Man overboard - FryingPanTower.Com

Deck Hand Joined: Feb 21, 2005 Posts: 5

It was great weather on saturday and my brother Gaston and I were going to try to break the small king jinx which has plagued REEL MUSIC for a year and a half. It took a while to get bait with me throwing the net but we left CB with a well full. Within a half hour we released one over thirty at the boat. It hit a rubber pinkish / purple squid on the way out and a naked pogie on the way back in the water. I ended up breaking off the fish on the live bait rod and brought it to the boat with a 650SS Penn.
We the went off shore stopping at live bottoms to see if we could find some more Kings. We would put out a few lines and drop a few bottom baits to try for some bottom fish. We finially got to a great spot with the bottom fishing looking good and mahi mahi all around our live baits. NO SW WINDS ......THIS WAS GOING TO BE GREAT!
We heard REEL DRAG contact the Coast Guard reporting that they had boarded a unmaned center console boat ....in gear with the fishing lines in the water. We imediately brought lines in and determined that we were within 15 minutes of WR 4 and set our course and headed that way. I had Gaston cut off a boat that was heading in to get him to help with the search. The man sat there a minute, then headed on in to the beach???? We had decided to hail ever boat between us and WR 4. The more the better the persons chances. We stopped at one more boat and these guys imediately picked up and helped. We worked the area until 4 when fuel became an issue. We worked our way towards the coast on the MOB's drift path. We did not find him.. NONE OF THE OTHER , MAYBE, FOUR OR FIVE BOATS DID EITHER!Thank GOD someone did.
The coast guard flew a choper out to WR 4 at about 3PM and left. I assume they flew the drift path. We did not see them as we worked the drift path towards shore. I know that the boats anchored and fishing at WR 4 did not stop fishing and help. I assume there were more boats within a ten mile radius that heard the coast guard report, of a person overboard. Why would these people continue their fun time when an emergency where time and maximum help is so important? I will give everyone the benifit of a doubt that they did not have their radio on.
I am ashamed that we as humans are so selfish as to react this way in a crisis situation. I hope we have time to think and react differently next time. If your radio was off....Keep it on!
While I blessed my meal last night and asked God to look after my family and friends, it was with great joy that I was able to thank Him for His assistance in the search and rescue of one thankful fisherman.

Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 12:48 pm Post subject:

I'm not going to try to defend anybody because I wasnt there but I only have one radio and spend most of my time not on 16 I wish there was a way to scan but there is not. Lord knows if there is an emergency in the area I'm there but if you dont know about it what can you do. And for those who know and still choose to ignore, then remember that when you are the one in need...
_________________
Yellow 210CC Sea Fox 200 Suzuki I moniter channel 69 ask for "Hook and Ladder"

Ol'Salt Joined: Sep 20, 2005 Posts: 1366

This is a very sad story with a happy ending. I cant belive people would continue to head in or continue fishing in a area where something like this has happened.

Did anyone go to the local favorite channel and report the Man Overboard?

I would venture to say that very few people fish with their radios completely off, most are monitoring the local favorite channel just to hear who is doing what and to listen to the elusive radio fishing reports. They may turn it down a little when the chatter gets excessive.

I dont know what scares me the most about this incident:

(1) Either alot people on the water off shore really dont know what to do in an emergency situtation like this or:

(2) Alot of people on the water off shore dont really consider that situtation their problem and continue fishing.
_________________
Ricky Holden

(Holden Charters - Reely Miss-Behavin - 26ft Cape Horn)

Just because it seems excessive - Dosen't mean it didn't happen ~ "SLASH"

www.holdencharters.com

Deck Hand Joined: May 23, 2006 Posts: 10

Hopefully, all the people that heard that message and were in that area stopped fishing and tried to help. It's amazing that there could possibly be someone out there that just ignored the call for help (I'm talking about the guy that they stopped and tried to get to help but just kept on going in). Hopefully, if he ever gets into trouble out there, others will not do like he did.

Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 11:04 am Post subject:

We never have our radio on when we go out. If anything, we have our stereo on. I'm glad to hear about all the support these other guys offered to help the overboard individual. I mean, even with radios off, wouldn't it seem odd to look over and see a boat that keeps floating around with no one aboard..? Ya don't need a radio to wonder if anything is wrong with that picture. Any idea what happened, how he fell out the boat??

Glad he's ok!
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*If u r fishing with me...theres NO BITCHIN, JUST FISHIN!*
NoBitchinJustFishin.com, NC Rep

BocaBearings.com Fishing Team

Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 7:25 pm Post subject:

Here's the article from the Wilmington paper:

http://www.starnewsonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060806/NEWS/608060436/1004

Ray

Ol'Salt Joined: Dec 12, 2005 Posts: 383

We were south of the WR4 sat morning and did not here about this. We were on 6 and sometimes had the electronics box closed to the radio. I wish I knew about it! We left there and went to the Tower sometime around 1 or 2 Oclock. I saw a guy fishing alone catch a king and gaff it. I don't believe it was the same guy. I sure will pay more attention to the radio and monitor 16 from time to time or before I make a move! Glad that he was found & OK!!! As nice as it was I would think that he would have been spotted sooner. The way that some people don't pay attention when there running I figure if I was out there floating around looking for help they would run me over! BE SAFE!

Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 9:41 pm Post subject:

I might add that you are REQUIRED to monitor Channel 16 at all times when under way.

I was on the pond that day and listened to all happen live. HE is a VERY lucky man.

I have 2 radios on my boat. One is for 16 and the other is for whatever else. If you only have one....go read the manual and learn how to use SCAN

Dave
_________________
Capt. Dave
Continental Shelf
Morehead City, NC
800-775-7450

Life is SHORT....Fish Hard!

Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2006 7:23 am Post subject:

I too am guilty of always being on 6 and rarely on 16. Sounds like the excuse I've been looking for to add a second radio (mmm new toy) Very Happy

.
The first time I took my boat (my old 17 footer) out alone was a 20knot North wind with small craft warnings. Off Oak Island of course the seas were flat as a pancake, Yaupon reef was bouncy but safe. Then I got brave (stupid) and tried to go futher out, yeah right, made it about 2 miles, when I realized I was getting into some deep s*&t I put a vest on and hauled my skinny but back to the reef. Lost one king and boated a 20 pounder then went in. Definate learning curve associated with fishing/boating alone. As soon as I got back home from that trip I ordered one of the auto inflator SOSpenders vest. Still working on making myself wear it all the time instead of just when I think I need it.

Ray

Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2006 8:31 am Post subject:

We also dont monitor 16 very much. Is there a radio available with the ability to scan? And as for life vests, we do wear them when we're out.
_________________
"Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime!"

Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2006 9:42 am Post subject:

Every radio I have used both personal and work related have had the capability to scan. As Capt Dave noted read the manual and you will be surprised how easy it is to setup.

Even the cheap handhelds scan.

Matt

Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2006 9:52 am Post subject:

I would like to say when people are running from spot to spot or heading back to the dock they should pay closer attention to there surroundings. Just last month we were running in from big rck and saw some guys about 25 miles out waving lifejackets and shooting flares at us. They had broken down and said numerous boats had ridden right by them and paid them no attention. We began pulling them in about twenty miles later sea tow meet us 5 miles off the beach to take over.
_________________
Three Buoys Fishing Team
26' Regulator

Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2006 10:31 am Post subject: MOB

Interesting to read the comments, which regretfully too easily mirror the times we live in. The water is no place for fools and people who don't want to help. We all have to do our part because what goes around comes around.
That guy was one lucky person, God smiled on him for another day.

Since I boat alone on many occasions I would offer the following tips:
1- don't go out when the weather is bad better safe then sorry.
2-get an auto inflatable PFD and wear it all the time from the dock to the dock. You can drown in your own back yard.
3- make up a tether on your boat. I know it is a pain but it is worth the effort. I have 50 ft of polypropylene line fastened around my seat base, and fastened to my PFD with a carabiner snap clip. The bulk of the line is loosely coiled, held with a rubber band and stored in a small bag behind the seat. It will easily pull out if I go overboard and the bag keeps most of the line out of the way. I fastened the ignition kill switch to the last few feet of the line near the seat base so when the line pulls tight it will kill the engine. The self inflatable should keep me alive if I happen to hit my head as I go over, and the kill switch will make it a lot easier to get back to the boat.
Obviously, having a cable following you around the boat during some fishing action is a pain but with a little thought you can learn to live with it and when you consider what the alternative could be it is a small nuisance. It is a big ocean out there and not everybody is lucky to be found.

Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2006 12:04 pm Post subject:

like dave i have 2 vhf's and one stays on 16
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capt phil leonard 910-934-4677

www.topsailcharterfishing.com
www.eastcoastsports.com

the 4 phases of fishing
1 i just want to catch a fish
2 i want a limit of fish
3 i want to catch a big fish
4 i want to catch him under my TE

Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2006 12:31 pm Post subject:

Good for you though to pull up lines and help search. I too have the same set up with about 40' of rope and a snap that attaches to my belt and the killswitch to the rope.

I can't afford an EPIRB right now, so I rent one... $50 for the week includes shipping to you and back... not bad.....

Lucky Lucky guy though..... I bet he'll make some adjustments to his safety equipment.

Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2006 8:08 pm Post subject:

I almost went saturday by myself also, since I cannot find a crew. I used to fish alone a lot until a few years ago when someone who fell out of the boat was not found. That's when I stopped. I had a funny feeling saturday morning at 5 am sitting in my driveway when I decided not to go. Weird feeling to hear about that guy and glad it turned out for him and his wife.

I'll will certainy do as Capt Dave says and hope everyone else does too.

I'm going sat, with the wife.

Deck Hand Joined: Jul 11, 2006 Posts: 9

I saw this thread and thought I would take this opportunity to give a sincere and heartfelt thank you to all of the "good Samaritan" boaters that participated in the search for me on Saturday. I am very appreciative of your time and effort. I wish I could personally thank each and every one of you.

I went overboard about 10:30 a.m., one half mile due south of WR4. I was recovered about 5:20 p.m. by a recreational boater, William Murdock and crew on the "Reel Obsession". Also thanks to Capt. Bob Barrentine and crew on the "Reel Drag" for boarding my unmanned boat and contacting the USCG.

Based on the name of the two boats involved in my search and rescue, someone has suggested I should change the name of my boat to "Reel Lucky", which I certainly feel that I am.

Steve Bright

Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 6:40 am Post subject:

CitationX,
Thank You for stopping by. I am glad you are here to read this thread. You are a very lucky man. Want to know how lucky....

http://captgregmickey.org/

We could be naming a Reef after you too....

We have some folks on here that fish alone from time to time. Would you Please take a moment and educate them about what went wrong in your case and what you would do different now if you did it again?

Maybe we can use what happened to you to stop something like this from happening to anyone else that might read this.

Dave
_________________
Capt. Dave
Continental Shelf
Morehead City, NC
800-775-7450

Life is SHORT....Fish Hard!

Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 8:05 am Post subject:

CitationX, yes you were lucky but you obviously kept your wits about you and didn't panic and make a bad situation worse. Thank goodness for yourself and your family that there was a happy ending to this story, seems that its not usually the case when we hear a MOB story. Thanks for posting, hope we get to hear from you for a long long time.

Ray

Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 8:43 am Post subject:

My serious side says glad you're alive and well and yeah any lessons learned would be great.

My smart ass side really wants to know if you landed the fish.

Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 11:29 am Post subject:

When we boarded the boat, 2 lines were in the water, 1 on the downrigger, pulled it up empty, the center line was spooled out, and had something on it, we reeled it in (hoping it was not a person) saw it was a small shark, cut him loose. I would think he would have had more then 2 lines out? So we figured he maybe fell over with 1? I looked for the gaff and did not see one, after calling for help we began the search and I found 1 gaff stowed away but figured he may have had 2? We hoped the whole time while searching that he had just fallen overboard and tried very hard to keep all the "bad thoughts" away (heat attack, stroke, etc.) 1 thing we found very odd was that his live bait wells were full, ice in the hatch, everything seemed to be in order EXCEPT... there were no drinks! There was 1 HOT water bottle almost full sitting on the seat. Why would someone travel 25 miles off shore, set up to fish for a while it seemed, and not bring anything to drink? Seemed a little odd! We kept yelling for him... Dude, where are you? Dude hang in there! We kept thinking about him floating around out there, sure that his whole life was re playing in his mind over and over, what he has done, what he hasnÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚Â¢t done yet, did he tell his wife and kids he loved them before he left, all the family and friends that would be crushed to hear the news, how many lives would change that day? When it started to rain we became more anxious to find him, thinking what he must be going through and now this? Water was getting choppy, rain, and thunder... We just kept yelling HANG IN THERE! WERE COMING! DONÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ÂT GIVE UP! We were very upset when the coast guard told us that we had to return to our boat (that was being towed in) because it was getting late and they did not want us out there getting lost too but we knew that the coast guard would not give up, they assured us they would continue to search and use his boats navigational equipment to continue to trace back his coarse as we had been doing. We all hoped and prayed. The long (slow) tow back home gave us all time to think. We asked ourselves many questions along the way and as soon as we heard the news over the radio... "They found him".... we asked our last question ... is he alive? The answer came back loud and clear!!!! YES, YES HE IS! WOW!

Ol'Salt Joined: Apr 17, 2005 Posts: 273

Wow that is quite a story. I'm glad it had a good ending.

I fished in the same area a month ago by myself, so this story hits home big time. I like the upper-thigh high freeboard my Kencraft has even more.

Deck Hand Joined: Jul 11, 2006 Posts: 9

Captain Dave,

I will be glad to provide a description of what went wrong. I am responding in hopes this information may help someone else; I am not soliciting for advice. I have been a saltwater fisherman for over 30 years. I stopped fishing alone about 15 years ago. Since then, I always fish with a crew of 1-3. I consider myself safety conscious; I typically use a checklist prior to departure. I have every safety device one could wish for on my boat. When I run my boat in the open ocean, I am one of the few people I know that actually use the kill switch lanyard. How could this happen to me?

I had not been fishing in 6 or 7 weeks and was anxious to go. When the weather looked like it may be good, I made a last minute decision on Friday afternoon to fish on Saturday. With such short notice, none of my fishing buddies were able to go. No problem, weather will be good, I will make a short trip Saturday morning and be back at the dock before 2:00 pm. I gave my wife locations of where I would be fishing and my arrival time back at the dock. I knew there would be other boats fishing close by, so I would not really be alone.

Caught bait, went to the dredge wreck, started fishing about 8:30 a.m. Not much action, moved out to WR4 about 10:15 a.m. Started fishing about one half mile from WR4, put the boat on autopilot, slow trolling. Two other boats were about two hundred yards away. Within a few minutes of putting out the lines I had a big fish on. Rod on the port side was in the way, so I was going to put it on the T top, something I have done a thousand times. I must have slipped. I am not really sure exactly what happened. In the blink of an eye, I went over the gunwale, head first in the water. I dropped my rods and when I surfaced, I was facing away from the boat. Turned, located the boat, kicked off my shoes and tried to swim to the boat. Missed it by inches, and I could not catch it. There I was, 25 miles off shore with only a pair of shorts and a watch.

I know there are inflatable life vests, remote kill switches, tether lines, etc. If I normally fished alone, I may have used some of those safety devices, but I didn't. All of the safety equipment I have on my boat did not do me much good, as I saw my boat disappear over the horizon. I am not sure I qualify to give advice to anyone, but this is what I have learned:

I always thought these incidents happened to someone else, but I was wrong, it can happen to you. Accidents can happen so fast, you have no time to react. Fishing alone allows zero tolerance for error; one mistake can be fatal, there is no one to help you. It's a big ocean and you are very small. Over the course of about seven hours in the water I saw two boats within one hundred yards and maybe 4-5 boats within two hundred yards, but they could not see me, no matter what I did. I was lucky that I did not panic; I remained calm, focused on what I had to do to survive and managed to save my energy and keep my head above water until I was rescued. I hope none of you ever has to be in that situation.

Steve Bright

Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2006 6:52 pm Post subject:

I thank God it turned out well for you and hope we all can take something we each can use from this episode of life!
_________________
"Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime!"

Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2006 8:10 pm Post subject:

CitationX,
Thank You VERY much for having the balls to make that post. Most folks would be hiding in the corner somewhere scared to admit to making a mistake. My hats off to you sir for standing up and shouting what happened to you in an effort to keep it from happing to someone else. You may very well save someones elses life.

I will only 1 piece of advice to you in the future and then I will lock this thread and make it a sticky in this forum. I hope a lot of folks take the time to read it and learn this important lesson.

My 1 piece of advice is this....

If you can not find someone to go fishing with....even on short notice. Come to this site and make a post that you are looking for someone to go. There are over 3000 people a day that read here....most of them fisherman. I see it all the time on here....people getting hooked up to go....so in the future...Post Up!

Thank you again!

Dave
_________________
Capt. Dave
Continental Shelf
Morehead City, NC
800-775-7450

Life is SHORT....Fish Hard!

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