ended the season with a busted boat .

[muskybob]

Glad you're OK and home safe.

Kingfisher06 has a beauty of a Lund for sale on this site.

[Chromeslayer]

was this in Olcott today? heard a boat went down this morning

[chinook]

Jay, first want to say that I'm glad you made it back safe. Second, I don't blame you for being frustrated and p@$%ed about the lack of response. I was in your situation about 10 years ago having fished up til the quitting time of 8:00 when the other 2 boats I was fishing with decided to call it a night. I wanted to fish an extra 15 minutes, but when I went to put the hammer down the boat went no where for the coupler went out. Long story short, a boat docked up the Oak, heard my distress call, undocked, ran the 3 miles offshore, towed me back in, and absolutely refused payment. Then just a few years ago, during the fall L.O.C., during a hot bite day, I had the opportunity to return the favor, not once but twice in the same day. I literally pulled all lines and made that the priority. One was with a vessel within 100 yards of going directly into the breakwall. Point, being, yes there are those who for some reason turn a deaf ear to those in trouble. Always have and always will be. But then there are others who are just the opposite and know what the real priorities are when out fishing the big open bodies of water. So to the readers and posters of this great site, if someone calls in distress, don't assume that someone else will handle it. Don't be part of the problem, be the part of the solution-Duane

[CT3057]

I know how you feel Jay. My uncle and a friend of his came up to do a little fishing. I launched out of Mexico State Launch. We were set up in 150 feet of water with other boats around us. My engine ended up just dying, it acted like it ran out of gas, but that wasn't the case. The timing belt ended up going on it. There was alot of chatter on the radio(channell 67), so I put a call out to see if anyone out of Mexico was going in and would be will to give a tow. The radio went silent. One guy came back and was up near the PP, asked what our boat looked like and where we were, I gave him my boat description, and our GPS coordinates, he said eh would try to locate us. In the meantime, I put up my orange distress flag. In the mean time, I tried the radio ago and it all goes silent again. There was a charter boat within 100 yards of me. He picked all his gear up. I thought he was coming over to check with us, NOPE. After all his lines were in, he motored up and went right by us headed toawrds Mexico. If that boat is ever in need I will be sure to return the favor just like he did. The boat that said he would look for us, ended up making his way to us. He said that he never towed anyone before but would be will to give it a try. It was him and his son, they were from Vermont and staying at Selkirk. They were on thier way back in for the day. Of all the local boats around, there was only one that help and it WAS NOT a local. Its pretty sad that it took an out of towner helped us out. One guy came back on the radio and said switch to channel 16 and call the coast guard. Oh well. But I do know how you feel Jay.

Clyde

[ray koziatek]

jaychucker,you may have answered your own question as to why you got no response.trolling with my honda 8hp on a calm day for hours means low rpms and little output for my only battery. I have elect.riggers,radio,1 gps ,1 fishfinder, Ialso was way offshore 12miles and could hear boats at the "25" line talking when i tried to give a report i got no response as they were whining and i was doing real well out there .then i remembered someone on this site mentioning how much power the radio requires to transmite(full).,so i started my main moter (io)and with the strong output of a altenator i tried to transmite again and the boat i was tring to reach read me loud and clear so a low battery and talking on the radio does little good . your best bet even though you did not have a "Mayday" situation you did have a "securtay" situation and it would of been appropate to call the coastguard on 16 to relay your situation(they have stronger recivers than us and may of heard you ).As for me its much more rewarding to pull stuff and help a fellow boater as long as they meet my payment request .That is to pass the good deed on if you ever can saftly do so ,so far all have agreed to this payment.(could be the fact i hold a knife to the tow rope when asking this question). Im not saying this was your situation but just some food for thought before putting down the entire port. Ray K.

[LongLine]

JayC – Sorry to hear about your experience. Glad you made it in okay & hope repairs not too costly. There are a lot of good guys out there willing to help. Unfortunately there are also some of the other type out there.

Late season, years ago, before a lot of you guys were born, I had an I/O that completely died out off Durand, with nobody around. I flashed an SOS with a flashlight at the beach. Someone saw it & in a couple hours, the Coast Guard had me back at the launch. Guess what I’m offering as food for thought is to use all forms of distress call, not just depend on radio.

CT - Flags are nice but won’t be seen unless he’s directly watching you. Flare guns can be seen by everyone, even people on shore. (That charter probably would have had the Sheriff out there pretty quick if you had tossed a flare across his stern to get his attention)

This should serve as a lesson to all of us. I.E. To think about what to do if we're found with no propulsion out there, before it happens. Have an emergency plan.

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[Gray Fox]

Isn't it amazing how the radio just go dead. My father and I blew our outdrive this June also. We were about four miles west of Oswego in 200 fow when the drive went. The was all kinds of chatter on the radio and when we called for assistance the radio went silent. Long story short we ended up floating off Oswego for 4.5 hours with the Coast Guard calling every 15 min. to check to see that we were alright. Finally we got the guy who own the campground were we stay on the phone and he was able to borrow a boat and come get us. Oh yea and the only guy that replied on the radio said that he was fishing and we were to far away to run too.

[Misty IV]

First off, glad everyone is okay and you made it back to port.

I had a similar breakdown experience with my old boat about 7 years ago when I was under power, headed back into Mexico Point, about 4 miles out. My outboard started making all kinds of noise and died. I was dead in the water. I hailed for assistance, but nobody answered. I had 3 boats pass by me, but didn't heed my waving arms or jumping up and down. I finally gave up and called onshore to my neighbors. Luckily, one of them still had his boat in the water, which is a 27' Fountain offshore go-fast boat. He came out and towed me back into Mexico Point. It was a funny sight, I am sure.

My new boat, an Islander 221, has a kicker as a backup powerplant, should the need arise. I also carry a backup VHF radio and an auxillary 12V battery which can power-up the electronics should something happen to the main battery. The battery is wired into the charging system, but is not a part of the actual electrical system onboard until I throw a switch. I also have a full compliment of distress signals onboard for both daytime and nighttime applications. Some people say I went a little overboard on the gear, but as long as I have been coming up to the Lake and the horror stories I have seen and heard about on the water, I like to be prepared for anything.

I had the honor this season of helping out a fellow fisherman who was dead in the water in Mexico Bay. He had a Baha Cruisers, probably 28' long, and his engines both died. He later found out there was water in the fuel. All kinds of boats were passing him by, failing to stop and assist. I pulled alongside him and ended up towing him into the Mexico Point launch. He offered money, but I declined. I asked him in return for towing him in that he repay the favor one day to a fellow boater.

[keithg]

as some of you might re-call,i had an awfull year last year and the last part of the year before with a re-power that didn't go well.i ended up being towed in 9 or 10 times.used the radio,the cell, and the orange flag.twice i hooked up the orange flag before calling and someone stopped.and a couple went by.i can't complain.2 charters pulled me in at the end of their trip.this year I was fortunate enough to offer assistance to someone else on two occasions.I am grateful for the guys who stopped none of whom would take any money,and am not going to dwell on those who drove by.overall there is a great bunch of guys out there.

[Misty IV]

I agree, Keith. No sense dwelling on those who didn't stop to help out. A lot of the times, the ones who stop are ones who have been in the exact same position before and are trying to repay the favor in some form. At least, that's how I felt when I pulled the Baha in over Labor Day weekend this year.

[cwmwnw]

Makes me feel a bit better knowing it's not just my boat that dies in the water. I have a 19 foot Glastron I/O and was dead in the water west of Oswego harbor. I thought we were about 4 miles out and the radio was only receiving, apparently not transmitting, fortunately we had a cell phone and reached the coast guard. They attempted to call out a distress to any nearby boats, but no response. As the batteries died and the GPS and Loran were out of commission we just kept drifting in 2 to 3 footers west north west. The stiff wind blew us to about 8 miles out by the time the coast guard reached us. They were EXCELLENT! They never stopped calling and kept searching.

Thank you Coast Guard...Toy Boat appreciated your assistance.