, the wave crest separation wasnt much longer than the boat length.

I took the video...

Just letting you know that I took the video...

Saying I've been busy since the video got Out There is an understatement
I have no idea when I can make it back here to answer any questions so I'll tell you some things now...

There's a LOT of conjecture and misinformation all over the place...
No I do not go there to Fly just when it's rough...
I actually went there that day an hour before High Tide wanting to get video of Awesome Blue Water (plus boats like attached pictures) but the water wasn't clear/blue so yes I did stay until the tide was running out (with 20+mph wind coming in from east)...

Drone Cameras don't record sound so only the people close by (like me) could hear the engine...
I heard him working the throttle trying his best not to let this happen = he was Off-Throttle before he got pushed into the wave.
The waves were very Fluid (no pun intended) = Wave Frequency (distance) vs Boat Length and Shape were "constantly changing"...
After watching the Full Size HD video Several Times (wave frequency and morphing) IMO Lady Luck wasn't with him at that exact moment...
The man has been doing this for over 30 years so any statements that he had no idea what he was doing are unfounded...

Everything is much sharper and larger on the Full Size HD video which I'll be posting on my YouTube ASAP, but just like not knowing when I can come back here to reply, I can't say when the video will be edited and up
I will do my best to share it here but if you want to be notified when it's up you should go to my YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCZ5nslxtPKxwoU1aPnuijg and Subscribe (click on little bell at upper right after subscribing to get noitified)...

DroneGuy...can you confirm what kind of boat it was ?

Thanks for the update.

Do you know if they have recovered the boat?

I guess I need to learn to just accept stuff. This whole thing still seems odd to me but I have nothing factual to base that on except it plowed, rolled, sank. Am I the only one who's skeptical? DroneGuy comes to his defense? Knows all about the owner's 30 year history? Guy is alone, boat looks heavy in the water...just out for a cruise? Huh?
Like I said I just need to accept it I guess.

But I see stories of boats that get swamped, often off the FL coasts, and they don't go down like a stone. There is some air in the hull under the floor and they float around, bow sticking up, etc. for a good while. Even center consoles.

I have a 1976 Aquasport center console, built in Hialeah. That's 41 years ago. It had block foam around the perimeter under the gunnels. I don't know if that would save it but Aquasport thought it would help.

It also has the original transom, which drops down pretty low...first at the gunnels, then lower again at the middle. You might think that was a bad design, and when people rebuild these boats they usually raise the transoms flush with the gunnels all the way across and add a motor bracket such as an Armstrong.
But the low transom had a purpose : theoretically water can't get any deeper than the transom height. And up forward of the console the floor is raised the same height. So there's really not much open volume below that level. Self-bailing floor and with the exception of small openings up high under the gunnels, not much way for water to get below the floor.
I hope it never fills with water but my guess is it would float for a while if I couldn't gun the engine and dump 80% of it out the back.
Rolling over is another story...don't know what would happen. Would it level out? Dunno.
I've run big inlets in the boat with confused seas. It's bow is very buoyant. Not saying I couldn't bury it and I'm super careful but I've never felt I was close.
I did take a breaking wave along the beachfront once with 4 of us on board. Probably 4" of water on the floor until it drained. But really didn't feel like the boat was compromised. Back on the trailer, about 6 ounces of water in the hull.
As you can tell...I like my old Aquasport...

Anyway, sorry I'm questioning this. Nothing personal.

I believe its a requirement of boats that are 20' or less to float level with the gunnels even if swamped, but this requirement doesn't exist for larger boats.

Benthic2, menzies, CDreamer

Was having morning coffee before going to help a friend with his drone so figured I could come here real quick...

Benthic2: No I don't know what the boat was but I can find out (see below)...
menzies: Don't know that either either...see below...
CDreamer: I won't take anything personal because you don't know me and your obviously speculating/doubting about stuff you have no facts (or contacts) about (don't take that personal)...

I was there when it happened and I've been in contact with the Family...
They seem to be Very Nice People (they found/contacted me)...
I didn't talk details with them, other than we're ALL glad that he's OK...
That's all I'll say/post about them because I do and will continue to respect their privacy (try to imagine how You would feel if this happened to You)...

My hands were shaking when it happened but I continued to fly as smoothly as I could, and I STILL get goose-bumps and thumping-heart EVERY time I watch the video...

I don't care if he's been doing it 60 years, he still didn't know what he was doing as he ended upside down. Drone guy overlooks the part about how his boat was sitting and details like that plus the statements regarding water in his bilge. So basically some key elements to the story. I'd understand him not having that information, but he sure had the details of doing it over 30 years. Was very defensive about himself against accusations I wasn't aware were being made.

I don't believe in Lady Luck causing this accident. Perhaps the boater was the victim of a combination of issues, but the conditions were as they were, his boat was as it was and his experience was as it was. There wasn't a whirlpool which showed up to sweep his boat away. He either had some unforeseen issue with his boat or made or was incorrect in his estimation of the situation. It doesn't mean I don't feel bad for him. It's unfortunate.

Accidents don't happen because of luck. They happen because of a combination of conditions and circumstances. There was a cause or a combination of causes of this accident and Lady Luck wasn't one of them. I would think the boater himself would have a description of how it happened and what he felt caused it. It could be all the elements combining in the worst possible of combinations.

I guess I'm just confused because Drone Guy didn't come here to inform us of anything, just to defend himself and the boater (without disclosing his relationship or source of knowledge of the boater) and direct us to his youtube where eventually his video may be found.

One specific too. He states the operator was off throttle when the wave pushed him. Well, off throttle probably wasn't a good choice in retrospect. I would think right now, the boater is both thankful to be alive and also himself thinking of what he might have done differently.

Benthic2 said:

I believe its a requirement of boats that are 20' or less to float level with the gunnels even if swamped, but this requirement doesn't exist for larger boats.

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Dont believe the floatation regulation too much, I have salvaged quite a few i thought should have been floating but still were sitting on the botton.

Cant say I checked all to see if the engine was larger than permitted, but many were OK on horsepower. Maybe too heavy with the after market add ons such as second batteries, swim steps, etc....

I don’t think it’s very complicated.

A wave snuck up behind him, pushed his stern up high and of course that pushed his bow down into the next wave .. because it was there. He should have been further fwd between the wave crests. Takes throttle control and concentration but that’s the drill.

Not always that simple when crest to crest is barely longer than the boat length.

Plus there are standing waves in some inlets and rollers from swell action that make the wave period vary.

If the guy has been running that inlet forever, he should have expected the unexpected better than most, but it could have been a one in a million combo for him and his boat.

Not always easy peazy, but not always that bad either....

Textbook manuevering is good right up until the textbook doesnt cover the situation you are in. Then only experience and quick reflexes might save you.

I don’t have he experience that move of you do, but in looking at that video numerous times, it sure seems as if the boat was riding too low and my impression is that the stern was lifted, there was a bit of delay in how much the bow dropped. This would be consistent with the possibility of there being a lot of water in the boat.

The owner may have lots of experience with that inlet and with that boat. But if this was the first time he attempted the crossing laden with a bunch of water in the bilge, it would behave very differently than he was used to.

I appreciate droneguy giving us what additional information he was able.

Glad the owner is OK, it could have gone much worse for him.