As close as you can come to sinking!

[Chris1956]

Many years ago I was out in Raritan Bay NJ near the ammunition pier, in my 14' runabout. Now I know that it gets real rough there in the afternoon (4' waves), but at the time I was ignorant. We stopped to fish, and took several waves over the transom in rapid succession. Since we were about to sink, I got the motor started and gave it full throttle, had the two girls and myself lean over the windshield and had the other guy try to save all the gear and stuff floating around the back seat and rear of the boat.<br /><br />We were moving forward at about 8 MPH, with water pouring over both sides of the boat 3-4 feet in front of the motor. This water was then pouring over the transom of the boat just as fast. The battery was under water, the fuel cans were floating. The motor was sticking up out of the water and running without missing a beat! We were still afloat and making progress toward home. <br /><br />I soon noticed that the fuel consumption was up(not easy to carry all that water) and we had no chance to make it home (30 Miles). So I tried to pick out a sandy beach without pilings, wrecks or rocks (not easy to find in Keyport NJ) and ran the boat up on the beach. Even if we now sunk, it would be in shallow water. When we hit bottom, I killed the motor and the water moved forward, but it spread out enough so we didn't sink. We bailed it out, found a marina, got some more gas and went home. <br /><br />Of course upon arrival my mom asks me if this was the same boat I left with? Things were a bit messy!

 

[Old Jarhead]

Re: As close as you can come to sinking!

Were you ever able to get the girls back in the boat again?

 

[TwoBallScrewBall]

Re: As close as you can come to sinking!

Gets hairy over there by the hook pretty quick, don't it? You have the Shrewsbury river dumping out there, the ocean currents whiping around sandy hook, and the tides adding to the mix. I've taken a few waves clear over the bow there.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: As close as you can come to sinking!

Old Jarhead, The girls teased me a bit, but were really too ignorant to understand how bad off we were.<br /><br />Steve, On a humerous note. I was back there some years after the near sinking, in my new speedboat. I was just motoring along, just on plane, watching the transom for waves "sneaking" up on me. I turned around forward just in time to take one square in the face! I developed an avid hate for that area, from those two trips. <br /><br />I now live on Barnegat Bay. We have the 3PM wind and subsequent waves, but they are tame in comparison!

 

[grant1973]

Re: As close as you can come to sinking!

Brotha! I know your pain.<br /><br />I had the wife and 2 friends out in my antique-ish 14'4 Hydro Swift last Saturday. I had recently fixed the reverse that hasn't work for over a year (since I bought it) and was stoked that it actually worked and I was able to pull away from the dock with out the old 1-2-3-push......anyway, we were fishing and I realized that we had drifted very close to the shore of rocks and low hanging branches (maybe man-eating claws) so I fired er' up and slammed back into reverse. After we were a safe distance away from the shore I realized that my wife and her friend were sitting on the cooler at the transom.....so when you talk about submerged battery and floating fuel tanks I 100% appreciate the panic that is involved in that sight. I now understand what a full boat, reverse, and a low transom (when combined) can turn into. Thank goodness I did not have the 4' waves that you had!! In comparison to your's, my tale is mearly my own paranoid fear of sinking, not actually sinking as you were.<br /><br />Glad to hear that you were able to return safely.

 

[Petty Cash]

Re: As close as you can come to sinking!

I had a similiar problem off Keyport (Raritan Bay) when I was a kid about 40 years ago. I had a 12ft hydroplane wooden boat. The gunwales sat about 10" above the water. My friend and I were trying to fish off the boat (typical 17 year olds).<br /><br />Just as two 12' sharks came to investigate, our boat started taking on water. The sharks fins were eye level, since we sat deep in this boat. It was scary, even for immortal 17 year olds. I started the engine and headed about 2 miles to the beach. The sharks followed. Due to the rough weather, the faster we went to more the boat leaked (and sank). <br /><br />About 100' from shore the boat went completely under. Fortunately, the sharks lost interest about a minute before. We swam to shore, pulling the boat ( it only weighed 120 lbs without the engine). <br /><br />I called my mother to get my car and the trailer from Highland Park and bring it to Keyport, where we carried it over the beach to the trailer. <br /><br />I never went in a boat with that friend again.

 

[Twidget]

Re: As close as you can come to sinking!

A few years ago, my wife, her 2 brothers and I were out in a 15' Bayliner on a long narrow lake with fairly high winds. This was the B.i.L.'s first time on a boat and they both wanted to sit up front and relax. Problem being, they are both weight lifters and topped 300 lbs each.<br /><br />When I dropped the boat off plane, the bow dove under water long enough to get 3" of water in the boat. Scared all of us silly. They never went out again....