Rip Ed Coen

This is exactly why I got a personal locator beacon last year. They are small and inexpensive now, so you can have them on you at all times. It sends out a distrss signal to a satellite, and also a homing beacon. I won't go out on the ocean without it. It's too easy to die of hypothermia. I got it at REI.

Michael

When I was taking my wife/friends/family on my crazy, fearless trips in Lake Erie in my 19' O/B I had a duffel bag w/a 2 man Walmart inflatable, oars and pump at hand at all times. Made sure every one on board knew where it was and what it was.
Boating up there in early spring or late Fall you're often in 50* water and w/no other boats around to help you. You ARE playing hard ball.
Figured if we got vests on and grabbed that bag on the way over the side, we could float while inflating it.

Sad, sad story here and prayers go out to those involved.
Their story reminds me of my work to do on the Sonic.
I still need to do a "Dave Bag" and have it in the cockpit instead of cuddy as is.
I have a rescue beacon on my wish list for going offshore.
The ship to shore I installed during the re-rig has a one button distress call feature (why I picked it) if connected to your GPS.
You push one button and it sends out a "may day" w/your latt/long in the message. That hopefully gives you time to prepare crew for what lies ahead.
Very said story but one to make us all humble and to be smart.

Another one I thought of.......
W/boats like ours that at rest sit very low in the stern and bow up are very dangerous in the rough if we lose power. W/any wind at all you will float bow down wind meaning you will be taking waves over your very vulnerable transom.
When on Erie w/my old 24' Sonic I always figured in much over 3 footers if that happened it would take about 4 waves to get me in trouble. Due to this risk I kept a sea anchor on board that would keep bow into wind where you are safe to attempt repairs.
I watched this happen to my brother one time while following him home from Pelee when he got caught in a fish net. Was in a 23' Celebrity w/a Euro platform. Boat instantly spun bow down wind, transom to waves. Then to amplify the situation he's hanging over the platform trying to free the net w/his wife holding his feet so there body weight put the transom down even farther. They wouldn't have lasted long. I always carried a dive knife for nets and was lucky enough to have the dinghy in tow that trip to go cut him lose.


In this story they said when they hit the boats 4 bilge pumps water started flying everywhere??? Defective hoses?
Something else to consider. On one of my re-rigs I read up on pumps and hoses. (I think West Marine still has this info on their site) The GPH ratings on the pumps is w/no hoses attached. W/the traditional corrugated flex hose installed I'm thinking that flow is cut nearly in half. Standard hose is much more efficient and what/why I use.

Terribly sad. Must be awful parting from your life long buddy in such a way. RIP.

Not to be callous, but one line in the story struck me as peculiar. Right at the beginning they state that "Coen quickly unhooked the boat from one of the many oil rigs in area where they had been fishing." It's easy to be judgmental sitting here now, but if they were tied to an oil rig when the boat first started sinking, why in the world could they not have stayed put and used the rig for shelter?

And for those of you not familiar yet with an EPIRB, you register it and provide lots of data, including he vessel ID, what it looks like plus who to contact if they get a signal. It goes way beyond the concept of sighting a flare and rescuers not knowing what they are looking for.

Another question, the boat mentioned was a 30' Scarab. Was this a sport with outboards or another model? Bellows would be on I/O's, not outboards.

Scarabs do squart lower in the back than other hulls. One thing I do not like about my Scarab Sport is the scuppers drain into teh bilge, not directly overboard.

I thought the exact same when I started to read this yesterday. The line would have maybe even held the boat vertical with both guys hanging on till someone finds them.

Sad- RIP

sad story...RIP

My guess (that's all it is) is that they cut the line hoping to start the motors and get the boat on plane and stop the intake of water. I'm sure everyone here knows someone who had to make a hasty retreat to the trailer because the boat was taking water through bellows or something else not that it matters now.

Rip Ed Coen. Prayers to both families.

getting.

Would assume it was a Sport. See many of them as beaters and especially when a fishing boat.
Agreed too that survival 101 is staying w/the boat but also agree they were probably trying to get on plane trying to stop/slow the leak.