# Thanks Coast Guard, OBMP, and Sea Tow



## straycat (Jul 26, 2008)

May Day! May Day! This is the fishing vessel Straycat. Words I have thought about for years but never could truly imagine them coming out of my mouth until today. 

We left out of Perdido Pass around 7:00am. Crew was my wife, 12 year old daughter, 9 year old son, and 2 of my good friends. (Now my children have always had trouble with sea sickness, so they were a little nervous going out) Arrived at our destination the marathon reef. We idled for a while to eat and rig some poles. We backed down on the reef, then my son asked me to help him with dropping his rig down. My daughter asked me, Dad, why is the boat leaning? Engrossed in helping my son, I told her it was just the waves because it was a little choppy out. I looked up, and at that moment a feeling came over me that I would never wish upon anyone. The boat is taking on water. Now my boat has a ton of safety equipment life boat, sat phone, etc. My mind was racing, everything was happening so fast. Your thinking family, friends, life vests, life boat, call coast guard, keep everyone calm, confusion, etc. I never thought it would be that hard to think. Your son ask you in the middle of all this, dad are we going to be alright. Your daughter asks, dad are we sinking. Thank god for a calm crew and a very good wife. We get everyone in there life vests, get life raft out and all other safety equipment. Here it comes "May Day May Day this is the fishing vessel Straycat!" Still sends chills down my spine. At that moment the port engine was about to go under. I realized it was still running, sat everyone down and gunned it! Listing to the port side for the next 40 minutes, all bilges running we got the boat planed out. The coast guard sent a plane out that circled us and kept in contact while we were running. Then OBMP, the Coast Guard, and Sea Tow showed up when we were still 25 miles offshore. All 3 escorted us the whole way. Cleared the pass and route through old river for us. (Sorry to everyone for blasting through all the no wake zones, but we did not know what was causing us to take on water. We just knew we did not want to stop). The response from OBMP, Coast Guard, and Sea Tow was awesome! I can not thank them enough. When we got back to the lift, got the boat out of the water. We found out that the access panel to the livewell right in front of the port motor had come undone. So while we were backing up on the reef the water was pouring in and the bilges could not keep up. Once the back end went under water then it was just minutes before we sank. Thanks to the crew for being so calm in a crises. Thank my wife for being so level headed. Thank god for us getting back safe. Sorry for a bummer story, that was our offshore report.

Straycat


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## johnboatjosh (May 19, 2008)

Wow, glad all is ok. Kudos to the responders and to you for keeping a cool head.


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## badonskybuccaneers (Aug 19, 2013)

Glad things worked out, everyone is ok, and the boat didn't go under....


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## bluedawg1 (Mar 24, 2011)

*Bluedawg1*

Thank the Good LORD for protecting you and family from disaster . My sons Uncle from marriage. boat sank in lOUISIANA IT WAS A 28 FT PRO SPORTS CAT. They were at the rigs and luckily had company with them.Boat went down in 15 minuets !

Congrats to the crew !!:thumbup:


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## Chapman5011 (Mar 7, 2013)

Very scary. You'll think about that one for a while.
Glad your home safe. 

A good reminder for all that read this to check all your hoses first of season , make sure everything is good and tight.
The bumpy ocean can make things fall off or disconnect.


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## Jackin' 'Em Up (Dec 31, 2013)

For those of us that are religious, we see this as an act of God. God saved your lives and brought you safely back to land without sinking your boat. Today was not the day to lose a large investment and potentially lives. I'm glad to hear you made it back safely and that the responders did what they could to help. After a situation like this, it will make you be extra cautious to things you normally wouldn't before going out. Once again I'm glad everyone is safe and hope you have good luck fishing for the rest of the year.


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## NoMoSurf (Oct 2, 2007)

Good to hear that everyone is fine. I hope you can talk those kids back onto the water. 

I gather that the boat is now fine? Bet you will double and triple check that hatch EVERY time you launch. haha


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## Mikvi (Mar 11, 2008)

For those of us not religious, thank you responders and all the working public who paid taxes so we can afford a Coast Guard. Really glad you made it home safe. Very impressed with your preparedness.


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## k-p (Oct 7, 2009)

Very interesting and thank you for sharing a harrowing experience. You did the right thing and kept a cool head which you should be proud of. Your family will look back at you as a hero. Just curious what kind of boat and access panel was it?


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## sealark (Sep 27, 2007)

Glad everything turned out like it did. Thats what the coast guard is for. Hope you learned something from this for the future. I was going to say more but I'll just leave it at that......


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## almo100 (Mar 1, 2013)

So did you catch any fish? Too soon? Just kidding.  

Glad to hear it all worked out and good to know you are wise enough to have all of that safety gear. So many people take a floating vessel for granted and think they will never need it. Would be nice if they foam-filled all boats.


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## bcahn (Jan 10, 2013)

Thank God everyone is safe in port, we heard the whole thing over the radio, not something you want to hear or experience!


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## Realtor (Oct 1, 2007)

whew, now that's a close one. Glad it worked out!


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## dobs (Sep 28, 2012)

Just going to toss this out to the crowd...

If you have gone to the trouble of obtaining all necessary safety/lifesaving equipment, you need to have a plan of action in case you find yourself like this.

Think through things....like what is going to be your first action? Does your regular crew know what they could be doing to help? Where is everything stowed and in what order do you want to get things out? What do you want to grab to throw in your raft with you?

Mayday Call! Vital to let others know you are in distress. 
Life Jackets--direct someone to get everyone into life jackets while you are making the distress call.
Raft--start process of inflating (who knows if the auto inflate canister will work or not?) Get means of communication--phone, VHF handheld, Sat Phone ...whatever it is. Grab signal flares as well....(have you thought through how to fire one of those in a "rubber" raft?). Grab some water if you can...

Just think through your course of action, and spend 3 minutes briefing everyone on what to to do...may be the best spent 3 minutes of your life...

Glad everything turned out OK...heard the call on Channel 16..sent chills up my spine!


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## jdgator (Apr 16, 2014)

Things are going to happen on the water. You just have to be prepared to react. Sounds like you did everything right. Glad everything worked out.


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## jasoncooperpcola (Jan 2, 2008)

I believe StrayCat is a 33 WorldCat with twin F350s. Pretty much my dream boat. 

Sent from my Z998 using Tapatalk


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## hjorgan (Sep 30, 2007)

Glad all are safe and boat was fixable. Awesome to hear of the response from the Coasties and others.


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## Fielro (Jun 4, 2012)

Glad you are all safe. Something all of us need to plan for and hope it never happens....


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

Glad ya'll made it back safe.


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## Salty Daze (Sep 25, 2011)

man it scares me how fast things can happen out there. Really glad your home safe. I think the key is to be prepared and think of all the scenarios you can to make sure you have the right safety gear like you do and to keep a level head! Get back on that boat with your family soon and go have some fun! Make sure there is fun, sun and fish caught the next time you go out so those kiddos will still enjoy boating the rest of their lives.


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## straycat (Jul 26, 2008)

Thanks for everyone's replies. Yes it is a 33 worldcat. The waterproof hatch is in front of the port engine, behind the transom on the platform. We had just made our first drop when it happened. Cut all the lines and went. Shortest fishing trip ever. We do brief everyone prior to going out. Until it happens it is a little different. Preparedness helped a lot. Also, I learned more from this experience than you can imagine. 

Straycat


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## kiefersdad (Apr 26, 2013)

*May Day is Not Your Best Day*

I am glad you and your family have arrived on the good old hard surface of land and slept in a warm and dry bed last night. I have had the experience before and I did not like it one bit. You have done what every survivor has done. Refuse to lose and save your family. You are a hero in our eyes and in your family's eyes. Make your next trip when you calm down enough and hug the family.


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## RockB (Oct 11, 2007)

straycat said:


> My daughter asked me, Dad, why is the boat leaning?


All have been good responses but I think one thing that my have gotten overlooked is the part I quoted above. Your daughter was not afraid to ask the question. 

Had she not asked that may have been the extra couple minutes you did not have to work the issue and could have made all the difference in getting home on your own boat under your own power and riding in with the USCG. I see that you told her that it was normal but it did get you thinking.

I think that the take away is even if you are out on someone else's boat and something does not seem right don't be afraid to ask.


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## 29gallk (Dec 5, 2013)

Glad everyone is safe! Very scary!


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## k-p (Oct 7, 2009)

Straycat, thanks for the info. I had an almost similar experience the same day you were out and same thing. Was holding over a spot in reverse and checked the bilge and it was full of water. Luckily my pumps were working but I found water coming in through the transom where I guess the seal has brooken loose where the molds fit together. I have already replaced my hatches to prevent this sort of thing. Are you going to contact the manufacturer to tell them about the 'waterproof' hatch. I'm going to seal mine up with 5200 or something this time.


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## straycat (Jul 26, 2008)

Just got home, I am going to make a few calls to a couple of different people today. Ultimately it is my responsibility to make sure everything is sound on my boat. There is a sequence of events prior to us going out that day that I have to look into.

Straycat


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## seabiscuit (Oct 8, 2009)

Straycat,
Was the hatch cover not secured or was it secure and leaking badly? I'm asking because I also run a world cat and have had leaks from the armstrong hatch, but, not to extent yours was pouring in. I have tried to think of ways to video from inside the motorwell, how much water comes in when the motorwell is flooded and the hatch is secure. 
I have accidentally left the slip with the hatch covers not being secured, so, I know it can happen.
Any follow up information might be helpful
thanks and glad it all worked out OK.
Hard to beat those 33's
You might want to post this on the WC forum also.


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## bigone (Jan 2, 2008)

Glad your are safe, was just wondering ?, did your vhf make contact with seatow, CG, FMP, or did you have to relay messages from other boats? about 25mi out


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## straycat (Jul 26, 2008)

Seabiscuit,

We had a lot of work done prior to the trip from 2 different outfits. I can only assume that one of these people got side tracked and accidentally left it open. Those hatches secure pretty tight. I have never had the problem of them leaking, at least to the extent you are talking about. My bilges don't come on very often. Once again though, it is ultimately my fault for not checking the hatches. I will get a chance to check this in a week. I will keep you posted of what I see.

Straycat


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## straycat (Jul 26, 2008)

Bigone,

We hailed the coast guard a couple of times, but with all the traffic no response. We hailed seatow they heard us, answered, then directed us to another channel. We gave them our position and situation. They called the coast guard, and within 15 seconds the coast guard hailed us back. We had some trouble, the whole way back communicating because of all the radio traffic. But for the most part it was good.

Straycat


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## k-p (Oct 7, 2009)

Straycat, 

Thanks a bunch for the info. Don't beat yourself up over this; sh*t happens and if you spend enough time on the water things are bound to happen. It will be a good story one day when you're in the rocker. Sounds like you have a fine rig and it was just a fluke. Appreciate the honesty of your experience and revealing what happened behind the scenes so we can all learn. Very same thing was near happening to me so I can almost imagine what you were going through. Sounds like you're a good Captain the way you handled it. Again, congrats on keeping a cool head in a bad situation.


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## KBGAub (Aug 19, 2012)

Wow--glad y'all got back safely. You never know out there!


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## biggabuck (Mar 29, 2014)

Glad everything worked out for yall. That's my worse fear about going out. Because my family is always with me.


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## TinManMike (Oct 26, 2008)

Straycat,

We heard your Mayday call the first time you keyed up. We were on our way out to the Petronious and you were loud and clear. After the initial call, it sounded like you keyed the mike sending an SOS pattern. We answered your Mayday call requesting your position. Based on your radio transmission, you sounded like you were very close. We did not receive a response from you when we asked for your position.

We stopped our travel south and listened to the radio traffic from you, Sea Tow and the CG in the event we were close enough to assist. Your transmissions became weaker as the conversation continued. 

The radio chatter on 16 that morning was ridiculous! The CG requested that a ship captain cease all transmissions on 16 as he was talking to somebody in an Arabic language. Couldn't believe this chatter! It could have caused you and your crew major problems.

I was going to start a thread this morning to inquire about the condition of your boat and crew. It brought chills to everyone on my boat to hear that call. We traveled down from Atlanta to do an overnight trip to the rigs and my entire crew was ready to ditch our plans without hesitation to assist you and your family.

Glad you and your crew make it back safely. I'll let my crew know as they wondered about you guys like myself.

Did you hear us respond to you after your initial Mayday call? I know my radios are working properly as I had previous conversations prior to your call.

Again, glad you guys are safe! :thumbsup:


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## bigone (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks for the reply Stray,
I guess I should check my antenna output, it's also mounted on a full tower, and seem only to get line of sight maybe garbled 7-10mi. I know the land based antennas can reach us. Not sure I could put out 25mi even on high power, glad you did


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## sealark (Sep 27, 2007)

If you guy want range from a vhf the only way is with a 10 db. They are heavy and big but necessary for anyone going more than 20 miles offshore. They are 27 ft long and solid about 3 in. On bottom tapering to about an inch at top. I had one on my long gone 40 ft boat with another here at my house on a 70 ft tower. I could talk to wife from mouth of miss. River. They were around 400$ no telling what they are now.


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## straycat (Jul 26, 2008)

TinManMike,

Thanks, for everything you were trying to do for us. You are right the radio traffic was so bad that morning. I might have some what heard you with all the other people. Sea Tow realized we were having trouble communicating, jumped in and said go to channel 8. I might have been on another channel when you hailed us. We had trouble the whole way back communicating, had to change channels numerous times with the coast guard. I don't get it, why would people sit there and chit chat on the emergency channel. I would think he heard us. Maybe not. Thanks for all that you tried. I would do the same.

Straycat


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## tank1949 (Mar 23, 2012)

straycat said:


> May Day! May Day! This is the fishing vessel Straycat. Words I have thought about for years but never could truly imagine them coming out of my mouth until today.
> 
> We left out of Perdido Pass around 7:00am. Crew was my wife, 12 year old daughter, 9 year old son, and 2 of my good friends. (Now my children have always had trouble with sea sickness, so they were a little nervous going out) Arrived at our destination the marathon reef. We idled for a while to eat and rig some poles. We backed down on the reef, then my son asked me to help him with dropping his rig down. My daughter asked me, Dad, why is the boat leaning? Engrossed in helping my son, I told her it was just the waves because it was a little choppy out. I looked up, and at that moment a feeling came over me that I would never wish upon anyone. The boat is taking on water. Now my boat has a ton of safety equipment life boat, sat phone, etc. My mind was racing, everything was happening so fast. Your thinking family, friends, life vests, life boat, call coast guard, keep everyone calm, confusion, etc. I never thought it would be that hard to think. Your son ask you in the middle of all this, dad are we going to be alright. Your daughter asks, dad are we sinking. Thank god for a calm crew and a very good wife. We get everyone in there life vests, get life raft out and all other safety equipment. Here it comes "May Day May Day this is the fishing vessel Straycat!" Still sends chills down my spine. At that moment the port engine was about to go under. I realized it was still running, sat everyone down and gunned it! Listing to the port side for the next 40 minutes, all bilges running we got the boat planed out. The coast guard sent a plane out that circled us and kept in contact while we were running. Then OBMP, the Coast Guard, and Sea Tow showed up when we were still 25 miles offshore. All 3 escorted us the whole way. Cleared the pass and route through old river for us. (Sorry to everyone for blasting through all the no wake zones, but we did not know what was causing us to take on water. We just knew we did not want to stop). The response from OBMP, Coast Guard, and Sea Tow was awesome! I can not thank them enough. When we got back to the lift, got the boat out of the water. We found out that the access panel to the livewell right in front of the port motor had come undone. So while we were backing up on the reef the water was pouring in and the bilges could not keep up. Once the back end went under water then it was just minutes before we sank. Thanks to the crew for being so calm in a crises. Thank my wife for being so level headed. Thank god for us getting back safe. Sorry for a bummer story, that was our offshore report.
> 
> Straycat




You may want to purchase an LOUD audio alarm for 2nd pump's float switch. You do have more than one pump?????????? I am researching alarm as I respond to your almost accident.


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## straycat (Jul 26, 2008)

Tank,

Yes I have 4 pumps. I am one step ahead of you. The alarm would have bought me some time to find out what was going on. I know there are some down side to them that they sometimes go off with to much moisture. I hear that is rare though

Starycat


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## tank1949 (Mar 23, 2012)

straycat said:


> Tank,
> 
> Yes I have 4 pumps. I am one step ahead of you. The alarm would have bought me some time to find out what was going on. I know there are some down side to them that they sometimes go off with to much moisture. I hear that is rare though
> 
> Starycat



Your almost horror story got me to thinking. I got rid of the older rule mec. switches. I don't now what rule now uses internally, but there are a lot of complaints about them. I now have Johnson. So far, I haven't had a failure, but I always "trip" each at start, during and if I plan on spending night. I am looking for a safe (I have I/os) loud alarm. I also have plenty of rags and closed cell foam on board to plug thru-hulls and sea-cocks, should they fail. Good luck!


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## abacodan (May 17, 2008)

Had the same issue on a Seacat 15 years ago. Had the pryout round hatches in the motorwell, and were fishing near the edge when we realized we were taking on water in one hull. To add to the problem, after the round hatch floated away, the in-flowing water loosened production debris inside the hull, which then jammed the intake screen on the bilge pump. Luckily we got underway and were able to make headway while pumping with one of the high capacity tubular hand pumps. Very close call, and the hatches were immediately changed out with no more issues. Motorwell hatches should be more or less permanently installed with very good water-proofing in my opinion.


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## tank1949 (Mar 23, 2012)

straycat said:


> May Day! May Day! This is the fishing vessel Straycat. Words I have thought about for years but never could truly imagine them coming out of my mouth until today.
> 
> We left out of Perdido Pass around 7:00am. Crew was my wife, 12 year old daughter, 9 year old son, and 2 of my good friends. (Now my children have always had trouble with sea sickness, so they were a little nervous going out) Arrived at our destination the marathon reef. We idled for a while to eat and rig some poles. We backed down on the reef, then my son asked me to help him with dropping his rig down. My daughter asked me, Dad, why is the boat leaning? Engrossed in helping my son, I told her it was just the waves because it was a little choppy out. I looked up, and at that moment a feeling came over me that I would never wish upon anyone. The boat is taking on water. Now my boat has a ton of safety equipment life boat, sat phone, etc. My mind was racing, everything was happening so fast. Your thinking family, friends, life vests, life boat, call coast guard, keep everyone calm, confusion, etc. I never thought it would be that hard to think. Your son ask you in the middle of all this, dad are we going to be alright. Your daughter asks, dad are we sinking. Thank god for a calm crew and a very good wife. We get everyone in there life vests, get life raft out and all other safety equipment. Here it comes "May Day May Day this is the fishing vessel Straycat!" Still sends chills down my spine. At that moment the port engine was about to go under. I realized it was still running, sat everyone down and gunned it! Listing to the port side for the next 40 minutes, all bilges running we got the boat planed out. The coast guard sent a plane out that circled us and kept in contact while we were running. Then OBMP, the Coast Guard, and Sea Tow showed up when we were still 25 miles offshore. All 3 escorted us the whole way. Cleared the pass and route through old river for us. (Sorry to everyone for blasting through all the no wake zones, but we did not know what was causing us to take on water. We just knew we did not want to stop). The response from OBMP, Coast Guard, and Sea Tow was awesome! I can not thank them enough. When we got back to the lift, got the boat out of the water. We found out that the access panel to the livewell right in front of the port motor had come undone. So while we were backing up on the reef the water was pouring in and the bilges could not keep up. Once the back end went under water then it was just minutes before we sank. Thanks to the crew for being so calm in a crises. Thank my wife for being so level headed. Thank god for us getting back safe. Sorry for a bummer story, that was our offshore report.
> 
> Straycat


 
I just ordered two of these. I want to be able to hear any float switch being activated. Good luck. http://www.ebay.com/itm/110887912242?


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## SteveFL (Aug 2, 2010)

Glad all worked out Straycat and thanks for passing on the events. We all learn from such posts. We were out a couple years ago when a charter started taking on water. What he did worked very well. Once he got underway trying to make it to port, he started continuously calling out his identification and updated changing coordinate positions as he traveled. I'd say within 10-15 minutes, we along with 5-6 other boats were right with him. The USCG showed up a few minutes later. The customers were boarded on another charter within probably 15-20 minutes of the initial call. The boat made it back in to port safely but I never heard exactly what happened.


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## tank1949 (Mar 23, 2012)

One complaint I read was about VHF signal strength. VHF is mostly line of sight, with little, if any bounce like older CB radios. Figure that for every 3' (about) of antenna, you get about 1 mile of line of sight transmission (has to do with curve of earth.) It is my understanding, the US Coast Guard station towers are at least a hundred of feet in air. If 100' tall then divide 100/3 and you have about 33 miles. Not much. If you want to blow all he jerks our of the water, some VHF radios have built in linear amps but you should only use in case of emergencies. Different antennas have different GAIN broadcasts (stronger at shorter ranges or more directional and longer ranges) and will give you more signal strength, depending on the rock and roll of you boat. Larger more stable boats, not only usually have longer antennas, but use different gains of broadcast. Yet, in most case you still have to consider line of sight. I have a high-powered amp built into mine. At least that will override the competitive chatter. I don't know what is the best alternate marine channel. Sat phones are very expensive but cheap when you are facing "going under."


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## Ga Transplant (Feb 26, 2012)

I'm glad to hear everything worked out ok. Great job getting everyone taken care of and as always, thanks to the quick response. Fish-on. GT


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## Cap'n Davey (Mar 26, 2014)

Motor well hatches seem to be high percentage participants in sinkings. 

While prepping for our run to the rigs we found some pretty big gaps between the hull and deck insert under the rub rail. We used 5200 and sealed her good all the way around!


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## how2fish (Jan 21, 2008)

Glad to hear everything turned out OK, it has to give anyone the sweats when they hear your story....THANK YOU for posting the one good thing about these events is what we learn from them..your story and the great advice from forum members helps out everyone who might find themselves in the same spot..again glad you and your family are safe !!


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