What happened to the overboard thread? [Archive]

Otolith

01-17-2003, 11:45 AM

I asked the mods to remove it so as to not alarm anybody else. I was just fishing (no pun intended) for some quick info to help you guys out in a hurry.

Funny thing - your captain's wife is my realtor. I called her to talk about properties we are looking at, and she said Cap'n was on the other line. I said "Oh, has he caught anything yet?" and wife says "No, he is in the river though". I said "well thats a good start" and wife says "No, he is IN the river - he sank his sled!".

Glad all involved are OK, and hope the boat is gonna make it too.

SafetyChain

01-17-2003, 11:49 AM

I ahve pic ofthe sled and will post after I talk to the Cap'n

reeldick

01-17-2003, 01:20 PM

Glad everyone is ok. Looks like a hairy situation.

The Fishing Geek

01-17-2003, 01:49 PM

Boy, I can imagine the things that I would say if something like that happened to me. And as Bill Cosby puts it "First ya say it....then ya do it".

Jennie@ifish

01-17-2003, 02:04 PM

Thank you for being alive still. :smile:
PHEWIE!

Jen

SafetyChain

01-17-2003, 02:08 PM

I want to thank eveyone that stopped their fishing to help us. We weren't exactly sure how to get out of this situation. Fortunately some guys, including ifishers, stopped what the were doing to offer assistance.

Only the cap'n got a little wet, to his knees. All gear was saved expect a digital camera and cell phones. Small trikets compared to what could have been.

Cap'n actually did a great job for the situation. Look at the third pic below and see what could have been. Had the boat done this to begin with, it would have been deadly. Notice one of the seat is underwater. and all other would have been thrown into the water, without life jackets on.

Here are a few more pics of the day.

http://www.ifish.net/uploads/48001416.jpg

http://www.ifish.net/uploads/12031416.jpg

http://www.ifish.net/uploads/43061416.jpg

http://www.ifish.net/uploads/44071416.jpg

Andy, how ya do afterward?

[ 01-17-2003, 02:14 PM: Message edited by: SafetyChain ]

rainrshine

01-17-2003, 02:18 PM

Alive....... Yes Safe......Now that I am home. As I am sure that many of us think everytime we are out it won't happen to us. The reality of it is that accidents do happen!! I was in one of the front seats along with saftychain. We are all very fortunate to be back home with our families today. Its not easy watching someone loose a boat like that. I am not a boat owner but can only imagine if that was my boat. Very hard to watch as I am sure every boat owner and fisherperson considers his or hers boat a prize possession. Tight Lines.

Rainrshine :cheers:

Mojo

01-17-2003, 02:31 PM

Was the boat totaled? I thought Safety chain said there was very little damage. I hope everything works out o.k. for everyone involved.

I kissed a rock last saturday, and it was the can opener type of rock. Luckily it hit my strake and didn't punch through the hull. Scared me though, and MY boat didn't even leave controlled flight. It must have been terrifying.

Redbull

01-17-2003, 02:35 PM

Glad to hear you are all right SC!

Please, please, please wear life jackets!

I don't care how 'seasoned' one me be, CRAP happens.

I have close to 100,000 ocean sailing miles and who knows how many additional on the water miles and hours. I am very comfortable in and around the water - I chose to wear a pfd.

Occasionally I take a little ribbing. I take it with pride.

I have fished with Safety Chain, Spare Link, ReelDick, Flatfish, Crayfin, Hogmaster, and ...

Ask em! It's on - always.

Reading about an Ifisher in a Final Cast / Casting Memories will not be a good day.

Glad you are ok.

Joby

[ 01-17-2003, 02:38 PM: Message edited by: Redbull ]

skrimmy

01-17-2003, 02:49 PM

I've fished with the cap'n of the above boat for many a year, mostly for Sturgeon in his bigger boat. I can say that he is one of the most cautious, safe boaters I've fished with. When out sturgeon fishing, there is a rule in his boat for everyone - when the boat moves, you wear a PFD. Stuff happens, you never know when it's going to happen, and rest assured it can happen to any of us tomorrow. Be safe. Please....

Steelie Steve

01-17-2003, 02:51 PM

I am glad to hear that everyone is safe! Great news.

I would love to learn from this unfortunate accident. What happened?

Again, I'm glad to hear all are safe. Looked like a harrowing experience to try and remove it from the snag. Wow!

Steve

Hogmaster

01-17-2003, 03:12 PM

1) Joby isn't kidding. He always wears his PFD. It says "Joby" on the back in big bold letters. I always thought he wore it so his mom could find him. Now I know better.

Also, whether I thought that or not, I will never give someone a bad time, even a little kidding, about wearing one. I need to wear mine more. The rude fact is that if you travel in white water in a motorized boat long enough, you will hit something. Almost every ifisher on this board that has a jet that has worked a shallow river knows what I am writing about. For the rest of you it is a matter of time...

2) When the captain of this boat feels more comfortable about it, I am sure he will let us know how this happened from his perspective. Right now he is no doubt going through the "woulda shoulda coulda" syndrome we all do after an accident. Loss of steering control is certainly plausible. But grant him some time to get over the initial shock.

3) Really great that there was a quick response from people on scene to help with stabilizing the situation. And needless to say everyone is glad that there weren't any injuries beyond some no doubt shaken nerves and pride.

Thanks to the water rescue unit for getting it dislodged! Too bad they had to essentially flip it to get it off, but like Safety Chain wrote, had that happened earlier, a cold swim for all would have occurred. Brrrrr! The Clack is running about 38 degrees these days!

fishing is life

01-17-2003, 03:16 PM

does anybody know where this is on the clack? i am going to have to watch out for this spot. just shows you can never be underpowered on a sled. glad everybody was safe and sound.

Chris Nordling

01-17-2003, 03:28 PM

Glad everyone is ok. !

Chris :cool:

[ 01-17-2003, 04:35 PM: Message edited by: FWF1 ]

skrimmy

01-17-2003, 04:01 PM

James, it's just above Carver from what I understand. Maybe one of the two front seaters will mention specifically.

Hogmaster, thanks for helping all to keep it in proper perspective. Life throws a curve at the best of them, we'll all take a turn at it sooner or later.

SafetyChain

01-17-2003, 04:04 PM

It is about a mile upriver from Barton. Closer to Eagle Creek.

ANDYCOHO

01-17-2003, 04:06 PM

Fishing is Life,

It was above Barton and Below Eagle Creek, if you look close on the posted picture you can see "The Legend" Dave Johnson's boat in the background, so I don't know how he feels about holes advertised.

The capt. was very calm, and handled the situation well, given the circumstances.

Hogmaster, 38.3 degrees to be exact!

FWF1, Water was a little clear, didn't see any fish, didn't see Johnson hook up, but the other sled that helped had a take down after shuttling everyone to Barton, hopefully they were able to hook up, you know with all that good karma on the boat now.

Andy

[ 01-17-2003, 04:23 PM: Message edited by: ANDYCOHO ]

fishnxtc

01-17-2003, 04:13 PM

Glad to hear everybody is safe and healthy. Could have just a easily has been myself in that situation :shocked: :shocked: :shocked: . The owner of the boat called me last night and asked if I would like to hit the river with him,and due to prior plans with friends to fish somewhere else I had to decline. I'm really thankful all is well for the people onboard................. Chris

fishbait

01-17-2003, 04:18 PM

Glad everybody is safe.
All I can say is unless you were in the boat or have run this boat in that water do not start second guessing the skipper. Nuff said......

rojo

01-17-2003, 04:32 PM

real scary, thank god everyone is ok. and yes never second guess the skipper, they never want things like this to happen. James remind me to put on a jacket next time ....Roger

Chris Nordling

01-17-2003, 04:42 PM

Edited my first post.

I agree , the last thing we want to do is question the skipper. That was not my intention whatsoever. I apologize if that is the way the post seemed.

Chris :cool:

Drachir

01-17-2003, 04:45 PM

I am so glad to hear all occupants are safe and sound. It just goes to show, no matter how careful we are, stuff can still get us all out there. For heavens sake everyone, please wear your PFD'S!!!
I took it for granted last July, and went into the Columbia head first while anchoring. :shocked: WOW, that sure changed my attitude and outlook on things. As a reminder, I got some cracked ribs, and massive bruises, over my chest and arm, when I hit the gunnel on the way overboard. :blush:

The location is at the bottom end of Lazlo Island. The left side going upriver is where Eagle Creek enters the Clack. Both sides meet @ the top and the Bonnie Luhr hole. Hope this helps!!

jetsled1

01-17-2003, 05:29 PM

fishing is life, or anybody that knows

How would have this boat with more power avoided this kind of accident, wouldn't have a boat with more power been going faster ?
or maybe even the same speed, I don't understand how the power on the back of this boat would have or could have changed anything ? Help me understand as I am also new to jet boating and I want to understand.

Thanks

ANDYCOHO

01-17-2003, 05:53 PM

Jetsled1,

I don't think more power would have helped, I watched this happen and I think the Capt. made the best dicision given the circumstances, if someone in this situation might have tried to power over this stump, the effect could have been fatal. You can see that the boat rolled instead of sliding forward, imagine that at 20 or 30 mph, not good.

Even if the boat was able to power over it and not roll, control would have been lost and the boat might have collided into the cliff appox. 70 feet ahead, again bad news.

The Capt. did good

I am no whitewater expert, but the Capt. did good in this situation.

Andy

Hogmaster

01-17-2003, 06:10 PM

jetsled1 -

This is to answer your question about power. It is not in reference to this accident in any way.

Power comes into play when a jet boat is coming (especially) downriver and the current is sweeping the boat into a wall or obstruction. The current can force the unsuspecting pilot right into trouble.

This is why you will notice that experienced boat captains will almost never run their sleds at full throttle. Not only does the higher revs shorten motor life and consume more fuel, but leaving extra throttle in reserve can help power the boat out of a jam.

My first sled had a very tired 50 Merc on it. Hardly any power at all. In fact, the very first run in it, reeldick and I got stuck right in the middle of the first, relatively innacuous rapid just upstream of the riverside launch on the Clack. As in the boat simply was so underpowered it could not go up it! :shocked: :shocked: :shocked:

I learned very quickly right then that the strongest current was not necessarily the best place to be. We slid over a bit and got up.... That underpowered boat taught me a great deal by necessity about running rivers in general.

But even with it I used the "reserve principle" when running the river. Get your boat on plane and then back off the throttle to allow adjustment if needed. More power allows quicker and stronger movements.

Good luck sledding and be careful!

:cheers:

[ 01-17-2003, 06:18 PM: Message edited by: Hogmaster ]

Nanook

01-17-2003, 06:28 PM

Originally posted by Drachir:
I am so glad to hear all occupants are safe and sound. <font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helv">Me too Rick. Fell over while anchoring in the Columbia? That would make you think, like you said. Makes me start thinking already about Spring madness coming soon to the Columbia.

Don't let fish overule your basic safety and common sense this season. Anyone passing judgement in this case, should not be. Not to make light of this at all, but at least it is not a shot of one turned backwards, still attached to the anchor and going under. It kinda looks like that. Not something you care to witness either.

The boat and motor can be replaced. We can't be. Hope insurance helps take some of the other hurt away.

Rick

[ 01-17-2003, 06:37 PM: Message edited by: ****** ]

KingFisher85

01-17-2003, 06:28 PM

Man, so glad that everyone is ok. Hope everying gets better. That gotta suck :depressed:

fishing is life

01-17-2003, 06:45 PM

Jetsled 1, in the earlier post (now closed) one of the people who had talked to the captn said that when he tried to turn he didnt feel like they had enough to turn to clear the stump. i am not sure of the facts but i prob should hear firsthand before saying something like that again. like Hogmaster said before, you should never run at full throttle, i try to run just enough to get me on plane (especially around tight/dangerous/fast spots). if you need to get out of trouble you have enough time to react (cause youre not going too fast)and you still have the power to move you out of harms way. jet boating is tough stuff and things that happened today can happen to any boat. lets just try to learn from each other. and yes i am going to start wearing my life vest.

Born to Fish

01-17-2003, 06:55 PM

Geez.....that sucks! But really happy to hear that everyone came out of it alright.

My hat's off to the Captain for taking the appropriate actions during this unfortunate accident, and to those who were on the scene and helped out. graemlins/applause.gif

Think a lot of us have learned something from this incident - thanks for sharing a difficult situation.

skrimmy

01-17-2003, 07:00 PM

Hogmaster, thanks for your comments on this topic. As always, they are first class, and on the money. Thanks also to those who were on the river today and helped the captain of this boat, he's a good friend and lontime fishing partner. See my last comments on the "other post" related to this story. Thanks.

R Jackson

01-17-2003, 07:02 PM

Is the boat still there? Did it sink completely or is it on its side near the bank?

skrimmy

01-17-2003, 07:06 PM

SS, the salvage efforts ended up causing more damage to the boat than the original mishap. The three fishers made it out of the boat dry with assistance from other ifishers. (see the first picture) Later in the day, salvage attempts put the boat totally under water.

R Jackson

01-17-2003, 07:18 PM

So its on the bottom. Is it in the deeper water/heavier current or has it made its way into the eddy?

Teufelhunden

01-17-2003, 07:23 PM

Glad to hear that everyone is OK.

I would like to make a personal observation here.

We all go out fishing for the sport, challenge, outdoors, camaradere and the competition. Sometimes not knowing who you're fishing next to or even paying attention to them. One thing is guaranteed if, you ever needed help from another fisherman/boater they would come to aid without hesitation.

Thanks to those of you that helped.

Semper Fi

TJ

Gun Rod Bow

01-17-2003, 07:23 PM

Guys,

I completely agree and am not about to second gues the boat operator, but lets do some public service here to keep others safe.

The place this happened is on the west side of the island that is directly in front of the mouth of Eagle Creek. The river actually braids into three channels. That root wad is in the center of the three.

PLEASE PLEASE believe I'm not trying to appear to be a better boater than anybody, but in the interest of safety I'll say the following.

I have ran past there last week and today in my sled. I always take the left hand channel (facing up river) and come back down the same way.

Others may have another idea, but this looks like the safest passage.

I'm awfully sorry this happened. I always respect the river. I always wear my float coat. I'm not above something like this happening to me. Just thought it was time someone share some info that could save another boater.

I heard that a guide lost a boat at the same place a year ago. Please don't run it if you're not sure.

Not critisizing, hope I can help.

Let the slings and arrows fly.

Be safe out there.

PS Big and Bright and I were the last sled down the river tonight. This boat is currently upside down directly under the power lines in about 2 1/2' of water. I'm afraid it doesn't look as good now.

Very sorry to see this. Thank God everyone is OK

GRB

Hogmaster

01-17-2003, 07:33 PM

GRB -

Thanks for the update. I too only take the left channel, but have seen many sleds this year take the other side. I know I won't.

The good news is that with permission the area the sled is in now can easily allow something like a hoist to get down there to get it out, and it isn't obstructing other boat traffic.

Best wishes on the boat!

ampersat

01-17-2003, 08:28 PM

that root has been there since this summer when i watched silvers pooling around in the back eddy, and probably a lot longer. the captain made a decision on this one and we don't know what that decision was or what occurred during that period of time to result in this. we may never hear from the captain and that's fine. it's his story to share if he wants to.

there's been some smackin' on this thread, some wondering about what happened and the impact of it, and a little bit of helpful stuff. for those who run the left channel, please explain why. for those who go up the middle, please explain why. for those who go up the right, please explain why. this board is here for helping your fellow fisher, not calling their judgement into question.

we're all glad that everyone came through this okay. stuff is one thing but human life is quite another.

SafetyChain

01-17-2003, 08:57 PM

I will let the captain give any detail he decides.

But we did take the left channel up. We did this as a result of my fishing with hogmaster on new year's day - thanks hog! :smile:

R Jackson

01-17-2003, 09:06 PM

Does he have a recovery plan?

Gizmo Man

01-17-2003, 10:51 PM

sorry to hear about this accident. But glad to hear that you all got out ok.

Another vote for float coats. Get one and wear it. It only takes a second to go from alls calm to all hell is breaking loose....

Giz...

Small Fry

01-18-2003, 12:29 AM

Safety Chain really glad to hear everyone is ok. Must have been a pucker factor 10!

How about posting where this root ball / hazard is to warn anyone else that may venture out.

Jennie@ifish

01-18-2003, 12:33 AM

I removed it cuz I like power. :smile:

Eh hem... I removed it as requested.
:smile:
Jen

SafetyChain

01-18-2003, 12:38 AM

Here is what you are looking for...

the rootwad, not the boat.

http://www.ifish.net/uploads/22351216.jpg

ANDYCOHO

01-18-2003, 12:48 AM

Safetychain,

My Dad and I were talking after helping you guys out (I don't know if we helped the sled any pulling on the rope, but we were there for moral support) and we were extremely glad everyone came through it ok, I don't think anyone even got wet? Not much tackle or gear was lost and no damage to the sled that I could see except for water damage.

But most important material things can be replaced, YOU AND FRIENDS CANNOT!

Please E-mail me the pics when their ready.

Glad everyone is OK,
Andy

CATCH AND EAT

01-18-2003, 12:49 AM

Opppsyyy...Sure glad everyone is okay. That make for a bummer day for sure. Is the boat okay too?

skrimmy

01-18-2003, 12:53 AM

Hmm, thank goodness for "safetychains". Good pic. I spoke to the Cap'n a while ago. He mentioned that when he gave it a hard turn, it wouldn't respond. They're back up there now trying to get it off the snag. Reminds me of Hogmasters story when he was in another ifishers boat down in tidewater....highsided on a stump a few feet an outgoing tide. Hog, we never did see pics of that.