A Close Call and Scary Experience

[Aaron Shirley]

Irishfield has a great thread to help us all remember how things can turn ugly very quickly on the water, and fortunately his experience turned out well. Hopefully his thread will help save a few lives of OFC members that read it. I want to share a scary experience I had on the water once without hijacking Irishfield's thread.

 

Here is another example of how things can turn ugly very quickly out there (Tonyb will remember this one).. I have always felt confident in my ProV, perhaps a little too confident. I have gone 30mph tacking in 10-footers before safely without a problem on the Great Lakes. Since I have owned my ProV, I have been fearless on the big water, but that changed about 2 years ago when I learned a whole new respect for mother nature and the water.

 

Tony, Kristi and I were fishing Lake Ontario during a salmon tournament, and it was moderately rough out with an average 6-foot chop. No big deal in a big Lund ProV eh? We were cautiously heading back to the weigh-in at about 15mph with the waves, when all of a sudden a rogue 9- to 10-footer quickly came out of nowhere. I slowed the boat down right away, but it was exactly at the wrong time and we speared the base of the wave at 15mph. I didn't panic and kept the boat idling in gear. When we surfaced again, I quickly made sure everyone was still in the boat before I pinned the throttle to get rid of the water that filled my boat (to the top of the gunnels!). After the majority of the water was dumped out the back of the boat in short order, the Lund floated like a cork, and the bilge ran for an hour to get rid of the rest of the water under the floor boards.

 

We were all lucky that we were wearing floater suits because it was April, the passengers were gripping the holy s*** handles and I didn't panic and knew what to do. It could have easily turned into a tragedy if someone had not been wearing a PFD and got blown out of the boat and hit their head on the way out. The water was so powerful when we hit the wave, that it blew off both widshields and one rigger! I consider myself a good driver, and cautious as well. Things just happen that quickly in unpredictable conditions. Since that incident, I have always made sure everyone wears a PFD in rough conditions, and although I am still confident with my ProV, I have a lot more respect for mother nature and the water now.

 

Sometimes it takes experiencing a close call to start wearing a PFD when we know we should, don't let that happen to you. In about 25 years of boating, that is the first and last time that ever happened to me. We were all shocked when it happened because I have been in those same conditions hundreds of times over the years without incident. All it took was one very quick rogue wave to open my eyes.

 

Always wear your PFD's in rough water and always wear one if you are fishing alone!

 

Be safe out there!

 

Aaron

[Squid]

I now wear my PFD everytime I move from spot to spot.

[Squid]

Good to hear that all turned out ok Aaron.

[lookinforwalleye]

I was out on Lake O once in a small boat 25 years ago ( I consider a Pro V to be a small boat when your on a lake that looks like an ocean) and almost made my wife a widow,several people lost their lives that day due to a freak storm that blew in the only thing that saved us was a skilled operator and a whole lot of luck.

I have never been back on Lake O since and I doubt I ever will.

Lesson learned don`t F with mother nature and always check the forecast.

[Roy]

Scary for sure, Aaron. Glad you and passengers were able to learn that lesson. Some folks don't get a second crack at it. You guys were wise enough to have been wearing your floaters at least. Water temps in April will kill you floater suit or not. The key was that you didn't panic.

[POLLIWOGG]

You weren't surfing the waves by any chance?

[Zamboni]

Where do those 'rogue waves' come from?....heard a few people say wakes from large lakers can create them but I never noticed that when big ocean going ship passes unless close?

 

Just came back from launch-huge rollers out there...winds 43km with 55 gusts. Scary-too much for my 16.6' boat.

[ccmtcanada]

Where do those 'rogue waves' come from?....heard a few people say wakes from large lakers can create them but I never noticed that when big ocean going ship passes unless close?

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They dont really know how they are formed...just that they do.

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Check out this video of one...scary indeed!

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Aaron...thanks for the story...must have been scary, even though you know what to do and you did it, there is always that fleeting moment where you are not sure if everyone on board was ok. Thanks for sharing.

Edited September 7, 2007 by ccmtcanada

[blaque]

those guys are nuts.....i watch that show alot and wonder how anyone can deal with being under the deck without just yacking all over the cabin. And sleeping, forget about it. I couldnt imagine the feeling of b eing in a storm in the middle of the ocean and how intense that has to be with no one around for miles and miles in water that rough. Its gotta be surreal.

 

Aaron, thats a pretty frightening thing man. Glad it ended well. Ive dipped the bow under twice ever out on Erie, and its a reality check man. Didnt take on as much water as you did, but it ducked under quick and popped back up with quite a burst of water wiping stuff to the back of the boat. I did the Same thing you did, once i got outta the wave, and saw my passenger was hangin on for dear life, i goosed the throttle a bit and got the bow up and forced any water out the back end. I had it happen once before, the passenger never saw that happen, so needless to say, an underwear check was in order lol. First time was a friend of mines girlfriend and she just had to ride up in the bow, we got outside the south gap into the main lake and i needed to lift the bow up with a little throttle and a little trim of the motor when i saw a good roller ready to dip the front end.......but doing so would have send the standing passenger into the windshield and really would have hurt. TOld her to sit down numerous times but she had to have her SPF put on, and wouldnt listen. Mother nature showed her how to sit with a rush of lake erie water. Wasnt too too bad, but it got her attention real quick. Needless to say we stayed inside the breakwall for the rest of the day, and she stayed put in the back of the boat.

[irishfield]

Thanks Aaron...another wise tale that others can learn from.

[POLLIWOGG]

I did the same thing but I was surfing waves. If you screw up surfing waves the back of the the boat gets moving faster than the front and will spin out or rise up. If the stern rises up the next wave appears to be huge and the bow plows under it.

[lunkerbasshunter]

i always were my pdf when alone and always in rough water. i have never had a bad experience but its stories like this and like waynes that has made me aware of how fast things can get bad!

 

Cheers!

[DT10Sam]

I would have also changed my pants if that was me........Good to see that everything turned out okay. Thanks for sharing Aaron.

 

Regards,

Sam