10-17-12 Stupid and Adrift

[Dave Mull]

Stupid, Adrift and Thanking God for a Coleman Cooler

They say confession is good for the soul, but bad for the reputation, but I’m going to tell you about the blunders that led to yours truly hanging on to a cooler in waves of many different sizes, about five miles from shore out on Lake Michigan the day before the July 4th holiday. I was in the water about 3 1/2 hours, while my boat mates stayed in the drink up to an hour longer.

But let me interject a quick boat review: I loved my first trip in the 18-foot Lake Assault center console Tuesday, out of South Haven, Michigan. The boat seemed built like a tank, with aluminum diamond plate decking and floors, with lots of convenient storage. Pushed by a super-quiet Honda 90-hp outboard, the boat trolled in three-footers really well. Overall, it was great—until it took a few waves over the transom and capsized, sending me, my buddy Matt, his 10-year-old son Jack and Matt's cousin John (who turned 50 on Monday) into the lake some five miles from shore, largely without life jackets, without time to advise anyone over the hand-held radio of our predicament. Then it sank like the Titanic.

End of boat review. I don't think I'll buy one.

So, the boat swamped, and Matt, with a boat cushion, and young Jack, the only angler wearing a life jacket, clung to each other and headed for the distant shoreline. John drifted one direction; I drifted another direction. Soon I was as alone and feeling more helpless than I can remember, with waves seemingly ever building and pushing me north, more parallel to the beach than towards it. Although I kicked in moderately sustained spurts for the shore, I never seemed to make headway.

And no, I didn't bury the lead. No one died, and other than early signs of hypothermia for Jack, a severely bruised ankle for Cousin John and a sunburned face for me, we got out of the ordeal a lot better off than we might have. I must interject something else, unapologetic to any atheists or agnostics reading this: God is good. And I renewed a direct, personal relationship with Him. Just as there are no atheists in foxholes, I imagine that few atheists bob around for long way offshore, knowing that aside from three other people—also bobbing—no one knows that they’re in trouble.

Here's what happened:

My buddy Matt, his cousin John and son Jack and I towed the boat about 30 miles from its storage barn in Paw Paw, Michigan to South Haven. We caravanned with our mutual friend and Matt’s business partner Al, who took his 17-foot Sea Nymph with his grandson Tyler and friend Travis. It was one of those moderately uncomfortable days to fish; not really bad wind and waves, but lumpy, occasional three-footers. Not the kind of waves you’d ever expect could sink a boat.

After launching at around 5;30 and trolling for about four hours, we had three decent fish in the built-in fish box. At about 10:15, we were starting to discuss heading in to the ramp and thought we had another fish on a copper line, but it turned out to a tangle with the other copper line on that side of the boat. This mess proceeded to tangle with a wire dipsy, and then both downriggers. It was a superb mess, maybe the worst tangle I’ve ever seen—and I’ve seen some loo-loos.

If only I'd have listened to Matt, who suggested I just hand-over-hand the massive wad of copper in and worry about untangling back at the shop. But no, I was sure just one more snip of the braided super-line backing and the tangle would be solved. And as I worked on it at the starboard side of the transom, the copper, apparently stuck in the port downrigger, got too close to the propeller on the 90-horse Honda outboard. “B-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d!†Instantly, a lot of copper was wrapped in the prop. Matt ordered John to kill the engine and trim it up. Didn’t actually look too bad, as far as the copper situation, neatly spooled in front of the stainless steel blades. If it had been just the copper, I’m thinking we might’ve been able to fire it up, put it in gear, let it fall to pieces and head in. But remember, we also had a good amount of 7-strand stainless steel wire somewhere in the fray. That stuff is definitely not good for lower units. So Matt and I started to try and pull the copper off the propeller.

I just weighed myself this morning—up to 244 pounds. I don't know what Matt weighs, but he used to play defensive lineman for a Division I university, is about 6 foot, 5 inches tall and, well, he’s just a big guy. With both of us at the back of the boat and John (who shares some of Matt's big-guy genes and is no lightweight himself) at the helm, we have a lot of weight at the transom when Matt and I are working on the outboard.

So, here’s the first mistake: Not having a sea anchor aboard to deploy off the bow to allow the boat to ride up and over the waves, front first. But in retrospect, I bet that even had there been on aboard, we wouldn’t have deployed it. We just aren’t feeling like we’re in hazardous waves. But we’re out there, no power, transom getting smacked. Little tops of waves are splish-splashing over the cut out transom.

Still, nothing to get really concerned about, right?

Matt and I are both at the rear and John sits in the helm seat, when we take a moderate amount of water over the back. John turned on the bilge pump, which immediately spurted water to the side, and then he moved to the bow platform to reduce the amount of weight at the transom. Now it’s just Matt and me back there trying to reach the copper to pull it off the propeller. Matt took off his shirt because he didn't want to get it wet. And we take a pretty good wave over the back. I move forward. Another wave. I suggest Matt might want to move forward, and yet another wave swooshes into the cockpit. Matt turns around and sees water rolling around the whole boat, almost up to the level of the front platform, and several things happen in quick succession. The boat is definitely foundering, and I reach into my bag and grab my Onyx inflatable life jacket. I don’t even have time to think about putting it on, let alone inflate it. The boat starts to tip big-time to starboard and Matt jump-falls out of the rear of the boat. John picks up 10-year-old Jack and tosses him clear. I do my best to launch myself to starboard, hoping the boat won’t be on top of me, holding the PFD, still uninflated.

Suddenly we’re all four in the water and the boat has turtled. We all got clear of it and maybe we’ll be fine. We can just cling to the boat and await a rescue. Both young Jack and I hang to the hull, I’m straddling the keel, fingers stuck into the holes that I guess drain the livewell near the front of the boat, and sense the rear portion of the boat is sinking. I feel some of the tangled lines around my right ankle and make it my first priority to get my foot free. Matt has a seat cushion-style flotation device, which I believe John was able to throw to him. He’s yelling to see if Jack is all right, and he is, but by now, only about four feet of the boat is sticking out of the water, nearly vertically. John sees the Coleman cooler we had stocked with drinks pinned against the water’s surface, stuck between the water and the triangular bow deck of the last part of the boat sticking out of the water. He debates briefly about pulling it out, since it seems to be the only thing keeping the boat from completely sinking. But the boat is continuing to drop below the surface, so he pulls it out. Seconds later, the boat slips down and is gone.

By now I’ve found the pull-tab and the cord to inflate the Onyx. I jerk and it works. I'm not wearing it, but it’s easy to hang on to. We’re all kind of looking around. Matt grabs a yellow dry bag that’s afloat. I see the yellow, waterproof hard-side case I’d gotten at a long-ago Evinrude press event. I’d used it to hold a half-ass ditch kit, kept on the old Starcraft. I’d included the Humminbird hand-held marine radio we had been using that morning to talk to Al, and I know the radio isn't back inside. I try to remember if that radio was supposed to float (it wasn't, but it is submersible) and don't see it anywhere in the waves—it's really not easy to see anything floating around us at water level. The radio had been on the ledge near the horizontal rod racks and I only had enough time to think of and grab my PFD. The radio is with the boat (not to mention all of Matt's fishing gear), on the bottom, 89 feet below us.

I recall that I had a packet of four flares in the case, too.

So I swim over to the hard-side case, just as we realize there’s a nice-size boat, maybe a 28-footer, an express open, trolling close to the same depth as we were, away from us, maybe 300 yards away. We scream. We wave as best we can. It keeps trolling away. So I open the case and pull out the zippered mesh bag of flares, noting they expired in 2010. Four are inside and I fumble with the zipper, but get the pack open and pull one out. And I have no idea of how it’s supposed to work, so chin-deep in three-foot waves, sputtering the occasional mouthful of water, I’m reading directions. By some act of God, I still have my glasses on so I actually CAN read, and see I need to pull the plunger down, unscrew the bottom cap and yank on the chain. Not simple while holding on to an inflated life jacket, flare inches from my face. I jerk. Nothing. I jerk again and “POP!†a smoky trail heads skyward. And that’s it. No burning ball of fire. A smoky trail that the southwest wind disperses in seconds. The express cruiser is now really far away, headed for Saugatuck water. I grope for another flare, but the mesh case is no longer in my hand. I put my face in the water and look down and see the squarish orange case sinking ever so slowly, just below my feet. I dive for it, unwilling to release the PFD. No way to reach it.

Now I hear Matt yelling at John to hang on to the cooler and see that John is having a really tough time. John, despite being an experienced scuba diver, is on the verge of panic. In the waves, he just can’t hold on to the cooler and keep his head above water. I kick over to him and suggest we trade, Onyx for Coleman. Except I didn’t really suggest so much as shove the PFD into his chest, whereupon he grabs it, along with the fabric of my long-sleeved Great Lakes Angler shirt. I can’t explain the calm that came over me other than as being divine. “Just the life jacket Bubba,†I say as if it's a joke. “Let go my shirt please.â€

And he does. And I grab the handles of the cooler and learn immediately why coolers aren't U.S. Coast Guard-approved PFDs. It’s a medium-sized, blue cooler with a white top. I hold it upside down, closed tight, drinks and ice rumbling around inside. Holding the handles sucks my body underneath legs first, leaving me face-up for waves breaking over my forehead and into the orifices I use for breathing.

I still have the yellow hard case the flares were in, and before long I realize I can hold the cooler’s handles with my knuckles against the lid, fingers pointed outwards, stretching my arms in front and can keep my head out of water and legs behind me fairly well. The cooler is just the right size for this. My left hand holds the handle of the cooler and the buoyant yellow hard case, now empty, but buoyant.

At this point, I can’t explain exactly how, but we go three separate directions. One moment we’re all three swimming towards shore—I notice two Church planer boards, still attached to fishing lines, floating foam side up. The next moment, we’re all far apart. I hear a boat behind me in deeper water and turn to see an IO model, a white and red fiberglass boat maybe 20 or 22-feet long, maybe a Four Winns, complete with fishing rods and downriggers. It seems like it’s less than 100 yards away, just cruising slowly—I don’t think they were fishing. I’m close enough to see two people, young men, talking to each other and for a second or two, I think they've heard me yelling for help—along with Matt, Jack and John who join in, although I find out at the end of the ordeal that no one else even saw that second boat. It doesn’t turn.

Now the cooler is obstructing my view of my former boat mates, and I hear Matt yelling for me, maybe because I started yelling help when I saw the boat.

“I'm OK!†I yell. “I'm fine.â€

And that’s the last I see or hear of them in the water.

OK, before I get into the circumspect self-analysis and explore those thoughts I remember having while adrift and alone, let’s review all the things we did wrong and some of the things that would have helped our situation. Let’s start with me.

1. I let foolish pride get in the way of just pulling all of Matt’s copper into the boat and ended up getting it tangled in the prop.

2. I wasn’t wearing my PFD. If I had been, it’s likely I would have looked for and grabbed the radio instead of looking for the life vest.

3. I didn’t know how to use my flares. If I did, and if I had been wearing the PFD in the water instead of hanging on to it, it would have been a lot easier to hold on to the other three flares in their pouch and shoot more off, maybe before that boat had trolled so far away. Also, I don't know if that flare I successfully fired was a dud or if it performed correctly. My ditch bag (case) should have had flares that hadn’t expired two years ago.

4. The boat should have had a dash-mounted marine radio instead of relying on a hand-held (which, in retrospect, probably would have been left at home with the rest of the ditch bag anyway). Still, a dash-mount would have been easier to grab and call for help.

5. Another essential piece of big water gear has to be a drift bag that can attached to a forward cleat to keep the boat pointed into the wind, avoiding waves washing over the transom.

6. All of us tough men should have been wearing PFDs, as young Jack was. I used to be in the habit of wearing an inflatable--an unfortunate habit to break. We should have known where they were stowed on the boat, too, and been able to at least pull them out of the compartment before the boat capsized. I take that back. We wouldn’t have had time even if we knew where they were. The boat was gone that quickly.

***

So I find myself in the water, alone, clinging to the handles of a cooler, and collect my thoughts—and not all of them, especially at first, are pleasant.

“I’m 55 years old. I could have a heart attack.â€

“I wonder if I could black out with the way I have to take a deep breath and hold it all the time?â€

“God, please don't let Matt have a heart attack.â€

“I hope John is OK.†He seemed a lot better with the life jacket, but he wasn’t doing well and, being from Evansville in Southern Indiana, he has only been on Lake Michigan once before. I’m most worried about him.

“I've been having weird spasms in my fingers and thumb. What if I have one and let go of the cooler?â€

“What if a handle breaks with these waves slapping the cooler?â€

“What if the predicted thunderstorm comes through and pummels this area with icy water or even hail? Water is warm now, but I wonder if it would get cold enough to get hypothermia. And what kind of waves would come with a thunderstorm? It’s hard enough to stay on top and breath with this cooler. If I drop it or some wave rips it out of my hands, it’s over.â€

The water’s surface temp was warm—really pleasant, and I later learn it was 70 degrees, someone said the warmest on record for early July. But a couple of the press releases I’ve received over the years from the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and companies that make safety gear play through my mind. I remember one with a chart that showed how long people have before hypothermia sets in when they’re immersed in varying degrees of water term. I don't remember the specifics, but it seemed like if you fall into 38-degree water, you've got something like a minute. Fifty-degree water and you have half an hour. I wonder how long I’ll have. Maybe four hours? All I can do is hope my teeth don’t start chattering. (Turns out I wasn’t that far off in my guesstimates. Here’s a chart: http://westpacmarine.com/samples/hypothermia_chart.asp).

Well, I ultimately decide that the Good Lord is testing me. I think of something some fine Christian said about the burden that God gives us—it’s never more than we can handle. And this thought gives me some comfort.

I try kicking towards shore, but it seems like I’m going nowhere. The only time I seem to move at all is when I take a deep breath and hold it, putting my face in the water and stretching my arms forward and legs behind, as close to the surface as possible. Waves roll into the cooler, and I can feel the sensation of rushing forward. But the surges don’t take me directly towards shore, where the treeline appears dark bluish-black through the summery haze.

Bad luck for me, the wind and waves come from the south-southwest. When I peer over the cooler in the direction the waves are pushing me, I can’t see the tree line in front of me. I guess that at this angle, I’ll end up in Grand Haven or farther north, and don’t want to do the calculation of how long that will take drifting at about one mile per hour. It’s only around 11 or 11:30 a.m. by my best guess (the cuff of my long-sleeve shirt is stuck to the face of my watch and letting go of the cooler with both hands just to see what time it is is not an option). The sun is still more east than west, but with my current course, I'll be spending the night out here. I keep doing spurts of kicking, but also start dealing with cramps in my hamstrings and calves and—of all things—my toes. When I feel the spasms, I go back to cooler surfing, stretching my legs out, which changes my direction towards the unseen shore.

A couple of years ago, I read a book called “Adrift,†by Steven Callahan, who was sailing a small boat, solo, from Portugal to the U.S. One night he woke up when something big—he later speculated a whale—hit his boat and caused it to sink. He had a tiny life raft, barely any food, a couple of water makers designed for a couple days use each and a small survival kit that included fish hooks. He survived on largely on fish. And he was adrift for 76 days. That’s 2 1/2 months. I think of that book and 76 days adrift, no land in sight, and I feel really, really stupid out here, within sight of shore, hanging on to a Coleman cooler. So I try frog kicks, and scissor kicks like I learned as a kid in swimming lessons. I might be getting closer to shore—have to be getting closer—but there’s really no way to tell.

Lots of different thoughts about mortality, my career and how I treat my family go through my head. I’m not really worried about dying. I just don’t think it’s my time yet, and don’t allow myself to ponder, “but what if it is?†I really feel like I’m in no immediate danger and figure that aside from the eventual possibility of hypothermia, I can survive out here for a long time. I do at one point hope Kathy has made my life insurance payment. But I’m not in dire circumstances, like if the boat had sunk in April with 40-degree water.

I think about being laid off from Great Lakes Angle for the second year in a row as of July 15, with the plan to go back on December 1, and wonder if I really enjoy this Great Lakes trolling that much anymore. Was I even having a good time when we were catching fish? Was it fun to get up at 3:30 this morning? I think of the massive amount of tackle I’ve accumulated for big lake salmon and walleye fishing, and how piles of stuff are in the family room for me to sort, and how Kathy has been overall pretty cool about me not getting it out of there by my self-imposed deadline, although I now have to clean the house—twice—for her granting me a deadline extension so I could go fishing. I decide I’m going to just stack it up, let Al take whatever he wants, and then toss the rest in a dumpster. (I subsequently have decided to have a garage sale after Al looks through it and before heading for the dumpster.)

I think about my lost cameras, a $275 Canon point-and-shoot that served as a backup to my Nikon D-70 SLR was in my bag, along with a brand new, as-yet-unused Contour video camera, a $200 deal that is largely waterproof and designed to compete against the Go-Pro cameras. My good $600 Canon video camera and the Nikon are in a (supposedly) watertight Pelican case, hopefully floating towards shore. Maybe I’ll get them back. I hope so, since pictures of John's first king along with some nice photos of Matt and Jack holding a different king are on the Nikon. I don’t really care about losing the main tools of my trade, but it would be nice to get them back so I can get those pictures to the guys. If the guys are OK. I’ve also lost the top to my favorite rainsuit—Frabill—along with a packet of lures in a large zip-style plastic bag I’d put together that morning (turns out a friend of a friend of a friend found that and I’ll probably get that back soon).

I didn’t set out writing this tale of four hours in the water to be long and boring enough to take four hours to read, so let’s get on with what happened next. I continue my spurts of frustrated kicking towards the east, resting and letting unrelenting Lake Michigan push me north-northeast. I don’t have anything better to do. I keep my head out of the water and pressed against the cooler while kicking, hoping that keeping my noggin in the hot sun will delay getting chilled. Still occasionally cramping, I do my dead body float routine to stretch and work out the cramp.

And I guess I must have looked pretty dead, as Travis later told me when he saw me, he had goose flesh down both arms.

After more than three hours in the water, I look up and to my left, and I see a boat, close, and why, it looks like my good fishing buddy Al. A wave obstructs my view, but there the boat is again, a white, 17-foot Sea Nymph with a blue stripe, and sure enough, there’s my shirtless, fireplug buddy, looking and waving and clearing lines with his friend Travis. Later I learn that Al had told 7-year-old grandson Tyler, who normally steers, to sit down on the floor because he didn’t want the boy to see a dead body. Al is shouting into his microphone—I can't hear what he's saying, but I know he’s calling the Coast Guard.

Al and Travis are obviously concerned about getting me in the boat and put it in neutral. Hanging onto the side of their boat, I tell them that Matt's boat sank, that Matt, Jack and John are probably still in the water. Al gets back with the Coast Guard, saying three more people are in the water. The Coast Guard says they'll dispatch a chopper.

“It’s in neutral Dave,†he tells me as I hang on the side of the boat, one hand still holding the Coleman.

Travis takes the cooler and out spills the three or four drinks and leftover ice inside—I’d been starting to wonder what was in there booming around, actually considering that a sugary Coke might be life-sustaining sustenance if the wind shifted and I got headed across the lake towards Milwaukee. I go to the transom to climb in that way, but the boat has already spun downwind so waves are slapping against it.

“Al! Get this boat pointed into the waves! I already sank one boat today!â€

I don’t really remember if he did, but he and Travis hauled me over the side without swamping. I convince them I’m not hurt and other than a little cold, I’m OK.

Al gives the Coast Guard his cell number and is soon talking with them again, relaying the GPS coordinates where he pulled me out. Meanwhile, a mid-size older Sea Ray is cruising by and we flag them down. I think the boat was named "I Got My Weigh," and three guys and a gal are aboard. We tell them what happened and they start searching. Within a half hour (I think—actual time is kind of fuzzy) the Sea Ray radios the Coast Guard that that have found John and he’s aboard. This bolsters my confidence that we’re all four going to be OK since Jack had his life jacket and Matt had a seat cushion.

Before long, eight or so other boats are in the search, having heard our plight on the radio. The Coast Guard shows up in one of their twin-outboard orange RIBs with blue flashing lights, talks to us briefly and then throws out a life ring with a flashing light and starts a grid search. I think about 15 minutes later, the orange chopper shows up, and within just a few more minutes, we see it start to hover, about two miles closer to shore, and note that the RIB is on plane, blasting towards the helicopter.

"They have to have found them," I say, hoping Matt and Jack are together and all right. About five minutes later, the Coast Guard comes on the radio to advise that all four of the persons in the water have been recovered and are in good shape. Al and Travis whoop and high five as I start to break down crying in relief—tears out of nowhere—as Al bearhugs me.

It turns out Matt is fine, but Jack had actually shown the first signs of hypothermia--blue lips and shivers. The two had made really good progress towards shore, probably covering about three miles, with two miles left to go. I’m not sure how this happened or if Matt might not have looked at his depth finder right before we sank, but he thought the boat sank in 89 feet of water, while Al found me in 110 feet of water. Makes me wonder if some odd current had me heading more out to the center of the lake.

Al points his boat towards South Haven and I ask how many fish they got. “Around ten,†he says. Knowing Al loves to fill the fishbox—and probably the only reason he was still out trolling was because he hadn't gotten a three-person limit yet, I joke, “Well, why we going in? We can get 10 more.â€

And I think about how thankful I am that Al is pit bull tenacious about getting a limit of salmon.

Finally we’re heading up the Black River. We make a brief stop at the pavilion in port where EMTs are waiting with a red truck flashing red lights. I just tell them I’m fine and don't need medical treatment, as does John.

Matt, John, Al and I have a tearful reunion back at the launch ramp. Hugs all around. Matt had thought John and I were goners for sure after we got separated.

The four of us drive back together in Matt’s truck, discussing some of the things that happened. Jack is resilient and more worried about what will happen when his mother finds out than anything else. Matt tells us something Jack said after they had been in the water for a couple of hours.

“He says, ‘I sure wish we wouldn't have lost those fish.’â€

It makes us all laugh. So assessing what we lost, it all seems insignificant to what we didn’t lose. Thank God, truly, that we all came out of that OK, hopefully wiser and smart enough to be more prepared for that kind of thing happening in the future. Not that it will ever happen to us, of course.

[Dave Mull]

Guys: This BLOG post originally appeared on a different website with which I am no longer affiliated. I'm doing a radio interview about what happened and wanted to be able to guide listeners to GreatLakesFisherman.com to read the whole account. Just in case you're wondering why something that happened in July is being posted here in October.

Dave

[SUPERTRAMP]

I first read this back in July and was glad all were rescued. However having been fishing lake Michigan since the 1970's I have seen all kinds of weather and have mega respect for that body of water. Really appreciate the honesty that u presented the facts and the description of the boat sinking really hits home for me. I have fished out of So Haven in my 14' Lil Tramp, and anything over 2' sent me running for home.

Glad u made it to tell the story. My big question is what boat manufacturer fails to put positive floatation in their boats?

[Just Hook'n]

I read this when it was originally posted as well. Not sure if you knew Dave, but someone here posted a link to it, or copied and pasted or something. VERY well written and thank you for sharing again. Especially important to remember in this time of year when things can get much worse with the cold water.

[fishsniffer]

after reading this earlier in the year several thing on my boat were moved..first timers to my boat are now advised on where the life jackets are and how to use and what channel to call on the radio along with where pertinant gps numbers are on the screen..also the throwable is in a sidepocket mid boat and fully accessible...too bad tragedy or near tragedy are what it takes to get things changed..i remember a few years back a guy fell out of his boat changing a rigger in grand haven and wasnt found...next day i went and bought cable retrieves cus i can remember several times i had footing slip while changing out a bait

[aprils fool]

I also read this when it was first posted in July.It makes me shudder as much now as it did then. Your experience has really enlightened alot of people of how little time there really is to react if somethng bad should happen. I think it has also reminded us of how poorly prepared so many of us are or have been in the past.

Was so glad that your story ended well for everyone involved

Thank You Dave for sharing your story again and educating all of us.

Good Fishing,

Troy

[sslopok]

I too changed the routines on my boat after reading this article in July. I always show newcomers how to use the radio and where life saving equiptment is located. You just never know when they will be needed. There are too many things that could happen.

[Spawnwalker]

Just glad your still with us to talk about it Dave.

[jimcr]

Glad you made it through your experience . I originally read this on another website , but it just reinforced the fact that we continue to ware our inflatable life jackets while fishing out on the big lake. Also having a DSC radio and having it hooked up correctly just in case of that emergency. A single push of a button sends your location to the Coast Guard. I found out after reinstalling how well it works , hit the wrong button and received a call on my cell asking what the problem was, woops. I was in my garage 8 miles from the lake. couldn't figure out who would be calling me .

If your ever in Milwaukee I would love to have you come and give a talk to GLSF Milwaukee on what happened.

It opened my eyes and lots of others.

Jim

[Dave Mull]

I first read this back in July and was glad all were rescued. However having been fishing lake Michigan since the 1970's I have seen all kinds of weather and have mega respect for that body of water. Really appreciate the honesty that u presented the facts and the description of the boat sinking really hits home for me. I have fished out of So Haven in my 14' Lil Tramp, and anything over 2' sent me running for home.

Glad u made it to tell the story. My big question is what boat manufacturer fails to put positive floatation in their boats?

Apparently Lake Assault.

[Dave Mull]

I also read this when it was first posted in July.It makes me shudder as much now as it did then. Your experience has really enlightened alot of people of how little time there really is to react if somethng bad should happen. I think it has also reminded us of how poorly prepared so many of us are or have been in the past.

Was so glad that your story ended well for everyone involved

Thank You Dave for sharing your story again and educating all of us.

Good Fishing,

Troy

Thanks Troy. I hope what happened to us will serve as a cautionary tale that helps it from happening to others.

Dave

[Dave Mull]

Just glad your still with us to talk about it Dave.

Me too Mike!

[Dave Mull]

Glad you made it through your experience . I originally read this on another website , but it just reinforced the fact that we continue to ware our inflatable life jackets while fishing out on the big lake. Also having a DSC radio and having it hooked up correctly just in case of that emergency. A single push of a button sends your location to the Coast Guard. I found out after reinstalling how well it works , hit the wrong button and received a call on my cell asking what the problem was, woops. I was in my garage 8 miles from the lake. couldn't figure out who would be calling me .

If your ever in Milwaukee I would love to have you come and give a talk to GLSF Milwaukee on what happened.

It opened my eyes and lots of others.

Jim

Thanks Jim. Would be happy to talk to the club. Will work for food (and hopefully fuel). Good point about DSC.

[IRon]

Apparently Lake Assault.

Thats the thing that bugs me the most. Ya know this was a pretty highly publicized accident. You kind of sit back and wait for Lake Assault to make some kind of response.. Nope, nothin'.

Maybe the boat was overloaded with gear and batteries, riggers, weights, 4 stroke on the back? Dunno. You would think it would be something LA would be concerned with. Guess not.

You've all probably seen the Lund video with the hull drilled full of holes and floating just fine. Makes you wonder how many boats out there would fail the same flotation test, doesn't it? I plan on putting extra flotation under the gunnels of my old Crestliner this winter.

[prop nut]

thanks for posting dave

and thank god for the outcome of your ordeal

and another big thank you for contributing to this site and others. You bring a lot to the table and I for one appriciate it

some thing you just dont want to learn about the hard way

and by the way thanks for the great picture i use as my avitar do you remember where it was taken?

frank

[Dave Mull]

Thats the thing that bugs me the most. Ya know this was a pretty highly publicized accident. You kind of sit back and wait for Lake Assault to make some kind of response.. Nope, nothin'.

Maybe the boat was overloaded with gear and batteries, riggers, weights, 4 stroke on the back? Dunno. You would think it would be something LA would be concerned with. Guess not.

You've all probably seen the Lund video with the hull drilled full of holes and floating just fine. Makes you wonder how many boats out there would fail the same flotation test, doesn't it? I plan on putting extra flotation under the gunnels of my old Crestliner this winter.

Not to say anything good or bad about Lake Assault, but the gent who actually started the company and was in charge of the boat that sank had sold the company assets to (I think the name is) Superior Boat Works. That means he sold the gear to make the boats and all the materials, without selling any of the warranty stuff. At least that's my understanding. I think that fellow is just hoping all this stuff goes away. Far as I know he's not even in the boat biz anymore. So, I'm kinda screwed on getting my cameras replaced at this point. I mean, I already got some of 'em replaced and am back in the saddle as a photog, but I don't think anyone is going to pay me for 'em and that's just the way life goes I guess. Still would be cool if that Pelican case with my good Nikon and Canon video camera showed up somewhere! I do think it was closed and sealed. And Contour was good enough to replace all the video camera gear I lost in the accident that they made. Highly recommend looking at the Contour gear if you're thinking of adding a Go Pro or Contour style camera for extreme fishing videos!

[Dave Mull]

thanks for posting dave

and thank god for the outcome of your ordeal

and another big thank you for contributing to this site and others. You bring a lot to the table and I for one appriciate it

some thing you just dont want to learn about the hard way

and by the way thanks for the great picture i use as my avitar do you remember where it was taken?

frank

Thanks Frank! As I recall those pics were taken at Racine after a Eucher tournament and you had our buddy Kenny Lyles aboard. I didn't realize that avatar was a pic I took till you mentioned it! Let me know when you start whacking and stacking those perch down there!

[sjk984]

My second time seeing this article also..

This may be the single most important thread that I have come across on the sites I visit. It prompted changes in alot of anglers safty procedures.

Thanks for sharing Dave

[Boblo]

Dave,

First read on your story. Blessings to you and your crew. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. I also need to take a hard look at all the safety equipment and procedures on my vessel. With your story I believe you will have saved lives in the future. To many of us get caught up in the excitement of getting out and hammering the fish, a true testament that we all need to take a step back and make sure our vessels are equipped with the proper safety equipment and the crew knows what is expected of them in a mishap. Grateful that you kept your composure and didn't panic.

Once again "Thank You" for sharing and God Bless......-----Robert.

[Rascal Trophy Fishing]

Dave, what a valuable post and useful reminder that safety comes first, all else is a bonus to the eating table and outdoor experience. I'm glad some are taking advantage of this post to be overly safe, it's our lives on the line everytime we leave port.

[sherman51]

i am really glad you posted this. it has changed my thinking alot. this last spring i was just thinking about life jackets. and someone posted on another forum, do you wear your life jackets and why not. i didnt really have a good answer but they are alittle uncomfortable and very hot in the middle of summer. well we make the kids wear there jackets and they are uncomfortable and hot. but they are young and dont have to do any of the rigging, so they should be ok.

well my wife use to boat and fish with me all the time. then somewhere along the way she has just about stopped, and she got to where she wouldnt go out without her life jacket on. so i was at bps down in cincy and they had a sale on one of the auto open jackets. so i bought her one, and this made her very happy. now she is better about going out, but she still doesnt go out on the big water. so i have one auto inflatable jacket.

this spring i get an email add from cabelas. they have this big sale on the auto jackets. so im thinking thats still 500.00 to add 5 more of the adult jackets. and i dont know if we will even wear them if we had them. so i tell my crew im going to buy these and we all have to wear them. well i do buy 5 more adult jackets, we took them to erie with us back in july. we even broke down for awhile and had to anchor down to let our motor cool where the water line from the outdrive got to leaking so bad the boat overheated. well we still didnt use the life jackets. it just didnt seem like we were in any danger.

after reading this thread i have full intentions of digging them out next year atleast when we are on erie and making sure everybody wears a jacket. i have enough of the standard ski jackets on my boat for everyone onboard. i also have 6 of the auto inflate jackets on my boat now. i just dont know how hard it would be to live with it if someone on my boat drowned because they wasnt wearing a jacket, after me buying the auto inflatables for them. my crew is usely my son and his wife and one or two of his kids. and sometimes my other son, and sometimes his girlfriend and myself. there is just really no reason now for us all to not wear a life jackets.

i know it could happen but i have a 21 ft boat with an i/o. so it would really take some rough water to sink my boat. but it would be very easy for someone to fall in. my oldest son was in the process of putting out our back diver rod, his feet slipped out from under him and he almost fell in. he did pitch the rod and reel in the lake. that was aug of last year, and another reason i was already thinking about getting the auto inflate jackets this spring. but there just no good if nobody has them on.

after reading this i also want to teach everybody, even the kids how to load and shoot the flair gun and how to call for help on the radio. so again thank you for taking the time to post this. im sure it will give others cause to think about what almost happened. and just how little it would have took to have made this trip to have went either way.

sherman

[SCUM LINE]

i heard of this at the fish cleaning table the next weekend, and we fish some rough water someday, makes u think about when something goes bad, how it all pilles up at once.

with out the tangle all would have been ok.? well it was a pile of small miss happes that this all when down wrong . change 1 or too things .... and it could have when anyway,

glad all worked out,....really.. and an A+ to all that helped out

[jimcr]

On my boat , a 17 footer we wear them all the time , they are not as uncomfortable as you might think. They just take a while to get use to wearing them.

Safety first.

because there is no second chance!

How many guys have there radio hooked up to use the DSC function? not many I will guess. One button to press and your location is sent to the Coast Guard.

Dave Said "God is good. And I renewed a direct, personal relationship with Him" Personally I think God wanted Dave to be able to help all of us.

Thats My Opinion

i am really glad you posted this. it has changed my thinking alot. this last spring i was just thinking about life jackets. and someone posted on another forum, do you wear your life jackets and why not. i didnt really have a good answer but they are alittle uncomfortable and very hot in the middle of summer. well we make the kids wear there jackets and they are uncomfortable and hot. but they are young and dont have to do any of the rigging, so they should be ok.

well my wife use to boat and fish with me all the time. then somewhere along the way she has just about stopped, and she got to where she wouldnt go out without her life jacket on. so i was at bps down in cincy and they had a sale on one of the auto open jackets. so i bought her one, and this made her very happy. now she is better about going out, but she still doesnt go out on the big water. so i have one auto inflatable jacket.

this spring i get an email add from cabelas. they have this big sale on the auto jackets. so im thinking thats still 500.00 to add 5 more of the adult jackets. and i dont know if we will even wear them if we had them. so i tell my crew im going to buy these and we all have to wear them. well i do buy 5 more adult jackets, we took them to erie with us back in july. we even broke down for awhile and had to anchor down to let our motor cool where the water line from the outdrive got to leaking so bad the boat overheated. well we still didnt use the life jackets. it just didnt seem like we were in any danger.

after reading this thread i have full intentions of digging them out next year atleast when we are on erie and making sure everybody wears a jacket. i have enough of the standard ski jackets on my boat for everyone onboard. i also have 6 of the auto inflate jackets on my boat now. i just dont know how hard it would be to live with it if someone on my boat drowned because they wasnt wearing a jacket, after me buying the auto inflatables for them. my crew is usely my son and his wife and one or two of his kids. and sometimes my other son, and sometimes his girlfriend and myself. there is just really no reason now for us all to not wear a life jackets.

i know it could happen but i have a 21 ft boat with an i/o. so it would really take some rough water to sink my boat. but it would be very easy for someone to fall in. my oldest son was in the process of putting out our back diver rod, his feet slipped out from under him and he almost fell in. he did pitch the rod and reel in the lake. that was aug of last year, and another reason i was already thinking about getting the auto inflate jackets this spring. but there just no good if nobody has them on.

after reading this i also want to teach everybody, even the kids how to load and shoot the flair gun and how to call for help on the radio. so again thank you for taking the time to post this. im sure it will give others cause to think about what almost happened. and just how little it would have took to have made this trip to have went either way.

sherman

[SCUM LINE]

How many guys have there radio hooked up to use the DSC function?

i have it on my radio but not hooked up,, is the a cable i can buy that runs it of my humminbirds gps??

[ericjeeper]

How many guys have there radio hooked up to use the DSC function?

i have it on my radio but not hooked up,, is the a cable i can buy that runs it of my humminbirds gps??

The wire coming out of the GPS is already there. You will need I think an 1/8" type plug for the back of the vhf.