Folks,
I guess I better speak up and inform the folks on this form what happened this morning, and quell some of your speculations on what took place, where it took place, size of vessel, and a couple of other items. I don’t normally respond to posts such as these, as almost everyone has an opinion, and I respect their opinions, right or wrong.
The incident happened just south of Scott Islands, near Cape Scott, this morning, just before 8am. The boat had just arrived and deployed the anchor, when the guide went to the back of the boat to set the gear and noticed that the stern was lower than normal, he then opened the floor storage hatch and noticed water in the bilge, rising quite quickly. Called our two closest boats, who were 1 and 1.5 km away, then contacted Coast Guard. Guide then cut the boat free from their anchor; motored toward the closest boat, which had already cut loose from their anchor and was almost there. The boats then met, and the guests then stepped off the boat, onto the other boat, transferred a bunch of gear, and then the guide finally left the vessel. The vessel then went nose up and then under.
A couple of points:
The vessel was a 23’ Aluminum with a 200hp main and an 8hp kicker.
The vessel only had 160hrs on it, and it was not one of our regular boats. It was a new to addition to the charter fleet. We do have another brand new boat also, a 26’ Bruce Cope designed aluminum, with the 2nd Cope boat arriving sometime later this summer.
The vessel that went down is a very popular production boat, and many, possibly hundreds, have been made in the last decade or so. Many are used by other lodges, day charters, and rental fleets throughout the Pacific Northwest, and yes, there are a few working out of the Ucluelet/Tofino and Winter Harbour areas.
All three persons on board were experience boaters, with the guide having decades of experience, with almost 10 years in with us in this area.
We don’t know why the vessel took on water, all hatches were closed and dogged, the boat was in great shape, with an ocean going reputation. The weather was 5knts, and just under a half meter sea.
Just a side note, the weather patterns 30 miles to the south of us are quite different than what we have here, this is why the north Island weather reports are separated into North of Brooks Peninsula and South Brooks; what you may experiencing in South Brooks can, and most likely, be different than what you would get even one mile north of Solander. Please don’t speculate on what the weather is up here unless you were here, or have at least read the local reports.
Some of you like to bash the Coast Guard, DFO, RCMP Marine Det, and the commercial fleet, but when you are out there, all alone, and **** hits the fan, these folks are the ones that will risk it all to get you back. When the call was made, the Tully was about 29 miles away, and they made a beeline to the vessel. Cannot give the SAR teams and everyone else who are involved in keeping the waters safe enough credit.
All we lost today was a boat, just a piece of aluminum, glass, and paint, completely replaceable. What we didn’t have was a tragic situation, mostly due to the training that the crew have done in the last couple of years. I would recommend to anyone, including those boats traveling alone, either as a single boat charter or private vessel, buddy up or at least travel in packs, as when things happen, seconds do matter. Carry PLB’s (EPIRB’s are nice but they are meant for larger vessels, farther from shore), have proper communication equipment (cell phones are not it), have a ditch plan and go over it with the people on board, wear quality floatation gear, and do not panic when it does happen, just do what you have prepared for.
We can only speculate what happened to the hull for it to take on water the way it did. I would like to think that the plug fell out, but a 3/4” bung hole will not take a boat down that fast, as it happened in just a couple of minutes. We are thankful that everyone is safe, as that is the only thing we are concerned with.
Best wishes on your fishing this summer, and if you are in the harbour, stop in and say Hi.
Regards,
Fishyboy
