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bear down
05-27-2003, 08:20 AM
I left my camera in Havasu from the Last trip when this occurred. Thought you guys would like to see the pick of the cat that had sank. http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/328Dsc00392-med.jpg

THOR
05-27-2003, 08:24 AM
How did that happen? It looks a little choppy out there.

ACCEPTENCE
05-27-2003, 08:31 AM
Hey there bear down,
Is it on the lake or river??? Any idea why it went down???
Did they get it out without any further damage???

JetBoatRich
05-27-2003, 08:36 AM
Water looked bad, what happened? :mad:

ACCEPTENCE
05-27-2003, 08:37 AM
As I further look at the picture it is sitting out in front of Windsor beach on Havasu.

bear down
05-27-2003, 08:38 AM
RiverDave:
Did you pull it out?
RD This is the sinking cat that went down Cinco de Mayo weekend. It was a windsor beach Marina. When me and my wife arrived it was sinking and the driver was holding on to the boat. We gave him a life vest and a San Bernardino Sheriff came by and told him to let go of the boat that it was not going down any further because it was shallow at that point. The winds were really rough, my brother with his 29' Force was taking on water over the bow. I was a bad boating day.

Laveyman
05-27-2003, 11:05 AM
Would that make it "Sinko de Mayo?" eek!

Catmando
05-27-2003, 01:54 PM
Laveyman:
Would that make it "Sinko de Mayo?" eek! :D

dimarcobros
05-27-2003, 02:44 PM
RD-
Do you think the ropes would hold? Seems like the boat would be pretty heavy. Either way I agree with you though, I would tie up a couple of ropes and see what happens.

DogHouse
05-27-2003, 03:01 PM
Any worries in that scenario about dragging down the tow boat? I would think having a good sharp knife at the ready would be important.

hd&boatrider
05-27-2003, 03:08 PM
RiverDave:
OK, I might be on a different page then everyone else in here. I thought that one of the cool things about going to the river was everyone kinda looks out for one another.
If I saw that guy I'd hook a couple of ropes up turn the bildge pumps on in the sunk boat and pull it up for him and drag it around for 1/2 an hour while we were waiting for all the water to drain. Maybe hand a bucket and tell to hold on to the boat until it surfaces?
Looks like it's sitting at the perfect angle to do it. I saw one person try this in Lake Mead. They almost sunk the help boat and then the tow rope snapped and the sinking boat ended up in much deeper water. Scary to tie your boat off to something like that. You better believe I would have a knife ready but would try to do something to help the poor guy. I agree that helping each other is one of the things boaters have been known for but with all the rudeness and so forth on the water these days it really is becoming a thing of the past.

Sangster
05-27-2003, 03:35 PM
When towing a boat up..Never tye the rope to your boat, jest wrap it around a cleat ..... eek!

bear down
05-27-2003, 03:41 PM
RiverDave:
OK, I might be on a different page then everyone else in here. I thought that one of the cool things about going to the river was everyone kinda looks out for one another.
If I saw that guy I'd hook a couple of ropes up turn the bildge pumps on in the sunk boat and pull it up for him and drag it around for 1/2 an hour while we were waiting for all the water to drain. Maybe hand a bucket and tell to hold on to the boat until it surfaces?
Looks like it's sitting at the perfect angle to do it. As you can see from the Pic, my wife and I were on our way to help this gentleman with his boat. We first threw him a life jacket because he was holding on to the tow hook on the bow of the cat. Once we threw the the life jacket and he put it on, I was trying to figure out on how to help this guy out, before I could make a decision, the sherrif came out on the boat and told me and the owner of the boat to let the boat be. The stern of the boat was hit the lake floor and was not going to sink any further and he was going to have to wait for vessel assist to use the air bags. He told me to leave and put the owner of the boat on his boat, so I left it at that. The lake conditions were really bad as you can see and were the boat sank was probably around 100 ft. from Windsor launch ramp in the no wake zone. I really had no idea what to do or not to do, I was a bit confused

moneypit
05-27-2003, 10:07 PM
I was also once told by my Grandfather (who pulled endless boats out of Havasu) always have the other boater through a rope to you. Legal reasons I guess. I dont know if it matters now. Laws always change. I guess it will make you less responsible if something doess happen.
Also, it does appear that the chop is heavy in the picture. This could make it rough for most lake boats to assist. It sucks.

STV_Keith
05-28-2003, 07:41 AM
OK, here's a question for you guys...I know that things seem much lighter when suspended in water. How much floatation would it take to keep a boat at least from sinking to the bottom?
For instance, this guy was lucky that he was close to shore. In the big part of the lake, or Mead or Mojave, they are deep enough that it could easily go to the bottom never to been seen again.
Seems to me that a simple device could be devised that used compressed air to quickly inflate and then could be tied/clipped to the bow eye. Kinda like the way the old bouyancy compensators had that emergency air blow deal.
So, for a boat that weighs say 2000#, how much bouyancy would it take to keep it from going to the bottom?

bear down
05-28-2003, 07:54 AM
STV_Keith:
OK, here's a question for you guys...I know that things seem much lighter when suspended in water. How much floatation would it take to keep a boat at least from sinking to the bottom?
For instance, this guy was lucky that he was close to shore. In the big part of the lake, or Mead or Mojave, they are deep enough that it could easily go to the bottom never to been seen again.
Seems to me that a simple device could be devised that used compressed air to quickly inflate and then could be tied/clipped to the bow eye. Kinda like the way the old bouyancy compensators had that emergency air blow deal.
So, for a boat that weighs say 2000#, how much bouyancy would it take to keep it from going to the bottom? Actually this sounds like a great idea. I think what you are trying to get at or this is my thinking some sort of an "air bag" device where may be in the enging compartment and in the bow storage you can have an emergency device that fills several air bags that will keep the boat a float. With water inside of the boat, the the boats structure might be compromised but I am sure that something can be done to that effect.

STV_Keith
05-28-2003, 11:27 AM
Hell, even if the boat was totally submerged, but this acted like a big key floatie, then you know it's marked and not going to the bottom. It can be pulled up/air bagged up later instead of being on the bottom.
[ May 28, 2003, 12:28 PM: Message edited by: STV_Keith ]

superdave013
05-28-2003, 11:38 AM
STV_Keith:
OK, here's a question for you guys...I know that things seem much lighter when suspended in water. How much floatation would it take to keep a boat at least from sinking to the bottom?
For instance, this guy was lucky that he was close to shore. In the big part of the lake, or Mead or Mojave, they are deep enough that it could easily go to the bottom never to been seen again.
Seems to me that a simple device could be devised that used compressed air to quickly inflate and then could be tied/clipped to the bow eye. Kinda like the way the old bouyancy compensators had that emergency air blow deal.
So, for a boat that weighs say 2000#, how much bouyancy would it take to keep it from going to the bottom? Ask ACCEPTENCE. That's what he does. He gets your rig off the bottom of the river. I watched him in action getting a flatbottom that crashed back on the trailer.
Me, I'm not hooking on to any sinking boat. I'll stop and pick up the people and I'll let you use my cell phone to call a salvage guy like ACCEPTENCE. But I'm even goin to try to pull a sinking boat with mine. Sorry

uvindex
05-28-2003, 12:00 PM
Originally posted by STV_Keith
How much flotation would it take to keep a boat at least from sinking to the bottom?That reminds me -- I thought most boats built after a certain date are already supposed to stay at the surface (not sink) when swamped?
If you look at the Coast Guard capacity plate (if you have one!), it says that the boat complied with USCG requirements at the time of manufacture -- one of the requirements is called "level flotation" -- I'm not sure when it became a requirement. I also think once boats get to a certain size they don't have this requirement. I looked on USCG and NMMA sites for the info, but couldn't find it. I do know that two of my three boats comply with the level flotation requirement, so they may get swamped, flooded, and ruined, but they won't go to the bottom! :)
Happy boating,
CS

uvindex
05-28-2003, 12:11 PM
I found the flotation requirements -- seems that basic flotation and level flotation are both optional in boats greater than 20' per NMMA and USCG. Here's a link with the info:
http://www.harbormasterboats.com/about_nmma.asp?Main=about_nmma

STV_Keith
05-28-2003, 12:52 PM
Hmmm, my 19'er doesn't fit into that spec...not that it would anyway:
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/108warning-med.jpg

MAXIMUS
05-28-2003, 03:42 PM
I was at the v-drive regatta at red rock about 2 yrs ago when a flat flipped & sunk. After 2 hrs of watching the circus action from foxes, I lifted my friend into my boat (he is in a wheel chair) & we went over to the sight. I dove down after dark & hooked on my tow rop to the sunken flat. With in 15 minutes it was back on the trailer! I'm sure anybody would have done the same for me right???
Funny thing is... I didn't even get the credit! lol.. Sure does make for a good cocktail story though!!! :) You shoulda seen the look on the fellas face that my buddy picked up out of the water when he looked over & saw him poking the gas pedal with a piece of pvc pipe!