# Boat sinking video. Pretty scary.



## sniper (Oct 3, 2007)

Link to the video: 






Starts out with some spearfishing, then when he surfaces he finds the boat going down. That would be a horrible feeling.



Link to Spearfishing forum where he talks about it: http://www.spearfishingplanet.com/f35/o-what-day-23989/



Luckily these guys were prepared. 

Be prepared!!!


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## joebuck (Oct 1, 2007)

WOW, you are right, scary stuff.


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## FishinFool (Oct 2, 2007)

Awesome video. Glad it was good ending for the crew aboard. :thumbup:


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## Boatjob1 (Oct 2, 2007)

WOW, what a vid.... I have goose bumps and fuzz standing on the back of my neck........... Thanks for sharing this....
We should highlight this in the "I have a 16 foot boat, is it safe to go out to the nipple" section..... Thanks again! T


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

Boatjob1 said:


> WOW, what a vid.... I have goose bumps and fuzz standing on the back of my neck........... Thanks for sharing this....
> We should highlight this in the "I have a 16 foot boat, is it safe to go out to the nipple" section..... Thanks again! T


 :yes:


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## GAHUNTER (Jan 30, 2008)

For everyone who says "my boat is foam-filled and unsinkable," this video should be a lesson to you. 

The boat did not sink! It filled up and turtled over in the waves. I saw one do this same thing just off South Florida's Singer Island in heavy seas a few years back. We picked up the crew.

The crew in this video was actually pretty calm and carried out the abandoning ship pretty orderly. The fact that they got a "May Day" off the Coast Guard probably helped their confidence.  They're lucky it wasn't any rougher than it was. 

Acutally, they're lucky in a lot of ways!


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## Ocean Master (May 20, 2008)

That had to be heartbreaking. I'm glad my 31 won't do that..!!


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## Kingfish514 (Jan 21, 2009)

That is some scary stuff right there, I dont know if I would have been acalm as they were. Anyone have any idea why they took on water, I would think a thru hull fitting let go???


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## King Mike (Apr 15, 2008)

I've been there and done that.. Gave me an instant flash back.. The diver was clear headed and handeled the situation well. This is also why you should train your crew on what to do (call the mayday) if something were to happen while you are diving. Looks like we both made the same mistake.. Didn't put life jackets on the fishing poles! I bet insurance probably would pay for them too.


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## Realtor (Oct 1, 2007)

did I see an anchor line off the aft port in the bebinning of the vid? at 4:56 into the vid?


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## marmidor (Mar 15, 2008)

The thread from the spearfishing forum that they posted the story on say they "think" they left a scuttle hatch/access hatch off when they pumped the fuel balls that morning and just kept taking water. The bilge pumps just couldn't help them out at that point. Bad day for sure. Looks like they had a pretty good ditch plan/bag.


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

Realtor said:


> did I see an anchor line off the aft port in the bebinning of the vid? at 4:56 into the vid?


Sure looks like one.


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## jplvr (Mar 7, 2011)

There's a huge thread on the Hull Truth disecting every bit of the film too. A couple of the guys from the incident posted there, having to defend themselves. 

They weren't anchored. Shut off the motors for the divers to board. I remember some talk about a hand pump hose being hung off the side which was causing some confusion in the thread.

Some people posted still shots from the video showing the splashwell access ports still being in place, but IMO, in the end, water was getting into the boat at a rate they couldn't control and they did a fine job in getting themselves rescued. I hope I'm that "lucky" should something similar happen to me.


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## Instant Karma (Oct 9, 2007)

Could be just a drift line for the diver. Would hope that anyone who handled the situation that well would know better than that.


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## Realtor (Oct 1, 2007)

i watched again looks more like a hose going overboard than anything else.


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## Snatch it (Feb 17, 2009)

Wow that was crazy!! Guys handled well!


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

If you watch at 5:06 to 5:08 it's a hose.


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## nextstep (Jun 27, 2008)

it can happen to anyone, in any boat
just glad it worked out ok
everytime i see something like this it makes me sick


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## bigbulls (Mar 12, 2008)

I know it's easy to critique something like this after the fact but I can't help but wonder why the hell didn't they fire up those twin Yamaha's and get up on plane.


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## lastcast (Oct 12, 2007)

Turn the volume up, they were trying. A bunch!


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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

wow! pretty scary stuff i fear this every time iam 50 miles off shore or 20 miles up the river i don't leave home with out my emergency 2500 gph bilge pump with quick clamps and get away bag..Props for the guy that kept filming for us to watch as it all unfolded..


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## bigbulls (Mar 12, 2008)

Ok. Makes more sense now. I don't have volume on this computer.


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## aroundthehorn (Aug 29, 2010)

I wonder what caused them to take on so much water. It seems to have been fairly gradual and not immediately catastrophic, especially given that the video says it was 3-4 ft seas.


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

Apparently, there was a scuttle hatch left open on the splashwell, but no one seems to know for sure.


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## aroundthehorn (Aug 29, 2010)

MrFish said:


> Apparently, there was a scuttle hatch left open on the splashwell, but no one seems to know for sure.


So maybe one of the guys on the boat realized his mistake after they were taking on water, then closed it but it was too late? I didn't see any open hatches.


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## Sailing_Faith (Mar 11, 2009)

You can see the open access scuttle at about 5 minutes, (surrounded by swim fins) You can see it better at about 11:40 (once the boat has flipped).

Man what a bad deal... good training video though. Glad the guy was willing to post it and share his experience. :thumbsup:


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## aroundthehorn (Aug 29, 2010)

Sailing_Faith said:


> You can see the open access scuttle at about 5 minutes, (surrounded by swim fins) You can see it better at about 11:40 (once the boat has flipped).
> 
> Man what a bad deal... good training video though. Glad the guy was willing to post it and share his experience. :thumbsup:


Yeah, caught it on the second go round. WTF would it be off or missing?


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## Sailing_Faith (Mar 11, 2009)

aroundthehorn said:


> So maybe one of the guys on the boat realized his mistake after they were taking on water, then closed it but it was too late? I didn't see any open hatches.


It is in the deck, (see post above). It is on center, probably over the tank.... looks like one of the same type of screw in round scuttles like this;


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## Bpatrick (Oct 18, 2010)

Glad everyone's ok!! Good video!!


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## Aquahollic (Sep 24, 2009)

I read the posts on the dive forum and several people were talking about other Century's going down. Several times since I bought my Century my bilge would kick in but I never thought anything about it. I just figured I hadn't tightened the plug in tight enough or maybe the bait well drain was draining wrong since I had a hard time filling the bait well sometimes. Then last year I was at crab island and my bilge started pumping. I popped a hatch and saw water pouring in from the starboard side coming out of what looked like the bait well pump. I later took everything apart (at home) and found out that one of the connections was cross threaded and the other one wasn't even hand tight. It cost me about $20 and and hour of my time but I haven't had an issue yet. I had never messed with any of those components before so that is how it was installed at the factory. It makes me wonder if that was part of their problem.


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

Aquahollic said:


> I read the posts on the dive forum and several people were talking about other Century's going down. Several times since I bought my Century my bilge would kick in but I never thought anything about it. I just figured I hadn't tightened the plug in tight enough or maybe the bait well drain was draining wrong since I had a hard time filling the bait well sometimes. Then last year I was at crab island and my bilge started pumping. I popped a hatch and saw water pouring in from the starboard side coming out of what looked like the bait well pump. I later took everything apart (at home) and found out that one of the connections was cross threaded and the other one wasn't even hand tight. It cost me about $20 and and hour of my time but I haven't had an issue yet. I had never messed with any of those components before so that is how it was installed at the factory. It makes me wonder if that was part of their problem.


I've heard people say that the Century has plastic through-hulls, is that true??


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## Aquahollic (Sep 24, 2009)

Not that I have noticed. I know my fish boxes, bilge, and livewell are all stainless steel I think. Now it has me wondering. The connectors I was speaking of were plastic and brass. Brass cross threaded (with no Teflon tape) into plastic. The other side was plastic to plastic with no Teflon tape.


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## shkad14 (Apr 26, 2008)

That is hard to watch. Cant believe how calm everyone was - and how long it took the COast Guard Heli's to ger there. Did I see that right, that they were rescued by a boat 1 hour later, then there was a shot of Sea Tow towing the boat while the helicopters were just showing up?


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## aroundthehorn (Aug 29, 2010)

Aquahollic said:


> I read the posts on the dive forum and several people were talking about other Century's going down. Several times since I bought my Century my bilge would kick in but I never thought anything about it. I just figured I hadn't tightened the plug in tight enough or maybe the bait well drain was draining wrong since I had a hard time filling the bait well sometimes. Then last year I was at crab island and my bilge started pumping. I popped a hatch and saw water pouring in from the starboard side coming out of what looked like the bait well pump. I later took everything apart (at home) and found out that one of the connections was cross threaded and the other one wasn't even hand tight. It cost me about $20 and and hour of my time but I haven't had an issue yet. I had never messed with any of those components before so that is how it was installed at the factory. It makes me wonder if that was part of their problem.


Wow, that's not good. That would explain the popped hatch.


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## bamagun (Apr 28, 2008)

There is definantly something hanging off the aft port, but it didnt look tight...


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## wld1985 (Oct 2, 2007)

bamagun said:


> There is definantly something hanging off the aft port, but it didnt look tight...


 Looked like a hose to me, could be a diving gear hose or they tried to use some type of foot pump..
Also Yes, it took CG sometime to get there But they should of called CG when they noticed water above the floorboard...It took the 4th guy (last guy) to get in the boat to tell them to turn on the radio and call a mayday.. Did you read there comments on the sinking though? He said he already had another boat,and the insurance paid everything off..


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## aroundthehorn (Aug 29, 2010)

wld1985 said:


> Looked like a hose to me, could be a diving gear hose or they tried to use some type of foot pump..
> Also Yes, it took CG sometime to get there But they should of called CG when they noticed water above the floorboard...It took the 4th guy (last guy) to get in the boat to tell them to turn on the radio and call a mayday.. Did you read there comments on the sinking though? He said he already had another boat,and the insurance paid everything off..


Yeah, that struck me as strange. Not something that I would put out there on the internet after Progressive declared the boat a total loss.


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## jplvr (Mar 7, 2011)

That port is open but inside the cockpit. I think they opened that after they knew there was a problem. I don't think that was the problem, but it's the only culprit you can see in the video. 

I think they said Seatow found one missing from the splash well when they recovered and the guys couldn't remember putting it back in from earlier in the day. Maybe the cross thread mention could apply here as both of the ones in the splashwell were attached in the video.


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## Johnms (Nov 29, 2010)

I like taking the speargun with them overboard. Ready for anything.


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## gator7_5 (Oct 4, 2007)

aroundthehorn said:


> Yeah, that struck me as strange. Not something that I would put out there on the internet after Progressive declared the boat a total loss.


Yeah, his comments, although made in jest, could definitely raise an eyeborwn from the insurance company. Or at least be reason for an investigation. They don't take jokes lightly. 

Of course, one would have to be pretty stupid to video tape insurance fraud and put it on the internet.


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## Sailing_Faith (Mar 11, 2009)

Sailing_Faith said:


> You can see the open access scuttle at about 5 minutes, (surrounded by swim fins) You can see it better at about 11:40 (once the boat has flipped).
> 
> Man what a bad deal... good training video though. Glad the guy was willing to post it and share his experience. :thumbsup:





Sailing_Faith said:


> It is in the deck, (see post above). It is on center, probably over the tank.... looks like one of the same type of screw in round scuttles like this;





jplvr said:


> That port is open but inside the cockpit. I think they opened that after they knew there was a problem. I don't think that was the problem, but it's the only culprit you can see in the video.
> 
> I think they said Seatow found one missing from the splash well when they recovered and the guys couldn't remember putting it back in from earlier in the day. Maybe the cross thread mention could apply here as both of the ones in the splashwell were attached in the video.


In the video you can see both sides of the splashwell (kinda) and they are closed... 

In the thread on the other forum the owner said;



> ....*The real reason that it went down is we opened one of the scuttle hand holes to pump the gas bulb. *The lid was left off all day and over time the water was to much for the pump. (This is what we think)


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