# BOLO Century 24 Inshore with single 350 Yamaha and full tower idling off shore



## Harry Brosofsky (Oct 4, 2007)

Last night, near Phillips Inlet, Tarpon 007 was swept off a boat while cobia fishing solo. Mike was retrieved and taken to hospital where he is in good condition but exhausted.

The boat was last see idling in a southwesterly direction. It is a white and pale blue hulled Century 24 Inshore with a full tower and a Yamaha 350. If you spot the boat, please contact it's owner Chirs at 678-898-8992

Harry


----------



## Collard (Oct 23, 2007)

Holy Crap!

Never heard of anybody losing a boat before. 

Glad to hear he's ok. How did he let anyone know he was in trouble?


----------



## sailsunfurled (Oct 2, 2007)

Dang! Good news he's OK.


----------



## Heller High Water (Nov 1, 2007)

Glad to hear he is ok.


----------



## Harry Brosofsky (Oct 4, 2007)

Pic of boat


----------



## fisheye48 (Sep 28, 2007)

RED X


----------



## reelfinatical (Sep 30, 2007)

Here, pic that's in the THT red X link above:


----------



## biggamefishr (Oct 26, 2007)

can't see the pictures since i'm not a member of THT, and have no intentions of joining. any chance of posting it here?


----------



## biggamefishr (Oct 26, 2007)

you beat me to it


----------



## reel-crazzzy (Sep 7, 2008)

glad he"s ok .i fish a 26 sea fox and i wouldn"t go yesterday .:nonono went last sunday and had all the a## whipin i wanted. hopefully the weather will break before they all get by. if not good for them , i"ll see um this summer on the wrecks.


----------



## delta dooler (Mar 6, 2008)

glad hes ok, and hope hes got it insured, after last nights and this morning sea state, I'd be willing to bet when and if its found it'll be capsized.


----------



## SUNDAY-FUNDAY (Apr 17, 2008)

damn!!! that really sucks. glad he to hear he's safe! i'm sure he had insurance on a newer boat like that. whats the performance numbers with that 350??? no info on the century website


----------



## Death From Above (Sep 28, 2007)

Wow...that is a nice boat! Glad he is okay and hope he gets his boat back.


----------



## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

dang, glad he's ok!


----------



## LITECATCH (Oct 2, 2007)

where is phillips inlet? if it is anywhere in the gulf of mexico, he needs to be checked to see if he has a brain. did you see the seas, holy cow! i'll hold the rest of my comments till i know the facts. glad he was found and is safe.


----------



## biggamefishr (Oct 26, 2007)

a few miles west of panama city scott. everyone I talked to yesterday said the later in the day and the further east you went the better the seas got, so it might not of been that bad when and where he was


----------



## -- Saints Domination -- (Jun 24, 2008)

Damn hope it gets it back that thing is sweet!


----------



## N-Reel-Trouble (Oct 3, 2007)

Glad he's ok, and hope he finds the boat. These things happen and it makes you think what could happen to be avoided. A lot of people say dont go alone, which would be good practice, but sometimes you want to be alone, to relax, concentrate, or whatever. Even though a lanyard would be a royal pain in the ass while fighting fish and such, it would have saved this whole ordeal from happening. 



It sure makes those wireless lanyards look VERY useful.


----------



## Kim (Aug 5, 2008)

Not sure if it's related to this thread or not. About 1/2 mile or so west of Destin west jetty there was a boat up on the beach yesterday. Not sure how it got there, just saw it as I went up and down the beach in those big rollers. Didn't see a tower on it but it did have an engine on it.


----------



## hebegb (Oct 6, 2007)

Any word on the boat?


----------



## slappydave (Oct 15, 2007)

Harry, you have PM. I tried to call chris to get an update on mike and got his vm.


----------



## biggamefishr (Oct 26, 2007)

heard this morning that they found it washed up down around fort morgan, boat was in one piece but filling up with sand and water, sea tow was on the scene trying to salvage it


----------



## Orion45 (Jun 26, 2008)

> *biggamefishr (4/19/2009)*heard this morning that they found it washed up down around fort morgan, boat was in one piece but filling up with sand and water, sea tow was on the scene trying to salvage it


Salvage or ungrounding? Huge difference in cost between the two.


----------



## Harry Brosofsky (Oct 4, 2007)

Last night we finally got the boat off the beach. Un-assing it from the beach onto the trailer went fairly well, but the sand was so soft it tooktwo trucks and two tractors to move 500 yards down the beach. Needless to say, we are exhausted. The boat got flooded below decks, but is otherwise okay and the electrical system is still functioning. Most of the stuff was still aboard, but it looks like some rods/reels/tackle/personal stuff may have been tossed overboard while it was adrift. FYI, it was a salvage and cost almost $5000 to recover it.

Tarpon is still in hospital and will likely remain there for a few days. He's having some complications from exhaustion and swallowing a lot of salt water, but should pull through without any permanent issues.

Harry


----------



## P-cola_Native (Feb 5, 2008)

How did they know he was in the water? Another boat just pick him up or was it the Coasties?

That sucks about the salvage, but it is probably a miracle he is still alive and the boat was recovered.


----------



## Orion45 (Jun 26, 2008)

Lucky guy. Glad to hear everything ended fairly well.


----------



## Death From Above (Sep 28, 2007)

The boat drifted a long ways before it beached. How for is Phillips Inlet to Ft Morgan,150 miles?


----------



## Five Prongs Of Fury (Apr 15, 2008)

> *Death From Above (4/20/2009)*The boat drifted a long ways before it beached. How for is Phillips Inlet to Ft Morgan,150 miles?


I checked it on Google Earth and it was 120 miles. I'm surprised that it didn't go further than that. I'm even more surprised it stayed afloat. Glad the owner is gonna be ok.


----------



## Harry Brosofsky (Oct 4, 2007)

According to the GPS tracks, it was over 20 miles from shore when the fuel ran out and it started to drift...it ran a nearly straight track up to that point. It was a clear salvage as it was in peril of being swallowed in sand had it not been moved. Cost for the salvage was 4800 (200/foot) and was well worth it considering how difficult the extraction was due to the extremely soft sand.

Harry


----------



## how2fish (Jan 21, 2008)

Great to know he is OK and the boat was found and returned...4800 is a good deal of money ..but he fell off a boat at sea and survived..and found the boat..I really want him to pick me 6 lotto numbers..:clap


----------



## RUSTY (Oct 2, 2007)

Glad everything worked out OK. Was he wearing a life vest since he was alone?


----------



## DISANTO (Oct 1, 2007)

Glad you're ok!


----------



## Harry Brosofsky (Oct 4, 2007)

Mike was not wearing a vest and almost drowned. He should be released from hospital tomorrow.


----------



## PELAGIC PIRATE (Oct 10, 2007)

First off i would like to thank Harry and all on PFF for the well wishes .

Next , i would like to thanks the the guys who pulled me from the surf , the Pc sherriff officers and paramedics that got me to Bay medical Alive, and the staff of bay medical for bringing me back to life 

Heres the story:

I woke up late friday the 17th and wasnt going to fish as i had been the 2 days before with 3 huge Jaks Cravells to show for all my cobia fishing efforts. I got a call from a friend that said the bite was on so i left the dock alone around noonas the wife didnt want to go again.....fished west to about a mile of pillips inlet, at about 4:30 or so when the wind and seas picked up enough that i felt the ride home then would be better than later.

I was in the tower and decided to leave the boat just in gear so the boat would havea predicable roll while i climbed down. As i started down a huge wave hit the boat and rolled it starboard , then jerked back so hard port that i was tossed 5 ft clear of the boat. I hit the water with full rain gear on as it was cold , and all i remeber was a total panic setting in watching my friends brand new 24 century tower boat sail off slowly to the SW by itself. 

I was close to 1 mile off the beach as the water was dirty up close and was looking for cobes farther off than i would normally. So now i am in the water , hyper ventlating and panicing as i was so far offshore and no other boats were anywhere around . I Got my pelagic gear jacket and pants off quickly as i was sinking due to the water filling my suit, then kicked my shoes off to start the swim for my life back to the beach which seemed impossible when i saw my shoes float off south east at 5kts. The rip current was pulling me out and i was screwed................

so next thing i decided was i wasnt dying out there and calmed myself down , flipped on my back and swam parallel to the beach in order to beat the rip current . Next issue was the stiff wind and 3-4 ft seas trying thier best to swallow me up. I was taking in water every now and then when a big swell would crash over me,and just swam like forrest Gump ran if you know what i mean . After 30 minutes or so i was really loosing steam but had made it within 300 yards of shore when i started screaming for help. The third time i yelled out i caught a guys attention and noticed people running around in a panic , but basically watching me drown. I kept on chugging in a battle for my life and got to a point about 100 yards out when i just about resdied to the fact i was going to die and started to sink. I sunk down and hit bottom and the water was chin deep...thank god ! but i was so spent after swimming over 45 minutes that i was over whelmed by the surf. 

The next thing i remember was being dragged out of the surf by three guys and dragged up onto the sand where i was totally exhusted. From there the sherriffs and paramedics got me off the beach and in the rescue wagon off to bay medical where i spend 7 days recoving from phenmonia and renial failure(i basically swam myself to near death). I just got out this last friday and i am still sore and weak, but alive !

I am 41 years old and have been fishing my whole life , and boating for almost 30 years on my own. I made two huge mistakes that day that almost cost me my life and will never let my guard down ever again.

Mistake one: leaving the boat in gear while climbing down the tower

Mistake 2: fishing alone withoutsome sort of Pfd on

I feel so stupid for what happend to me , but feel so lucky just to be alive that i dont care what anyone has tosay ......As i made it and i am hear to tell one more great fishing story.

Let my mistakes and lessons learned be a warning to all of us out there , that the ocean is a deadly place from which few who get tangled with her live to talk about. Along with being lucky to make the swim back in , i was also very lucky to have got the boat back (which wasnt even mine) in pretty much good shape. The part that just eats me up is i will have totally missed the entire cobia season as i am doctor banned from fishing for atleast two weeks and i dont have any more vaction to come back and give it a try. So i sit here in my beach house reading all these cobia reports knowing it will be next year before i get to go cobia fishing again................but trust me , i will glady give that up for my life .

Good luck out there guys and please be safe out there by planning for the worst no matter how far out you are going.

Thanks again to all the well wishes, and hope to see you out onthe water sooner than later.

Mike B.


----------

