Boating under the influence?

[Bud]

I hope all the folks in that boat got a chance to blow.

 

I'm thinking there is much more to that story................ Boat traveling 40 - 50 MPH hits restaurant.

[Danny caddyshack Noonan]

1200 HP in four engines. 40 - 50 mph. Must have been idle.

 

On another note, who goes that fast in fog, besides maybe Al Czervik?

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

On another note, who goes that fast in fog, besides maybe Al Czervik?

 

Yeah, that was my first question. The article said they didn't know they were near land. Selecting a high speed based on what you don't know is almost always a bad idea. With seven souls on board, it'd be a bit surprising if, in the moments before unexpectedly coming ashore, none of them was protesting about the combination of high speed and low visibility.

[Bill_Walker]

I think police have overestimated the speed of the boat. If it really was going 40-50 mph, it's really hard to believe that only two out of seven occupants were injured, neither of them life-threateningly. One took himself to the hospital! But maybe they were able to bail out into the water before impact.

 

It's also hard not to believe that alcohol was involved, leading to the poor judgment of going too fast in poor visibility.

[Jake]

Fog, schmog. I can see the Raymarine radar scanner mounted on his console top all the way from here. Twin huge screens at the cockpit of the SeaVee 39 Quad (a sweet boat) are hard to miss, and they paint a very pretty picture of what is all around you. My grandmother could pilot that boat at 60 mph safely under the nearby Sunshine Skyway bridge at night holding an un-spilled martini in her hand.

 

I can see running up on that beach at 40-50 without too much injury (if they'd have bailed, they'd have broken crunchy parts as a result). The pitch of the beach is shallow to that restaurant, and that boat is mighty heavy, and with 4 Merc Verano 300s, very expensive - well over $300K. I doubt the boat is barely more than scratched up. It would take that speed to cross the beach in that rig. Great luck missing the palm tree, those things bend but they don't break.

 

Fog. That's funny.

[tallman]

Anyone else "see" the great white shark palm roof leaping into the boat?

[Rocer]

On another note, who goes that fast in fog, besides maybe Al Czervik?

 

Yeah, that was my first question. The article said they didn't know they were near land. Selecting a high speed based on what you don't know is almost always a bad idea. With seven souls on board, it'd be a bit surprising if, in the moments before unexpectedly coming ashore, none of them was protesting about the combination of high speed and low visibility.

 

Apparently none of these passengers complained about high speed either pre-accident in good visibility conditions except maybe the girl in pink when she broke her nail: linky

[Glenn Reed]

Apparently none of these passengers complained about high speed either pre-accident in good visibility conditions except maybe the girl in pink when she broke her nail: linky

 

That didn't look like anyone was having fun even before they had their incident!

[John Ranalletta]

I can see running up on that beach at 40-50

The trail created by the boat crossing the beach could have been obliterated by foot traffic, if not, did the boat "land" in the restaurant or "run into it"?

[upflying]

How does a transom hold four 300 hp outboards?

Or how does a fishing boat troll with that power?

Or a 1200hp car driven on the street would be uncontrollable. And cars have brakes.

Intoxicated or not, this whole incident was underwritten by Darwin.

[John Ranalletta]

Off the South Florida Gulf coast, the "in" fishermen are going going for Snowy Grouper that are found in deep, deep water and fished with electric reels. It's a 60-mile trip to fishing waters. Bigger/more motors means shorter trip times if not fewer $ for fuel.

 

Then again, isn't bigger always better?

 

 

[russell_bynum]

How does a transom hold four 300 hp outboards?

Or how does a fishing boat troll with that power?

Or a 1200hp car driven on the street would be uncontrollable. And cars have brakes.

Intoxicated or not, this whole incident was underwritten by Darwin.

 

I'm a fan of excess, especially when internal combustion is concerned...but I have to admit that this type of boat never made sense to me either. We had a ski boat with single small-block Chevy I/O. We ran it against a boat with a professionally-calibrated speedo (this was before GPS was readily available.) His boat topped out at 65mph. We walked away from him easily.

 

With a single V8 that was probably making no more than 250HP.

 

The boat got to be a big handful at top speed. Obviously hull design plays into that, but I can't imagine that these center-console fishing boats are going much faster than that.

 

Granted, we were only 23ft long and I think most of these boats are bigger, but is that enough to make a difference?

 

I have no experience with boats like this, but on the surface, it seems like putting a turbocharged hayabusa motor on a go-kart...and then putting nitrous on it. You'd never be able to use all that power.

 

What say you, Jake?

[Jake]

John hit on it, bigger is better, particularly when there are per person "bag" limits on the desireable fish. Look up the snowy grouper and you will see that one can bring in only 4 per person. So, load up the boat with peeps and off you go.

 

This particular boat can see 70 mph in ideal conditions. They have near-race hulls with deep vees, and each motor is like a big fin in the water with power spread wide across the back. I don't own one, but I would imagine with such a wide beam and multiple engines, this rig would be quite easy to control as long as you are not in silly seas.

 

If I were in the middle of the ocean and you give me a choice between this boat and a single engined displacement trawler with a max speed of 12 knots, I'll take the latter. Still, I'd like a ride in it though I'd prefer to walk to the bar & grill myself.

 

65MPH ski boat? You gotta PM me on that. Someone changed a prop.

 

[Skywagon]

I have a 36 Contender with triple 300 Yamaha's....We fish about 100 miles off shore in Texas. The boat will do 65 MPH burning 45 GPH. It holds 420 Gallons... It's very rare you can travel at that speed nor do you want to. Most of the time, seas permitting, we are doing about 35-40 burning 10 gph per engine depending on load and believe it or not salinity.

[szurszewski]

I have a 36 Contender with triple 300 Yamaha's....We fish about 100 miles off shore in Texas. The boat will do 65 MPH burning 45 GPH. It holds 420 Gallons... It's very rare you can travel at that speed nor do you want to. Most of the time, seas permitting, we are doing about 35-40 burning 10 gph per engine depending on load and believe it or not salinity.

 

I'm not a math person - in fact, I was an English major and managed the whole of college with only ONE math class (by my count at least...) - so help me on the math here: are you saying it costs something like $500 in fuel to go out and back?

[Skywagon]

Yep....unless the cost of fuel goes up ....

[szurszewski]

Yep....unless the cost of fuel goes up ....

 

That's probably what I'll spend on gas - for personal use, not business - the entire year. Yikes.

[russell_bynum]

65MPH ski boat? You gotta PM me on that. Someone changed a prop.

 

Bone stock. It wasn't a dedicated ski boat...it was a ski boat because we skied behind it.

 

It was a Baretta somethingorother. Volvo duoprop. Deep-V hull.

 

At top speed, it would rock from chine to chine and it always felt like all it needed was to catch a wind ripple and a chine would dig in and your day would get interesting real quick.

[SuperG]

I have a 36 Contender with triple 300 Yamaha's....We fish about 100 miles off shore in Texas. The boat will do 65 MPH burning 45 GPH. It holds 420 Gallons... It's very rare you can travel at that speed nor do you want to. Most of the time, seas permitting, we are doing about 35-40 burning 10 gph per engine depending on load and believe it or not salinity.

 

What Skywagon said.... With Offshore fishing , -especially when you go out 100 miles- you better have multiple engines. A single V8 just won't cut it.

It is not because a V8 is not powerful enough, but because it does not have "contingency reserve".

If you are out 100 miles, bad weather comes in, and this single V8 quits/dies or won't perform, you could lose the boat and life.

Multiple engine is a must. 2 /3 or 4 is best.

The problem with only 2 engine(ourtboard), if one dies , the other may be able to get you moving, but often it is not powerful enough to get the heavy /large boat up on plane.

If the boat can not get up on plane, it is just plowing water wasting fuel and time.

So best set up is 3 engine. If one dies the other 2 can get the boat back to shore just fine.

[Jake]

The single vs multiple engines is a raging debate on many boating forums. (Outboards are typically I-6s, single V8s, unless they are diesels, are generally not fishing rigs) No argument that multiples are nice, but that takes money that many don't have. Still, bad fuel or a log strike will stop any boat no matter how many engines you can bolt to it. There are plenty of salty captains with smallish single engine rigs with whom I'd be completely comfortable at most distances because they are also carrying EPIRBS, have big antennas for their VHS radios, have back up power, a spot, and know how to file a float plan. They also know how to tear into their engines with their eyes closed. I wanna be with that guy.

 

 

 

 

[SuperG]

hahahahh... yes of course....

The worse thing you can do is head out with bad fuel or little fuel. No amount of extra engine will save you.

THe idea with multiple engine is similar to what airlines do with redundancy.

if one engine (or pilot ) fails for any reason other than fuel, the other engine will get you home or to safety.

You have an independent extra source for propulsion, that can function on its own independently from the other.

[russell_bynum]

if one engine (or pilot ) fails for any reason other than fuel, the other engine will get you home or to safety.

 

Or you'll stall and spin in due to sudden asymmetric thrust at low speed, low altitude, and high alpha.

 

[tallman]

If one sail fails, have several others to hoist...

[upflying]

This is the fishing boat I want from the country where my parents were born. Listen to the RPM's.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnwTdaZyqik

[Skywagon]

that boat reminds me of my old airhead at idle....but I can assure you I would not trade my Contender in 8ft seas in the gulf for it, nor would I want to do a 200 mile same day trip... However that is one cool boat. On the Ca Delta it would be a hoot.

[Rocer]

I hope all the folks in that boat got a chance to blow.

 

I'm thinking there is much more to that story................ Boat traveling 40 - 50 MPH hits restaurant.

 

Bud, your post piqued my memory about a boating accident in 2013 not far from where you sailed in the North Channel. My delay in responding is a result of taking some time to research the event.

 

This accident actually was on Lake Wanapitae N.E. of Sudbury and circumstances were somewhat similar to the accident in your post except in this accident there were fatalities. The boat was driven on the rocks just after midnight in what was described as a dark night. The operator was deemed to be significantly over the alcohol limit from autopsy reports. It's a pretty sad affair with only 1 of the 4 occupants surviving. The survivor's girl friend died in hospital later but at least one of the other two men trapped in the debris on board died when the boat subsequently caught fire as a result of a signal fire that the survivor lit to help emergency crews find them.

 

There is considerable controversy over response issues by emergency services including ambulance, fire and 911 operators with the families and communities involved calling for an inquest that was denied just this past Dec. That denial is now under appeal. It's interesting that 3 adults boarded a boat in darkness with an operator who was significantly intoxicated has become secondary in this tragedy. One reads reports where fatalities are sometimes noted in inquest reports as "death by misadventure" but it appears in the aftermath of this accident the survivor,families and community are wanting to place blame on the emergency response system.

 

The occupants in the boat in your post and the people in the restaurant it ended up in got off lucky although I would hope there will at least be some negligent operation charges laid.

[Bud]

What a sad story Paul. People often look for other people to blame.

 

A lot of motorcycle accidents involve alcohol. Boating stats are the same or higher as it's more socially acceptable to drink and boat. When we were first married we went boating with Nancy's sister and her husband. I was not assertive enough at the time to have him take us back to shore while he continued to chug beers all afternoon. We got off lucky.

 

The one thing I've never understood are the charity poker runs that in S. Illinois go from tavern to tavern where most people have a drink or two at each stop.

 

Warming up to the high 60's next week. Will be nice to go for a ride on the bike instead of the keyboard.

 

I hope spring comes to your neck of the woods soon.

[Rocer]

Research to refresh my memory about this accident left me wondering why it was so difficult to find details until I realized, because of the call for an inquest, all parties had gone to ground ie. protecting their own turf/necks. While family members and the lone survivor repeated in interviews that they were not out to blame anyone but to improve a flawed system I know from reading other inquests that the outcome does point fingers usually with litigation following.

 

In setting up my own commercial marine venture I was drawn to read a number of inquests into marine accidents which led to recent changes in the regulations we operate under. In talking to other marine business owners about a particular inquest I learned that blame was being placed on a particular inspector who ultimately committed suicide only to have his name cleared later in the process.

 

When I see videos in my earlier post here and the link to the accident in your post I don't get the giggles out of such incidents but rather a confirmation that we need to play 'hardball' with some who choose to be irresponsible.

 

Yes Bud, we're looking forward to the lakes getting soft again and the salt/sand off the roads.

[upflying]

The one thing I've never understood are the charity poker runs that in S. Illinois go from tavern to tavern where most people have a drink or two at each stop.

These are the only motorcycles you should be riding while drinking at a bar.

[Rocer]

The one thing I've never understood are the charity poker runs that in S. Illinois go from tavern to tavern where most people have a drink or two at each stop.

These are the only motorcycles you should be riding while drinking at a bar.

 

Judging by the size of the violin hanging on the wall that bar must be in Texas

[SuperG]

 

Judging by the size of the violin hanging on the wall that bar must be in Texas

 

I am thinking it is a Chello. A bigger cousin of the violin.

[tallman]

puhleeze...

[Jake]

Based on the size of that ukulele, I'd think you were in Hawaii...