Collision and Dismasting

[Lou-In-NJ]

Terrible, but fortunately it wasn't worse.
The actions of that fishing boat are reprehensible, and you can't control other people's incompetence.
So, since you are only in control of your actions, what do you think you could have done differently?

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by AA3JY

Don-

This is sobering for us cruisers. However I’m trying to find an incident report by the USCG Seventh District and there’s nothing available at the moment. Usually these initial reports are generated immediately.

Glad you and Dana are OK 👍

Regards,

Clay & Leslie
aboard s/v Tango

I wouldn't know. When I asked the inspectors about getting report copy they said I would have to file Freedom of Information request.

[flee27]

Echoing what others have stated. Glad you and your wife are physically ok. I pray you will be emotional ok also.

Terrible way to end your cruising. I hope you both find a reasonable outcome and thank you for sharing your experience for us to reflect on.

Best of luck to you and your wife.

Foster

[AA3JY]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I wouldn't know. When I asked the inspectors about getting report copy they said I would have to file Freedom of Information request.

These initial reports are usually released to the press immediately..

https://www.news.uscg.mil/District-7/

..but Dec. 30 seems to be blank..just asking

[The Yacht Rigger]

Wow, what a story. The main thing is nobody was injured... and you were able to cut it all free without injury or major incident. Very well done!
Glad you had a hacksaw on board! We do safety at sea rigging seminars pretty often, and we always recommend that people have a battery angle grinder on board and get comfortable using it. Makes cutting rigging free a lot easier/faster.
But you got it done!!
Thank you for sharing. Sorry for the loss of equipment, time, and money!

[dannc]

So sorry to hear that this happened. At least no body was injured.



Later,
Dan

[Knotical]

SB, I am very sorry to hear of this incident, glad you and your wife are physically ok.

[Iron E]

As others have said, glad that you and your wife are uninjured. Also, thanks for sharing the story with such details. I've always felt that more people should.

Fishing boats run dark all the time. It's a problem and Coast Guard knows it. As was mentioned earlier in this post, why would they leave?
CG: Why did you leave?
Open Seas: They told us to leave
CG: You had a major collision with extensive damage to the SV, No mast, No rigging, unknown hull damage, and they had no radio, and you left?
Open Seas: Yes, they told us to leave.
CG: Did we tell you you could leave?

I can see quite a few scenarios and none of them would be leaving the scene of a severely damaged SV.

Again, glad you and your wife are safe. Please keep us updated.

[deltaten]

Sorry....and exasperated...hearing of your loss. FWIW, I've been almost run down in similar circumstances, on the N. Chessie, during broad daylight, so.....

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Iron E

Fishing boats run dark all the time. It's a problem and Coast Guard knows it. As was mentioned earlier in this post, why would they leave?
CG: Why did you leave?
Open Seas: They told us to leave
CG: You had a major collision with extensive damage to the SV, No mast, No rigging, unknown hull damage, and they had no radio, and you left?
Open Seas: Yes, they told us to leave.
CG: Did we tell you you could leave?

I can see quite a few scenarios and none of them would be leaving the scene of a severely damaged SV.

Again, glad you and your wife are safe. Please keep us updated.

That's an interesting point of whether they told CG they were leaving. I mostly don't know what was comms were going on over the VHF at time, I was busy! The fishing boat could surely hear us on our handheld from 100 yards away as the CG could hear us.

[donradcliffe]

Sorry your new year had to start like this. I see Open Seas as a documented 40 ft fishing boat built in 1979. If its the right one, its not a high dollar operation. I would check their boat out to see if it was damaged, but also to see if was rigged for nets or just trolling. Take pictures.

If you were headed south, what do you think their course was prior to the collision.

[Iron E]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

That's an interesting point of whether they told CG they were leaving. I mostly don't know what was comms were going on over the VHF at time, I was busy! The fishing boat could surely hear us on our handheld from 100 yards away as the CG could hear us.

Absolutely You were busy. And nobody knew what that outcome was going to be.

As mentioned earlier, if you haven't already, create an extensive log with times, locations, events...everything. Don't guess at anything. Accuracy is key.

I've been on both Radio and SAR while I was in the CG, and while on radio watch, I wouldn't let anyone leave a scene like you describe unless for their safety.

Edit: Also, a Coast Guard FOIA isn't a big deal and should move forward pretty quickly.
https://www.dcms.uscg.mil/Portals/10...20220427_1.pdf

[HeinSdL]

Terrible experience, good luck with clearing up the mess. Hope it doesn't completely derail your cruising life.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

Sorry your new year had to start like this. I see Open Seas as a documented 40 ft fishing boat built in 1979. If its the right one, its not a high dollar operation. I would check their boat out to see if it was damaged, but also to see if was rigged for nets or just trolling. Take pictures.

If you were headed south, what do you think their course was prior to the collision.

Man I am not going anywhere near Open Seas! That is the CG and my insurance company problem.

The only issue to me currently is that my boat agreed value uninsured. We are done sailing the boat, but could get more for it once repaired than the insured value.

[SV Confianza]

Yikes. So sorry to hear that. We saw a close call with a fishing boat (and another sailboat) off Florida just recently. Very scary.

We have some friends likely driving down to Florida this weekend to jump aboard. Let us know if you need a hand picking anything up on the way down.