Shrimp boat caught in storm

Clip on a shrimp boat caught in the recent Louisiana “wake low”.

https://www.katc.com/news/covering-...y-amid-harsh-conditions-in-the-gulf-of-mexico

Sounds like he will be investing in some stronger windows soon.

Here are USCG clips of the capsized lift boat in the same storm.

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDHSCG/bulletins/2ccf3a6

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDHSCG/bulletins/2ccc033

Anyone not familiar with a lift boat, these are basically barges with 3 or 4 long spuds that when traveling are lifted up which creates a high COG. They are not designed to travel in this kind of weather which came up suddenly. Please pray for those still missing.
Here's an article from our local paper:
https://www.nola.com/news/business/article_4bd3626c-9d28-11eb-b885-c7e0bdfe5228.html

Almost surprised they didn't spud down. I didn't think 9 foot waves are a big deal for that size lift boats unless the winds were actually forecast to be that strong (which would be rare for a cold front).


Not much to go on so far...the survivors may shed more light.


Also wonder about the shrimper's estimation of 200mph winds. Could have been accurate...just curious.

Here is a description of the weather phenomenon(a new one to me) a wake low:

https://www.wwltv.com/mobile/articl...orms/289-0e7fdd80-8759-494f-90af-a6f3a2a52afe

Easy for me to say I know, but I kept thinking, he needs to calm down. You freak out your crew or passengers when you show your anxiety or panic like that. (Talking about the OP's shrimp boat video.)

kthoennes said:

Easy for me to say I know, but I kept thinking, he needs to calm down. You freak out your crew or passengers when you show your anxiety or panic like that. (Talking about the OP's shrimp boat video.)

Click to expand...

It is unlikely that he had experience with 200 MPH winds to judge this event by, but I can surely sympathize with him in his hour of peril.

rgano said:

It is unlikely that he had experience with 200 MPH winds to judge this event by, but I can surely sympathize with him in his hour of peril.

Click to expand...

What I was thinking....thinking of similar situations but really glad I wasn't there.

I always take interest in these type of accounts to see what I can learn. Seems like the fishing boat was doing fine with the sea state however the wind seemed to be the problem. I was watching the cord from the window shade and it seemed like the boat was heeled over at times between 15-20 degrees. It sounded like the boat may have been dragging the starboard outrigger which restricted the boats ability to turn to port in combination with the wind. The captain states 200mph wind and waterspout. Whether he was relying on data to make those statements or not the waterspout statement struck me most. I take it as he was seeing something extreme and was stating what he logically thought could be happening. Waterspout or not I would not want to be anywhere near something that was waterspout like in behavior. As for the boat that flipped the survivors will have the story but it seems like the conditions must have changed quick enough that they weren't able to keep themselves safe. That barge seems like it would be hard to flip with the poles down. The wind speeds in this event are spooky and I bet it was not in the forecast other than "thunder showers".

So I am reminded to never underestimate mother nature's ability to dish it out quickly. When more reporting on this comes in I bet we hear conditions changed over the course of minutes and not hours.