# Any good stories on boat sinkings?



## Trouthappy (Jun 12, 2008)

I'm writing about boat sinkings and wanted to talk to a few people who have lost their boats. Anyone ever lose a boat out there, while fishing? PM me.


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## boom! (Jul 10, 2004)

pm 007.


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## pmgoffjr (Jul 30, 2009)

I blew over my Lazer bass boat in '84. Was running mid 90's when a puff of wind turned me into a kite. Looked like a blown up ice chest after it hit the water... I looked like I'd been three rounds with Mike Tyson..


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## Bay Front (Apr 15, 2005)

After successfully making many trips across the gulf, caribbean sea and countless offshore trips.....I cannot think of story that would be "good" about a boat sinking? Call me superstitious but not something I personally want to think or talk about.


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## tunchistheman (Feb 25, 2010)

When my cousin and i were around 13 we sank a rented pedal boat at herman park. We peddled out to the water spring and stayed under longer than we should have.


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## Trouthappy (Jun 12, 2008)

Maybe exciting or dramatic or "oh ****" would better describe it, rather than good...There *are* no good boat sinkings, come to think of it.


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## Rippin_drag (Sep 2, 2008)

Call Capt McBride. Heard he recently almost sunk his boat when he hit a submerged V6 motor down in Mansfield! Can't say its 100% true though, just heard word of mouth and you know how that goes...


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## burntorange (Jun 21, 2006)

*Sinking*

Two years ago fishing a tournament in Port Mansfield we started out of the harbor, boat wouldn't plane up. Turn around and borrow a friend's shallowsport. He's working in Alaska. We had already smashed his windshield on his airport suburban hitting an owl on the way in from Harlingen the night b4. Get to our spot in his boat -we're wading calf deep. I've got 4 trout over 4 lbs on my stringer when my buddy says is that boat sinking? I turn around and say-no its ALREADY sunk, it's on the bottom. 4hrs-300dollars and two cases of beer later a well known mech from down there has us towed in. Keep in mind we had to pull the boat several hundred yards to get to a place he could even start to tow us.. At the dock we see the power pole has opened the transom up like a can opener-it was an 86 model.On the first night of the tourney our buddy calls from Alaska to see how we fared, I said I've got good news and bad......So next day we rent a very well known guide's boat - he didnt have a party- and continue the tourney. That boat has a battery problem so we take a hot start. At the weigh in the battery and hot start both give out so we have to walk over to the shallow sport-get the battery out and put it in the guides boat to get back to the ramp. We won $800for the big trout and got second in the tourney. Total damage to the boat we sunk $21,000-water got in the motor cylinders-insurance coverage-priceless.


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## capt. david (Dec 29, 2004)

we have recovered a bunch!!


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## Trouthappy (Jun 12, 2008)

Lots of small craft sunk in the Gulf in the past 50 years, and shrimpboats, but you seldom hear how it happened from people who were there.


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## Dgeddings (Sep 16, 2010)

I've never lost one knock on wood, I rescued 2 guys on sooner lake 3 years ago that sank a 21' ranger bass boat, he hit a wave akwardly and launched in the air, came down stern first and totally vertical engine died and down it went

my wife's boss lost a 30 something foot rinker in it's slip last year, a seal between the I/O and hull failed and it sank overnight


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## mustfish (May 26, 2010)

Trouthappy said:


> Lots of small craft sunk in the Gulf in the past 50 years, and shrimpboats, but you seldom hear how it happened from people who were there.


Probably because they are too embarassed to let anyone know who they are. Especially if it were due to a cockpit error!


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## Reel_Blessed II (Jun 24, 2004)

pmgoffjr said:


> I blew over my Lazer bass boat in '84. Was running *mid 90's* when a puff of wind turned me into a kite. Looked like a blown up ice chest after it hit the water... I looked like I'd been three rounds with Mike Tyson..


as in MPHs? Glad you're ok but Why in the wide world of kangaroo dung would you want to scoot across water at 90 mph ?


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## burntorange (Jun 21, 2006)

*boat*

How bout one that didnt sink
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/01/25/lost-nantucket-boat-found-years-later-near-spain/


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## redfishlaw (Jul 23, 2008)

*2 stories*

This is a long post, but the second story is a doozey.

The first picture is of a fellow I found on Norfork Lake back in the 80's when I was guiding. He never did have a real explanation for how it happened so I towed it to the bank as he had a friend on the way. At least he saved the cooler - maybe had something to do with it?

The second picture is of the pontoon boat as we turned it back over I was driving when it was hit by a freak tornado in the middle of Norfork Lake in Arkansas. We turned it back over by flooding one pontoon and then flipping it. I was just about to go home from the dock up the hill to where I lived. I looked out as I was leaving and I saw a boat out in the middle of the lake that some young honeymooners were using. As they are from out of town and it was her dads boat I wondered what was up. I got the binocs and looked out, it was about a half mile out, and saw he was in the water back by the motor doing something. I watched awhile and since he did not get out I decided to be the good samaritan. Instead of getting in my Champion I just grabbed one of the rental pontoons to to go out and tow them in. I got there, they had motor trouble, so I flipped them a rope and asked if they wanted to get in with me and they said no. It was one of those days with light clouds, light showers, sun, no big deal, no bad forecast. I headed in when here it came like a freight train. I crouched behind the console, chairs flying everywhere, huge waves with a orange jacket on each arm. It kept turning me, then wham, over it went. I tried to jump but it hit me in the back of my head. When I came up I got a breath before the floor slammed me in the face breaking my glasses. As I swam under the rail the jacket caught, and I almost drowned before I was able to get out. The ferry crossing the lake called for help and they came and got us. Their little boat did not overturn, it acted like a bobber. Thank god they did not get in with me. When we got the boat in the next day the when upside down the floor was 4" below the surface. Good thing I came up when it was on the upstroke or I would not have gotten a breath and would have been trapped. Made the front page of the paper in our little town. Wear you jacket it could happen in an instant.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.
http://fishcatchingtravel.com/


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## Flat's Hunter (Oct 18, 2007)

Trouthappy said:


> Lots of small craft sunk in the Gulf in the past 50 years, and shrimpboats, but you seldom hear how it happened from people who were there.


So true. You see the the pics and just wonder what the hell went wrong

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## El Capitan de No Fish (Sep 20, 2007)

Trying to find a pic of a boat that sank in Devil's Cove on Lake Travis, prob around 2003. The pic showed a nice Cigarette boat with only about 5 feet of the bow sticking straight up out of the water, and the guy hanging on to the nose for dear life. Apparently he had been acting a douche, hit another boat poking a hole in his, and down she went.


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## pmgoffjr (Jul 30, 2009)

Reel_Blessed II said:


> as in MPHs? Glad you're ok but Why in the wide world of kangaroo dung would you want to scoot across water at 90 mph ?


Well...because I could of course. That wasn't the fastest boat I owned, that was an Allison XB2001 with a 280 merc offshore that best radar speed I saw was 113...But I've broken enough stuff, gotten thrown out enough times, that I'm just fine with my little scooter now.


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## fangard (Apr 18, 2008)

Bay Front said:


> After successfully making many trips across the gulf, caribbean sea and countless offshore trips.....I cannot think of story that would be "good" about a boat sinking? Call me superstitious but not something I personally want to think or talk about.


I think we all know what he meant by good. Give me a break.


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## KIKO (Oct 24, 2006)

We sank our jon boat at night the Holy Beach, LLM back in the HS days trying to body-ski with it. Lost half of our tackle and beer... LOL


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## CaptDocHoliday (Feb 3, 2011)

I sunk a 17" G3 in West Matagorda. Closing day of duck season Jan 2010. We had been in Palacious bay hunting divers from a layout boat when the hard North wind switched to a harder West wind. Blowing across the bay, the waves built up to what I would call 4-6 footers. With this happening, we pulled up the gear and idled over to the north shore of Oyster lake to wait it out (no way we could get the boat back to Palacious. It was tricky as we would spear every wave as we decended into the trough's (spelling?), and the dang bilge shorted out on us. Had 2 guys in the back bailing and another on the bow holding down the decoys. Made it all the way to the bulkhead with the intention of pulling up to it and off loading all the gear onto dry land. As we closed in on it, the rear end of the boat sagged down in the trough of a passing wave, the skeg drug bottom, we lost all forward momentum, and the next wave came over the stern. Boat immiediatly went to the bottom. The next 3 hours were spent acquiring chains and 2 trucks to try to drag the boat of the bank as much as we could. Got it high enough to sort of bail it out only to find that the crashing surf has filled it up with shells. The 4 of us bailed out as much shell and water as we could before barely getting it to float. FLoated it back around a sand bar and jacked it up on the trailer. Totally exhausted, we headed for camp only to have a leaf spring go out on us. Left the boat on the side of the road for a week until I could get back down to deal with the leaf spring. Sold shortly after. Last time I will EVER own a boat without positive bouyancy.


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## RP459 (May 11, 2005)

*r*

SLP June 1982 fished the surf in my 14' jon boat. Caught lots of good trout.
Me and fishing buddy decide to spend the night on the beach behind the pass on the Galveston side.
Anchored jon boat in 2 feet of water just off the beach. Drank way too much jack and ate fish.
Awoke the next morning to a high tide, but where in the H*** is my boat?
Lots of fishing tackle that was in the boat was now washed up on the beach.
FOUND BOAt!
The tide had gone out during the night, boat left on wet sand by retreating tide. 
Tide comes in boat stuck in sand and fills with water....
Use truck and lots of chain to pull boat off he bottom and out of heavy surf.
On dry land pulled the cover off the motor, it was almost dry. 
Let motor dry while we sobered up.
Fished that afternoon...


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## Trouthappy (Jun 12, 2008)

While we were duck hunting in the early 70s my bassboat dragged anchor when a south wind picked up, and wound up swamped on the beach...We retuned and found it that way, pulled it up as high as we could, stacked the gear on the beach, and through a drizzling rain walked three miles of marsh to the highway by sunset, shooting ducks along the way. Next day, didn't feel like returning to salvage. The day after that we did return, to find everything gone. This on a very isolated stretch of beach. A year later, we talked to a park ranger at the beach we knew from high school. We told him what happened, and he said he heard a guy had found a bassboat, he lived in the third house on the left, going into Sabine Pass. We parked there, nobody home, but looked in his backyard garage, and there was my boat! Called the sheriff. The guy showed up and said his buddies in an oil company helicopter had spotted our beached boat, landed and took our decoys, life jackets, paddle. This guy somehow retrieved the boat, cleaned it all up, including the motor. Sheriff says he has to return it to me, since I had the registration...Darned if we didn't trailer that boat to Key West and use it, the following summer. It was a Glastron Beaujack with stick-steering and a 50-horse Evinrude. A year after that, it was stolen from my front yard. I should have returned to that same guy's house and peeked in his garage again...


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## FishFinder (May 25, 2004)

One of the first tournaments I fished was a September Specktacular many years ago! I was fishing the pass throwing a 51mr fire tiger whacking solid trout. At that time I had an old 17' aluminum side console boat. Well, about a few hours before weigh in I'm looking down at the boat about a 100 yards down the gut! I'm thinking man that looks low! Then I say oh s$%$ it is low it was sinking! I hurried back to the boat to find it 3/4 full of water stuck on the flat! I accidentally hit the aerator switch "I guess" and the boat slowly filled up during the morning and early afternoon! Luckily I had a 5 gallon bucket on board that I would **** in so I started bailing and bailing and bailing....Finally got it to float and was able to make it back to the ramp. Made weigh in with 2 minutes to spare and I think I took 7th place can't remember! But went up against the big boys at that time Wallace, Plaag, West, etc... and was very happy! Just wish I could have spent another hour fishing vs bailing


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## Trouthappy (Jun 12, 2008)

Maybe the biggest mass boat sinking was the kingfish tournament out of Freeport in July, 1995. As I remember, nine boats didn't come back. Anyone know people who lost a boat in that tournament?


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## Mini-x Fan (Jun 9, 2011)

This is why I own a Boston Whaler...


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## Blk Jck 224 (Oct 16, 2009)

Mini-x Fan said:


> This is why I own a Boston Whaler...


If you really don't believe a Boston Whaler will sink you are foolish. Perhaps SARGENT TX will post his story. Whatcha think David?


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## Tortuga (May 21, 2004)

Mini-x Fan said:


> This is why I own a Boston Whaler...


Whalers are good boats but I don't trust no non-sinking boats. Sixty years ago two couples of us launched on Clear Lake and headed out the channel. Were in an old 12 ft aluminum boat with 10 horse kicker..supposedly unsinkable. Right in front of Jimmy Walkers I looked over my shoulder and a 40 footer was running up and passing us at WOT. Saw his wake too late to turn to meet it. Four foot wave came over the transom and we started down. Told every one not to worry.. Unsinkable. Sat until water was up to our necks then told all to stand up...it WOULD stop sinking...My Bad..she kept going down. Finally told all to just get out.. All had on life jackets. Soon as we got out, she flipped...dumping ALL of our rods, reels, tackle boxes, coolers etc to the bottom of the channel..and..sure as advertised..the boat popped up to the surface upside down. The bastid in the big boat never even slowed down. Swam to shore at JWs and some folks helped me get back to boat and haul her to shore.. Went into JWs and killed a case of Bud to console me. On the way home, my buddy was sitting in front seat with me..smoking.. Finished his cig..and instead of putting it in the ash tray..flicked it into the glove compartment.. Yep..small fire in the old ford...a little too much Bud I guess..

Happened on Good Friday... Never forgot it..and NEVER go anywhere on Good Friday no more....

Funny in retropect..but not so much back then...

Moral ???... WATCH that wake coming up behind you if you are being overtaken by another boat...especially an *** **** in a BIG boat coming WOT.....:biggrin:


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## SARGENTTX (Aug 8, 2007)

Me and my two cousins were fishing the Don Juans Kingfish tourn out of Sargent. The 2nd day we were in 1st place with a 45 lb king we had the smallest boat in the tournament my 16 ft whaler.Anyways we head out sat mourn my cousin Ted is driving im in the back cutting up chum. My other cousin Tom Hilton is up front working on tackle.As we are blasting thru the surf out of the new cut (Mitchells) my guess 35 mph we hit a sand bar (we thought) my head slammed down on ice chest lid breaking it in half , Tom H went thru the bow rails into the water along with tackle boxes ice chests. Ted H our capt went thru console cutting his legs.So here we are dead in the water we gather our composer pull Tom back in the boat along with everything floating. My Dad was fishing in his 22 ft Mako pulled up to see what happened told him we thought we hit a sand bar i said dad i heard something break.My dad told Ted to put it on a plane he looked under the boat said it looked fine. So we talked it over were in 1st 10 thousand dollars here we go about 15 miles out we hit some big swells the boat breaks in half but stays together. Now we are taking on water big time no radio no bilge pump Tom H is trying to hold the bow from flexing im in back bailing with all i have we are close to a rig but we decide bad ideal we are all have bloody wounds no way to get on the rig anyway.So we head to port mind you this boat runs 50 plus mph TEDS got it wide open 5 mph maxed Ted can tell Tom an I are just a tad concerned so capt picks a ice fish out of the cooler and starts yelling MAYDAY MAYDAY !!!!!!!!!! We calm down and get back to the task at hand.Well we give our winnings to god for safe passage home believe it or not we never saw another boat all the way back but we made it! The boat sank at the boat ramp 3 to 4 ft of water got the truck and pulled it up on the bank then fell out man we were tired ! The boat had a hole 3 inches from the transome about 6 inches round we later found out we hit a fresh water pipe sticking up we also lost the tournament to 50 lb king with 10 minutes to go ouch!


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## McDaniel8402 (Dec 7, 2011)

CaptDocHoliday said:


> I sunk a 17" G3 in West Matagorda. Closing day of duck season Jan 2010. We had been in Palacious bay hunting divers from a layout boat when the hard North wind switched to a harder West wind. Blowing across the bay, the waves built up to what I would call 4-6 footers. With this happening, we pulled up the gear and idled over to the north shore of Oyster lake to wait it out (no way we could get the boat back to Palacious. It was tricky as we would spear every wave as we decended into the trough's (spelling?), and the dang bilge shorted out on us. Had 2 guys in the back bailing and another on the bow holding down the decoys. Made it all the way to the bulkhead with the intention of pulling up to it and off loading all the gear onto dry land. As we closed in on it, the rear end of the boat sagged down in the trough of a passing wave, the skeg drug bottom, we lost all forward momentum, and the next wave came over the stern. Boat immiediatly went to the bottom. The next 3 hours were spent acquiring chains and 2 trucks to try to drag the boat of the bank as much as we could. Got it high enough to sort of bail it out only to find that the crashing surf has filled it up with shells. The 4 of us bailed out as much shell and water as we could before barely getting it to float. FLoated it back around a sand bar and jacked it up on the trailer. Totally exhausted, we headed for camp only to have a leaf spring go out on us. Left the boat on the side of the road for a week until I could get back down to deal with the leaf spring. Sold shortly after. Last time I will EVER own a boat without positive bouyancy.


That looks FRIGHTENINGLY like my 16' long, extra wide jon boat in baffin bay. The transom had been modified by previous owner, and was cut down a little low. I took one to many stern wakes over the transom, and couldn't get on plane any more. The bow was tipping higher and higher, and it was getting harder and harder to steer. The wind was getting under the bow and whipping me everywhere but where I needed to go. I finally gave up and aimed the boat towards shore. I darn near crashed into a guy's dock because I could barely steer the boat. I managed to beach it, and the home owner who's house I landed behind came out and helped me. He drove me to where my truck was parked. I returned next morning with the help of a local fishing guide, we bailed the water out and the boat floated again. Towed it the boat ramp, trailered it home, cleaned it up and got the motor to run, and SOLD IT!!!!.


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## McDaniel8402 (Dec 7, 2011)

When I was roughly 15 y/o, I went out of the end of the Suwannee River (Florida) out just 3 or 4 miles to an area popular among folks hunting scallops during the summer season. My brother in law at the time owned a 15 foot trihull with a 50 hp mercury on it. As i recall, there was about 4 or 5 of us on board, and after a good morning of collecting scallops, some wind kicked up and we could see the squall lines rolling in. We head for the channel, trying to make it back to the relative safety of the river. On the run in, we realized the EVERYBODY was running for cover. We had a large boat, roughly 40' come up behind us, and passed us on the left. No Prob. The next boat in line behind us, another 40 footer, decided he didn't want to wait, and passed us on the right. The two wakes from the large boats came together in a HUGE peak, and we launched over the peak on plane, and nosed that little 15' trihull right into the trough. Amazingly, the motor was the only thing sticking out of the water, and it never did die. Stayed running. Several other boats surrounded us, and diverted the traffic around us until we were able to bail the boat out. Pretty hair raising experience to say the least.


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## hilton (Jan 28, 2008)

SARGENT said:


> Me and my two cousins were fishing the Don Juans Kingfish tourn out of Sargent. The 2nd day we were in 1st place with a 45 lb king we had the smallest boat in the tournament my 16 ft whaler.Anyways we head out sat mourn my cousin Ted is driving im in the back cutting up chum. My other cousin Tom Hilton is up front working on tackle.As we are blasting thru the surf out of the new cut (Mitchells) my guess 35 mph we hit a sand bar (we thought) my head slammed down on ice chest lid breaking it in half , Tom H went thru the bow rails into the water along with tackle boxes ice chests. Ted H our capt went thru console cutting his legs.So here we are dead in the water we gather our composer pull Tom back in the boat along with everything floating. My Dad was fishing in his 22 ft Mako pulled up to see what happened told him we thought we hit a sand bar i said dad i heard something break.My dad told Ted to put it on a plane he looked under the boat said it looked fine. So we talked it over were in 1st 10 thousand dollars here we go about 15 miles out we hit some big swells the boat breaks in half but stays together. Now we are taking on water big time no radio no bilge pump Tom H is trying to hold the bow from flexing im in back bailing with all i have we are close to a rig but we decide bad ideal we are all have bloody wounds no way to get on the rig anyway.So we head to port mind you this boat runs 50 plus mph TEDS got it wide open 5 mph maxed Ted can tell Tom an I are just a tad concerned so capt picks a ice fish out of the cooler and starts yelling MAYDAY MAYDAY !!!!!!!!!! We calm down and get back to the task at hand.Well we give our winnings to god for safe passage home believe it or not we never saw another boat all the way back but we made it! The boat sank at the boat ramp 3 to 4 ft of water got the truck and pulled it up on the bank then fell out man we were tired ! The boat had a hole 3 inches from the transome about 6 inches round we later found out we hit a fresh water pipe sticking up we also lost the tournament to 50 lb king with 10 minutes to go ouch!


OK, this how it REALLY went...lol

It was a 2 day tournament - the first day, we head out to some shrimpers, set up our first drift and My brother and I immediately hook up with some small kings. My cousin looks at the rig my brother gave him which is a leader with a treble hook on it and says; "This hook ain't big enough for the fish I want to catch - hand me that big gold one over there". We did, and by the time he gets rigged up, we're 1/2 mile away from the shrimper. Tracy puts a cigar minnow on and deploys his bait - immediately he hooks up with a NICE fish. The boat is small (17' Boston Whaler) and I am having to lean on the opposite side of the boat to try to keep it level as the angler (cuz) and the gaff man (my brother) are on the other side of the boat. He gets the fish almost within gaffing range when it shakes its head and breaks the 107 lb leader, and starts to swim off. My brother has this 7' long gaff (with no lanyard) and he reaches waaay out and says; I GOT IIIIT!!! as he got pulled overboard by the fish. We were able to grab one ankle, so there we were, my cuz and I holding my brother's feet, thinking that he had lost the fish - lo and behold, he is still somehow hanging onto the behemoth underneath the boat with the the end of the gaff barely within his grasp! We pulled BOTH of them in and laid them both on the bottom of the boat, screaming in joy! It was a moment of pure ecstasy.

So, we head in, having deployed 1 bait with a big king IN the boat and are back at the dock by 8:30 AM or so, and ending up the day in First Place.

That 1st day was awesome.

Then came the 2nd day.

(Some history) When we were kids, there used to be about 7 rows of beach houses on the beach. In our short lifetime to that point, the beach had eroded so much that all of those houses were now out in the water (at least what was left of 'em). They had dredged a cut just to the west of the swing bridge, and we headed out, getting the boat on plane to get over the small breakers, when we were stopped still in the water by an unknown submerged obstruction. We were all hurt pretty good. (Turns out later that we had hit an old water well casing from one of those houses that was just under the surface of the water and not visible).

As he explained, my uncle came by, we put the boat in gear and got the bow out of the water and he couldn't see anything. I think we all wanted to go back in, but none of us wanted to be the one to say it, so off we went. Around 25 miles out, the floor buckles and we are immediately awash with water inside the boat, but my brother is able to maintain headway and keep us afloat. I grabbed a 5 gallon bucket floating there, and started bailing like a mad man - my cuz was a little shaken too...it was almost surreal...this isn't happening..yes it is!

My brother is 10 years older than both of us, and he sees that we youngsters are both a bit panicked, so he grabs a cigar minnow and starts calling Mayday Mayday, we are sinking! (Of course, we had NO radio onboard). That kinda broke the tension and we gathered ourselves and realized that we were bailing faster than the water was coming in. We head back in, again about 9:00 in the morning, but under different circumstances this time - my brother gives it the gas and runs it onto the boat ramp to keep it from sinking too much.

Then we sat there all day long again, licking our wounds, and drinking beer to ease the pain....it was my cousin's turn to go check out the last boat to come in with 10 minutes to go, and he turns around with this look on his face and I knew we had lost the tournament.

It was the best of times...it was the worst of times.

Tom


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## SARGENTTX (Aug 8, 2007)

This aint over yet cuz your bro ted will post up soon maybe LOL!


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## Mako2 (May 10, 2007)

*Boat Rescue*

Had to rescue 3 ya whoo's at Todd's dump one time when the wind picked
up and they were in a low profile bass boat when a wave came over the
bow. They never had been saltwater fishing before. I gave them a boat
ride to Eagle Point. Boat sunk

Mako2


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## Trouthappy (Jun 12, 2008)

If that was 1997, I was there. I was 20 miles north up the shoreline at Steinhatchee, and they had about 1,000 boats out there scalloping, everybody snorkeling in 3-8 feet of water in everything from canoes to pontoon boats, every kind of boat. The storm came from the NE. I was 2 miles upriver, putting new batteries in the Mako about 10:30 a.m. I saw the clouds boiling over the trees and said, "how bout we wait till this passes, before we take the kids out." We went back in the condo and drank mimosas. The trees thrashed and a cold rain fell, chilly for early July...After a while it looked like the day was a wash, it stayed cold and drizzly. We drove the car downriver in the afternoon, and there was police tape at one of the marinas. Law enforcement called in from all over. There were 45 boats sunk or upside down out there, they didn't know how many people were dead. Coolers and debris on the shoreline. The boaters had stampeded back to the narrow channel, trying to get in the river where there are five marinas but only one boat ramp. (They launch their boats with hydraulic slings). Too many boats and only one river; many were sunk there. I later saw a picture of hundreds of boats pulled up on the river shorelines, countless heads sitting in the warm river trying to stay warm, while a cold rain fell. Some people had gasoline burns from their overturned boats in the Gulf, but there was only one fatality. I heard that any boats really offshore that day, farther out, were sunk or swamped. The Coast Guard picked up people out there in deeper water for a day or two.



McDaniel8402 said:


> When I was roughly 15 y/o, I went out of the end of the Suwannee River (Florida) out just 3 or 4 miles to an area popular among folks hunting scallops during the summer season. My brother in law at the time owned a 15 foot trihull with a 50 hp mercury on it. As i recall, there was about 4 or 5 of us on board, and after a good morning of collecting scallops, some wind kicked up and we could see the squall lines rolling in. We head for the channel, trying to make it back to the relative safety of the river. On the run in, we realized the EVERYBODY was running for cover. We had a large boat, roughly 40' come up behind us, and passed us on the left. No Prob. The next boat in line behind us, another 40 footer, decided he didn't want to wait, and passed us on the right. The two wakes from the large boats came together in a HUGE peak, and we launched over the peak on plane, and nosed that little 15' trihull right into the trough. Amazingly, the motor was the only thing sticking out of the water, and it never did die. Stayed running. Several other boats surrounded us, and diverted the traffic around us until we were able to bail the boat out. Pretty hair raising experience to say the least.


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## billclemens (Jan 31, 2012)

McDaniel8402 said:


> When I was roughly 15 y/o, I went out of the end of the Suwannee River (Florida) out just 3 or 4 miles to an area popular among folks hunting scallops during the summer season. My brother in law at the time owned a 15 foot trihull with a 50 hp mercury on it. As i recall, there was about 4 or 5 of us on board, and after a good morning of collecting scallops, some wind kicked up and we could see the squall lines rolling in. We head for the channel, trying to make it back to the relative safety of the river. On the run in, we realized the EVERYBODY was running for cover. We had a large boat, roughly 40' come up behind us, and passed us on the left. No Prob. The next boat in line behind us, another 40 footer, decided he didn't want to wait, and passed us on the right. The two wakes from the large boats came together in a HUGE peak, and we launched over the peak on plane, and nosed that little 15' trihull right into the trough. Amazingly, the motor was the only thing sticking out of the water, and it never did die. Stayed running. Several other boats surrounded us, and diverted the traffic around us until we were able to bail the boat out. Pretty hair raising experience to say the least.


That's funny.


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## tutone (Dec 10, 2006)

Have plenty of stories if you need them. Ran a 400 slip marina in oklahoma for 5 years. I was the rescue on the lake 24/7. PM me if you to her more.


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## FISHROADIE (Apr 2, 2010)

I dont have a story thank god, but this vidoe shows what can happen if you are stupid. This was on lake Conroe.


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## Trouthappy (Jun 12, 2008)

Wow. Not the same Conroe I camped and fished in 1979.


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## McDaniel8402 (Dec 7, 2011)

*I believe it was 98' or 99'*



Trouthappy said:


> If that was 1997, I was there. I was 20 miles north up the shoreline at Steinhatchee, and they had about 1,000 boats out there scalloping, everybody snorkeling in 3-8 feet of water in everything from canoes to pontoon boats, every kind of boat. The storm came from the NE. I was 2 miles upriver, putting new batteries in the Mako about 10:30 a.m. I saw the clouds boiling over the trees and said, "how bout we wait till this passes, before we take the kids out." We went back in the condo and drank mimosas. The trees thrashed and a cold rain fell, chilly for early July...After a while it looked like the day was a wash, it stayed cold and drizzly. We drove the car downriver in the afternoon, and there was police tape at one of the marinas. Law enforcement called in from all over. There were 45 boats sunk or upside down out there, they didn't know how many people were dead. Coolers and debris on the shoreline. The boaters had stampeded back to the narrow channel, trying to get in the river where there are five marinas but only one boat ramp. (They launch their boats with hydraulic slings). Too many boats and only one river; many were sunk there. I later saw a picture of hundreds of boats pulled up on the river shorelines, countless heads sitting in the warm river trying to stay warm, while a cold rain fell. Some people had gasoline burns from their overturned boats in the Gulf, but there was only one fatality. I heard that any boats really offshore that day, farther out, were sunk or swamped. The Coast Guard picked up people out there in deeper water for a day or two.


I wanna say it was 98' or 99' when it happened. I can't say I remember a rain, just everyone scrambling for cover when the bad weather started rolling in. I know it was shortly before I started driving, and I turned 16 y/o in 2000. I do miss Steinhatchee though. My BIL's boat didn't actually sink, which was a small miracle. We bailed it out, and drove it back to the ramp. Them Gulf storms can be a booger!


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## Capt. Billy (Mar 6, 2010)

A picture is worth a thousand words....

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150090435037459.288854.187077382458&type=3


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## saltwatersensations (Aug 30, 2004)

I sank my dads freshly rebuilt boat at the N.Jetty when I was about 19. I/O, Outdrive gear sheared and the anchor wouldnt grab, wind blew the boat into the rocks and an hour or so later the boat was full of water. coast guard came with a boat and chopper. some swam to the boat and two got a chopper ride. Lost everything as other boats just watched. Dad was ****** but glad we were ok. I will forever respect those rocks. LOL!


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## caddis (Jan 22, 2012)

Wow, so, capt. Billy, have any thoughts on "best" boats for not sinking?

Looks like mostly operator issues and just plain bad luck.


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## Wading Mark (Apr 21, 2005)

Blk Jck 224 said:


> If you really don't believe a Boston Whaler will sink you are foolish. Perhaps SARGENT TX will post his story. Whatcha think David?


Not unsinkable but very difficult to put on the bottom. I run Whaler's because they are indestructible.

From my own personal experience, the hardest thing to sink I've seen is one of those pond paddle boats. I know from experience.:biggrin:


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## Capt. Billy (Mar 6, 2010)

caddis said:


> Wow, so, capt. Billy, have any thoughts on "best" boats for not sinking?
> 
> Looks like mostly operator issues and just plain bad luck.


I was pretty impressed that the Gulf Coast didn't sink or capsize I guess due to being low sided. Most of the boats we have delt with didn't sink they capsize or roll in the waves once filled with water. I have had our whaler and our Carolina Skiff completely full of water and as long as your still moving they won't sink. The Gulf Coast got swamped by a wave and killed the batteries. I don't like batteries below deck for that reason, better to keep them as high as possible. Best thing to do when sinking is get moving and move as fast as possible to a shoreline and beach it.


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## shauntexex (Dec 12, 2007)

A buddy tied his boat up to the dock this last duck season to grab lunch relax for an hour and go back out and chase some redfish. North wind started humming plus an inch of rain equaled one wave coming over the bow and the rest is history. If it wasn't tied to the dock it would be at the bottom of the intercostal. You can't fix stupid!


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## Blk Jck 224 (Oct 16, 2009)

shauntexex said:


> A buddy tied his boat up to the dick. You can't fix stupid!


*NEVER *a good idea. :help:


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## shauntexex (Dec 12, 2007)

Haha blk jack you caught me you caught the tater you can put down those roadblocks now!


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## Ragecajun (Oct 31, 2011)

*nice*

pure Ron White there folks...


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## Jeff SATX (Jan 18, 2011)

a couple years back at a joint bachelor/bachelorette party in Rockport a buddy took his boat out with three girls and another guy. the weather kicked up, the waves got big and as much as he tried telling the topless women to get off the front of the boat, they didn't listen. a wave came over, throwing the girls out, another wave came and threw the other guy out. the captain of the boat threw every jacket he had on board to the girls and a giant ice chest to the guy. a boat with (what i was told) a family including a couple teen aged boys (luckiest day of their lives probably) rescued the topless women and drove them to safety. the captain of the boat radio'd for some help and a shrimper picked up the guy with the ice chest and another shrimper tied on to the boat (didn't sink all the way down, just under the surface) and dragged it and the captain into fulton harbor. after the game wardens came to the house to make sure everyone was accounted for, we went and pulled the boat out. 

that's the short version.


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## Barbarian (Feb 12, 2009)

pmgoffjr said:


> I blew over my Lazer bass boat in '84. Was running mid 90's when a puff of wind turned me into a kite. Looked like a blown up ice chest after it hit the water... I looked like I'd been three rounds with Mike Tyson..


Wow, on the accident and running 90+ in 1984!


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## Barbarian (Feb 12, 2009)

Here's your sign moment.
We were going to sink a pit blind in the marsh and had loaded the blind and all of the lumber to anchor it down into my 16x48 aluminum w/a 16hp go devil. We knew we were pushing the boat to the max especially when 3 of us got in (me in the back, 1 in the middle, and one guy upfront), but it was too far to make 2 trips. I was driving and couldn't see over the blind so I was just going to look off to the side. We had about a 1/2 mile down the canal before getting into the marsh. Well, if you have ever driven a go devil, you know that when you take off, they react opposite of most boats. On most boats, the bow rises and then comes down as you plane out. With a go devil, the stern rises pushing the boat flat immediately. I am sure I set this up pretty easy for you to figure out. Immediately at take off, the nose went under. By the time, I realized what was happening, the guy upfront was swimming. LOL. In a matter of seconds, the blind and all of the lumber were floating down the canal with the alligators. Well, my 2nd friend then bales out. When he jumped, the boat started rolling and I jumped. 2 of us tried t keep the go devil above water while the other swam and pushed us to the bank. We baled it out, rounded all the material up that was floating everywhere and made 2 trips like we should've. Not as dangerous as some of these other stories unless you are scared to swim with the alligators.


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## dsjones21 (Apr 2, 2008)

It's 100% true



Rippin_drag said:


> Call Capt McBride. Heard he recently almost sunk his boat when he hit a submerged V6 motor down in Mansfield! Can't say its 100% true though, just heard word of mouth and you know how that goes...


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## Solid Action (May 21, 2004)

dsjones21 said:


> It's 100% true


Where the heck is the V6 motor in Port Mansfield?


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## Sponge (Jun 22, 2004)

*Gulf coast*



Capt. Billy said:


> I was pretty impressed that the Gulf Coast didn't sink or capsize I guess due to being low sided. Most of the boats we have delt with didn't sink they capsize or roll in the waves once filled with water. I have had our whaler and our Carolina Skiff completely full of water and as long as your still moving they won't sink. The Gulf Coast got swamped by a wave and killed the batteries. I don't like batteries below deck for that reason, better to keep them as high as possible. Best thing to do when sinking is get moving and move as fast as possible to a shoreline and beach it.


Was this gulf coast capsized at redfish island?


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## Capt. Billy (Mar 6, 2010)

On the other side of the ship channel towards Smith Point.


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## smokinguntoo (Mar 28, 2012)

Several years ago when I had a 22 HydraSport went to the beachfront south of the Matagorda jetties maybe 3 miles down the beach. Saw a man and his wife in a blue 17 ft. Kenner beached. Waves rolling in and him with a 5 gal. bucket trying to bail it out. Faster than he could bail, the water was filling it back up. Tied my anchor line to the transom and he tied all of his anchor line to mine. Slowly eased the boat into the surf and he jumped into the boat. Drug it around for awhile with the plugs out until it bailed all of the water. With it still tied to my boat we got his boat as close to the beach as possible and his wife - with life jacket on - swam out and got into the boat. Towed them into the Colorado channel. They left all of their fishing gear on the beach. Luckily his motor started - all was fine. I asked about their gear and they said they were really lucky to have their boat, they'd just leave the gear on the beach. I talked them into using one of the trucks left on the island to go get their stuff. Not sure whose truck she borrowed, but IMO it was OK. Told him he owed me dinner if he ever saw me again. If you are the folks I helped - you still owe me that dinner and I was glad I could help out.


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## bait buckit (Aug 30, 2011)

this isnt a sunk boat story but late on after noon me an a buddy were hauling arse down the south shorline of west matty headed to or camp on the pennisula an out to the left we kept seeing a spot light hit us so dispite trying to beat the sun set we turned around. We found a 20+ mayak twenty feet on the bank. the husband was drunk an the wife was pis*** off. So me an my buddy that both stand 6.3 an 6.8 280lbs each grab the front spin it around an drag it off the bank. I think we prolly could have taken her with us, she was that pis*** . she told us thanks an she was driving back to poc


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## HarborHustler (Nov 30, 2011)

im still bailing it out, if it sinks ill let you know.


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## smokinguntoo (Mar 28, 2012)

*Stamas sinking out of Matagorda*

I had to find these photos on an old desktop I don't use any more.
The story as I heard it: Fairly new boat was under warranty. The owner noticed a place where the fiberglass was delaminating. He took it to their recommended repair shop and told the guy not to cut out the bad place but to grind sand and repair it. When he picked it up he found out that they did indeed cut out the bad place and repair it. They assured the owner it would be fine.
First trip out, by himself, and the hole opened up - obviously more than the bilge pump could handle. A nearby boat came to his assistance and picked him up. Reports were made to the insurance company and the Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard kept the owner apprised of the boat location and advised that when it makes landfall on Matagorda Island, he needs to be there and remove it or they will have someone do it and charge him the bill.
As most folks know there isn't a road to the island and he obtained a floating barge and ferried his truck and trailer over to the island. He went down the beach and found the boat, loaded the boat and brought it home.
If I remember correctly there was a fine for polution based on the size of the fuel tank.
If anyone knows how that deal works, I'd like to hear it. If that is true, will insurance cover that bill too?


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## Wharf_Rat (Dec 28, 2010)

I wonder how many here launched at a boat ramp, tied off, then parked the trailer, and came back to find that they hadn't put the plug in before they launched?


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## TXWingStinger (Oct 30, 2011)

December of 2006 i was 12 years old and my dad,our cousin,his son and i took a trip to Sargent i believe it was, i dont really remember,but we launched out of a place called Linda's bait camp? anyways, we got there around 1 and planned a little evening hunt which was a dumb idea knowing nothing about our surroundings. i remember we crossed the bay to get to the blind and the hunting was awesome,best hunt i'd ever been on at the time. But there was a cold front blowing in that night and the wind was picking up fast, by the time we picked up decoys and all we started across the bay in the dark and somehow or another,we sunk. water was freezing and luckily it was shallow enough for all of us to stand on the boat beneath us. my dads cell phone was in his pants pocket in his waders and somehow hadn't gotten soaked. he called 911 and they sent a coast guard boat and we could see them but they never could see us. after aboout an hour he called again and they sent out a helicopter, which flew directly over us about three times and my dad started opening and closing his phone hoping they'd spot it. finally they hit us with the spotlight and hovered above us as a man jumoed out and helped us into the basket one at a time and lifted us up. they flew us to Lake Jackson Hospital where we were treated for hypothermia and pneumonia. we had been in the water fighting waves hovered around a decoy bag for 2 hours and 45 minutes before they got there, by far the scariest experience of my life. we lost four shotguns, a boat, a mudbuddy, 8 dozen decoys , calls, ducks, bands, everything. we recovered the boat and motor two days later but both were shot. most importantly we didnt lose any lives. and i left that bay with a whole new respect for the water. 




sorry for the jumbled wording, i was trying to make it short


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## tutone (Dec 10, 2006)

Was in the Marina business in Ok. for 5 years. The olny rescue on the lake. Lots of sinking stories. PM me with a phone # and I'll give you a call one evening.


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## 89rfl (Aug 15, 2011)

I was at the mouth of pats bay on a day with 35-40 mph wind in my 18 ft redfish line and anchored up with the talon. I began my wade and returned with my limit of reds and noticed the boat was at a 45 degre angle and a wave was rolling through the boat. I ran to it and yanked the plug. I drove at full throttle un til all the water had gone out and replaced the plug. It took me a wile but I figured out how it sunk. The talon had the boat spun around so when the wind picked up the waves splashed over the back hatch (the batch hatch has a crappy seal) and had slowly filled it up. Now when it is windy I use the old faithful anchor


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## Swampus (Sep 1, 2005)

boomgoon said:


> pm 007.


Not a fun trip--bad judgement all around trip--I could kick myself in hind sight................lucky to be alive today.h:!

Never again! Lessons learned that day from He!!.--Respect the Sea folks--she can swallow U up in a heart beat.

swamp.


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## netboy (Dec 12, 2006)

Here's one from the Deepsea Roundup in Port A today....

http://www.kristv.com/videos/boat-burns-and-sinks-during-deep-sea-roundup/


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## Capt. Billy (Mar 6, 2010)

My brother called today and sent me some pics of this mess. Happend today and they are saying it was a 65 mph gust. There are about 7 boats under all that.

https://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.444624028894514.96255.120437957979791&type=1


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## HarborHustler (Nov 30, 2011)

ok heres one. after a torrential rain, i make a trip to my boat to makesure all is ok... and then i kick off my shoes to help the neighbors in need... as always. 
this happens more than it needs to. rain builds up and is the wind starts it swamps the boats... shows how important proper bilge pumps are. and ppl say mine are overkill. we had to winch it up to get the hull vents to surface and i ran my spare rule 2000 to get the water out. poor motor. always remember, have good pumps, and batteries. and maintain em!


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