29' Larson sinks SW of S. Bass Sunday

[fish/n/chics]

Ahh yea I was out in my pontoon..it really wasn't that rough..only. 3 or 4 waves barely splashed on to my deck where the front is open and I was anchored in the front..glad I got vinyl floors..instead of carpet..free wash job..sorry to hear about your loss..and glad everyone is safe!.. must have been something not right somewhere..

[Drifter]

The guy got onto the boat as it was moving as he was dropped of / into it with 2 large electric pumps and a power pack by another rescue marine boat. The Larson was floating and empty of free water by the time it got to Marblehead. I have been called super stupid by a few for anchoring of the back and believe me I am not feeling real smart, but 90% of the perch fisherman anchor of the back to keep the boat in one place. But unless a mechanical issue is found, one rogue waved swamped and sunk this 29' boat anchored of the stern in less than 5 minutes. Open back boats should be especially concerned of anchoring off the stern from now on.

[Bryan]

I have been called super stupid by a few for anchoring of the back and believe me I am not feeling real smart, but 90% of the perch fisherman anchor of the back to keep the boat in one place.

I would never call you stupid, I'm sure you learned from this and thats what matters. Unfortunatly the price for tuition was expensive.

When I was perch fishing Sat I seen a bunch of boats tieing their anchors off the stern as well.
Wasn't there some football players that tied off the stern and swamped their boat off FLA a while back? I seem to remember a story about one or two of the guys clinging to the capsized boat for days.

[skipper9]

Of Corse there is always risk in tying off the stern.. If you have to do it increase your scope (length of anchor line) It should always be at least 4 to 5 times or more the depth of the water. A very short scope will not let the boat ride up and over a rouge wave.. It would be rare to set an anchor right below a boat.. But I have seen on light an variable wind days people pull the anchor rope snug right below the boat when the wind changes direction.. Thus not having any give when a rouge wave comes by..This a very dangerous habit. Just my opinion..

[penalty box]

if you look at the picture of the boat it has an anchor on the bow, i really don't think a wave swamped the boat, i always use the bow because that's where my anchor is, on my old boat i only used the bow when it wasn't that rough. it can happen to anyone. like the bumper sticker says s*** happens

[Drifter]

Thanks skipper 9 for your comments. I had 150' of anchore line on the anchor / boat, but had only used 100 feet as per the rule of thumb: 3 times the depth. Your advice does make sense, especially relative to anchoring off the stern. I really need to totally understand this. Three people, but all of which were pretty good size, over 700 lbs total. Boat with low walk out door and gap of 2" under door as designed, pretty calm day as you can see from the pictures. I am still not sure if it was one wave or just one that finsihed us off. After the boat is reviewed in detail for drain lines being connected, etc I will post the experts opinion's such that the viewers can learn as I will and hopefully this never happens to anyone else. We cut the anchor line with a pair of scissors. cost us 30 seconds for not having a knife on my belt. knot was too tight to untie quickly by then. This boat has perch fished like this many times before, but maybe not with this much weight (maybe 150lbs more?)

[ReelTime]

I seem to remember a story about one or two of the guys clinging to the capsized boat for days.

Yes the guys were fishing in the Gulf in rough seas. Their anchor got stuck and in an attempt to pull it loose they tied the anchor rope to the stern and tried to pull it out with the power of the motor. When the anchor rope came taught the boat flipped. Only one survived that incodent. All they had to do was cut the rope and count their losses to maybe a $100.00 anchor at most.

It's very simple, just don't anchor off the stern.

[branhamautomotive]

drifter sorry to hear about your boat, glad to know everyone is ok. I looked at the pics and the video, very said and amazing to see. I would agree it seems odd that a 5 foot wave to sink a 29 foot boat. But something to think about a 5 foot high wave assuming that the average wave is 2 foot at its base from start to finish and assuming your boat is 10 foot wide, that wave would hold about 100 cubic feet of water. Now i know the wave is not a perfect square and so these numbers are not 100% acturate but something to think about. 100 cubic feet of water is the same as 748 gals. and water weighs about 8.3 pounds a gal thats 6200 extra pounds landing on the rear of the boat, if your boat is 8 foot wide or assuming the loss from shape of wave, thats 80 cubic feet which is 598 gals that just short of 5000 pounds. Now that weight alone might not put a boat down but if it would drop the back low enough it could start the water flowing in continuosly. Not saying its the answer. I am by no means a boat expect or anything......but thats alot of extra weight

again glad to hear everyone made it ok and no one got hurt

I know this will make me think about anchoring at the stern which i know i do alot. My boat has a long nose and the cuddy opening is a long way from the nose and my railing around the edge is very low( more for looks than to keep someone on board ) I always use the stern cause i dont want to fall off the noise when pulling the anchor in, but i guess swimming is better than sinking a boat

[bobd47fish]

A 29' boat should be able to be anchored of the back with only three people in it in much tougher conditions.

Looking at the photo of the boat bobbing in Lake Erie I notice 2 important points:
1. There IS an anchor on the front of the vessel.
2. Look CLOSELY. It actually has a windlass!!!

Enough said.

[Eyezcrazy]

I agree with the comment about how much a large wave can put in your boat in a hurry. I would also like to add that the design of this boat would make it even more dangerous due to the fact of the low opening at the stern. This makes it even more easy to swamp a boat that takes on a large wave by allowing a lower filling point from the water level. All these comments have been very educational to me. I once thought it would be nice to have a boat with a walk thru door at the stern, this certainly changed my mind about it.

Stay safe everyone, education helps all of us.