Mayday call out from Gladstone

[mangomick]

Has anybody heard anymore on how the haines turned over at Douglas Shoals on Saturday.
Crew of four were damn lucky. Only message heard was Mayday Mayday Mayday this is Rich... then completely dead.
Call was picked up by VMR Gladstone who asked all boats to check their immediate areas.
Call from a guy out at Douglas Shoals reported people waving and was heading over to check them out. Turned out they were on upturned Haines with only about 5 foot of nose sticking out of water.
Conditions at the time were practically glassed out so I would be interested to know how accident happened . Best way to learn is by others mistakes.
Did see a large whale around Rock Cod Shoals on Friday which we gave a wide berth to.
If anyone has more info
Cheers

[Owen]

I spoke to someone who works with one of the people that was onboard.
Apparently it was an 80's vntage haines 17 footer.
They were anchored (off the bow) and were about to leave when a wave came over the stern. The bilge pump couldn't get it out before the next one came over and in trying to start the motor she hydraulic'd
What we heard was all he had time to give before the radio went under.

I asked if they had done something silly like anchor off the stern, but was told no.
Not sure what the general conditions were. We were at the shoals and it was pretty good, but I suppose if you were low in the bum and stern on to a wave....
Not sure why she was stern on anyway??

[rat_catcher]

What time of day was this on Saturday? We arrived at Johnson Patch around 1900 and anchored there overnight. The conditions weren't too bad until around 0330 when it started to get a bit sloppy. We only saw one other boat anchored and three trawlers working all night. Didn't hear anything about the overturned boat, but I guess it must have happened before we got on the water.

[mangomick]

rat-catcher
it would have happened somewhere around 9am saturday.
I heard he had a pod on that let go and the change in weight caused the boat to lurch to one side then fill with water.
Hard to believe a wave came over the stern because conditions were pretty good out there Saturday morning. Virtually glassed out at Tullarook
I know the tide/wind was pretty diabolical on Friday night/early saturday morning. At one stage my anchor rope was hanging directly under the boat and during the swing it somehow wrapped itself around the prop. Now that could have been interesting if a few big waves sprang from nowhere
Be interesting to read the VMR report to get all the details

[rat_catcher]

Any more news on this from anybody? I have been asking friends around town today and nobody knows anything about it.

[mangomick]

The Mrs came home with a story that he had something on the back of the boat that he hadnt turned off properly. ?????
This was one woman talking to another so I dont know exactly what was being referred to.
Maybe some sort of stabilizer

[bay_firey]

Maybe a pump for a live bait tank ??
Water overflowed into the boat making it bum heavy ??

I know i am just clutching at straws

If it was one woman to another they could have been talking about the anchor light for all we know

[Luke G]

maby a sea anchor?

[rat_catcher]

I asked at Barra Jacks today to see if they had heard anything about this and nobody had. I haven't found anybody that knows anything! I would really like to know the real details. Anybody??

[Kerry]

If this was a 17 foot haines in that area then people are really going well beyond their limits. Going to be a serious incident if that type of attitude continues.

[Owen]

Latest I heard was that a pod had been fitted and a transom door added.
The door was "not closed" and a wave came over the back.
The bilge pump either failed to operate, or couldn't clear it before the next one came in.
Down she goes.

[mangomick]

Thanks Owen
That makes a bit more sense. sik008 was apparently the one who returned them to the Boyne. He may be able to shed more light on what conditions were like at the time. I would have thought it would have been pretty well glassed out

[rat_catcher]

Latest I heard was that a pod had been fitted and a transom door added.

I had heard a story that the pod let go and that is how so much water got it. Not sure if this is true or not. I am not sure what the weather was like out there Saturday morning, but in the evening it was quite calm, until about 0330 when it started to get sloppy again. If Saturday morning was like Sunday morning then it could have been a little sloppy.

[sik008]

we picked em up....it wasnt glassed out it was about 10-15 and pretty sloppy.....We were bout 2nm away from them when it happened then we heard mayday mayday this is rich...then the batteries went under.....we picked them up and radioed VMR to tell them...Then we took em back to the boyne river and dropped em off where the police were there to question them....how it happened???

where the transom door was supposed to be there was none so a wave came over the back through the transom door and they tried to take off but the ladies line got stuck around the prop and soon after (30 secs to a minute) the boat sunk with only the nose sticking out...

Cheers alex

[Kerry]

So to confirm things: This was a 17 foot haines, 3 POB, that came out of the Boyne River (Gladstone) and went ot Douglas Shoals ??