6m of glassfibre cat with 3 guys of 100 kg or thereabouts on board and fishing in torrential rain. 400 litres of fuel in under-floor tanks. Self-draining deck with duckbill scuppers. Bilge pump in each hull with about 3/4 inch pipe on each.
We had been fishing for about 3, maybe 4 hours in the pouring rain and the water around my feet in the port transom was nothing unusual as it usually washes around there. Being a self-draining deck and continual rain, there was no need to worry. Tui. However, my tackle bag, at least 1m forward was now starting to float (with three trays of jigs and jigheads plus the rest). Anyway, time to move anyway. Skipper says port bilge pump not working properly so will I skip the boat to the next spot while he opens the hatch in the motor well to see if he can get it working.
Unfortunately as he moves his frame of 20kg more than mine to the stern and I move to the wheel, the list to port becomes significant. I realise something is amiss and try and get the boat on the plane. No such luck! I have the motors at almost full revs which means the skipper at the stern cannot hear me shouting at him to move forward. I ask other fisho on port to move to starboard. He doesn't hear me and after me shouting accompanied with a not so gentle tap on his shoulder, he moves to starboard very pissed off with me because the bilge pump is now working. (He was totally oblivious of the danger of the situation at the time.) We slowly come out of the hole and up onto the plane as the skipper now finished in the motor well moves forward. The scuppers can now at least drain the half-flooded deck. The skipper related later that he realised we were in the **** when he looked forward after getting the bilge working and seeing the steep deck angle between the port stern and the rest of the boat.
While we were at rest, there was no visible problem but the shift in weight distribution caused all the water in the port hull to run to the stern. Who knows how much water but we drove around for 20 minutes pumping water like a fountain at full bore from that 3/4 in. pipe. 400 litres of fuel on board certainly would not have helped.
Lessons learned:
Find and fix that bloody leak!!!
Check hulls regularly for water while at sea.
Keep cellphone or comms mechanism at hand or in your pocket. (All comms device were in the cabin out of the rain and VHF is fixed.) We would have been in the water without any comms in very poor visibility despite not being far from land (between Matiatia & Motuihe channel).
You hear of boats sinking very quickly without any opportunity to radio and you wonder how. I know how.
www.kavemantackle.co.nz
Haku-2 wrote:
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