Found a ghost boat today

[maxum2400sc]

So the wife and I were just getting ready to turn into the Delaware City channel from the Delaware River, when I noticed a small boat about a mile off in the distance. The boat caught my eye because it appeared to be randomly floating and I didn?t see any captain on board. The boat was a small 14' aluminum run about with a 15 horse on the back. So I decided to cruise up and check it out. Sure enough it was empty full of gear and cooler, and even a dead fish in a bucket. We tied up to it and hailed to coast guard. About 15 mins later the fire department come and took control of the boat. The coast guard came on scene and we did a couple passes to see if we could locate the captain. I?m not sure what happened with the captain but we ended up going back to port

 

[GatorMike]

Re: Found a ghost boat today

I bet some guy is siting on an island somewhere wondering where his boat went when the tide came in.

Keep us posted if you hear anything on the news though.

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Found a ghost boat today

Hopefully it just went adrift.
That is a freaky discovery.

 

[seabob4]

Re: Found a ghost boat today

Something local will come up...I hope...

 

[itsaboattime]

Re: Found a ghost boat today

Wow that seems kinda................I dunno................eerie. ya know. I really hope it washed out when the tide came in, and nothing happened to the owner.

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Found a ghost boat today

Wow that seems kinda................I dunno................eerie. ya know. I really hope it washed out when the tide came in, and nothing happened to the owner.

The "MO Belle" left the slip on her own once when the lift failed and, stupid me, didn't have the bow line attached.

"Bow line? She's on the lift. No worries.":redface:

I hope the owner is just embarrassed and annoyed and not...well....

 

[Hawk Eyes]

Re: Found a ghost boat today

Great job on looking out for your fellow boaters.

 

[dave11]

Re: Found a ghost boat today

I am looking forward to "the rest of the story".

 

[jimdd810]

Re: Found a ghost boat today

Imagine some people would not of even noticed. So I will say thanks for doing the right thing and great job on noticing.

 

[Beefer]

Re: Found a ghost boat today

Any news on follow-up? Will the CG or police let you know what the deal was? If it wasn't for the fish in the bucket and the cooler, I'd say it just came unmoored, but I'm thinking someone either fell out, or was wading and the boat drifted. Hope it was the second...

 

[Big Pete]

Re: Found a ghost boat today

Hmmmm worrying, well done for doing the right thing by the way..

Lets hope theres a safe simple explanation, if you find out let us know ..

 

[maxum2400sc]

Re: Found a ghost boat today

Hey guys. I do not have an update. The local paper has an online site that they are usually pretty good about listing boating incidents and i have not seen any updates. I'll let ya know if i do

 

[marlboro180]

Re: Found a ghost boat today

Hey guys. I do not have an update. The local paper has an online site that they are usually pretty good about listing boating incidents and i have not seen any updates. I'll let ya know if i do

I hope good news comes out of it. Thanks for investigating and notifying the Coast Guard. Pretty eery though.

 

[GatorMike]

Re: Found a ghost boat today

I would think if it were anything serious it would have been all over the news by not. Even minor boating incidents are news.

 

[Beefer]

Re: Found a ghost boat today

^^^ Agreed... No news would be good news in this case I'd think

 

[JZammetti]

Re: Found a ghost boat today

hmmm, I may switch from lauching at Lewes to Delaware City, you seem to have more of an adventure. Nothing on the New Journal and Delawate State News.

 

[KermieB]

Re: Found a ghost boat today

Was it not registered? Should be pretty simple to find out who it belongs to, and how it got away.

 

[26aftcab454]

Re: Found a ghost boat today

years ago my brother sold a small aluminum boat and 3 or 4 years later the Texas Dept of Wildlife called to say they found the boat unattended floating down a river-whoever bought it did not registar it-and it was still in his name.
never found out the story.
I hope this one turns out ok.

 

[KermieB]

Re: Found a ghost boat today

I posted this story a couple of days ago about a similar situation with a much worse ending.
http://www2.scnow.com/scp/news/loca...suspende_search_for_missing_nc_boater/211944/

The boat ran aground with the motors running. The owner left out at 8:30 in the morning and the boat was found at 11:00 that night. The GPS showed that the boat had traveled a total distance of 167 miles that day, but ran aground just 30 miles from where it was launched.

Although the Coast Guard launched an extensive search, the operator was never found and the search was called off on the third day.

 

[hubbard53]

Re: Found a ghost boat today

i'm assuming that things like this happen when you leave the helm to do something without putting the boat in neutral and go overboard.

Ugh. Makes me sick to my stomach to think about that - seeing your boat motor away as you tread water....