DrWatson 379 Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Seems we've had quite a few fishing boats (commercial) heading to Davey Jones' Locker recently. Another one over the last day or so. From the opening photo in the article it's hard to figure out what's what and how 'it' is still afloat. some serious damage there. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6841306 ... tful-Sound Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Damage is most likely it rolling around on the bottom in the huge surge. 7M swells. Link to post Share on other sites
DrWatson 379 Posted May 2, 2012 Author Share Posted May 2, 2012 Possibly, but it was found 10 miles off the coast. the bottom is a long way down out there... and I doubt it would float back up. Smashed against the cliffs maybe? Run down? Ran into a massive Rimu floating out there? Who knows? Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 One of the things that used to really piss me off when I was a commercial fisherman was the NZ media headlines "Two Fisherman Drowned". I would desperately look for names of friends who had met their end, only to find it was 2 drunken yobbos in a 10 ft tinny with no safety equipment. In this case I believe it was actually a commercial fishing boat that foundered but the recent "spate" of fishing boats going down is marked by ex commercial boats, no longer in survey and not subject to MNZ manning and competency requirements. There are a hell of a lot of them around including Easy Rider which was a sad old piece of crap when I last saw her over 25 years ago. Link to post Share on other sites
Rats 28 Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Wheels, the "bottom" in most of the fjords is a long way down. Its possible that it got chucked upon some rocky outcrop and rolled around before the tide sucked it back off and those cray boats can get pretty damn close to the shoreline sometimes- all it would take is one big wave at the wrong time wrong place and things would end badly. Will be most interested to see the report on this one- can't believe whats left still floats! Link to post Share on other sites
DrWatson 379 Posted May 2, 2012 Author Share Posted May 2, 2012 One of the things that used to really piss me off when I was a commercial fisherman was the NZ media headlines "Two Fisherman Drowned". I would desperately look for names of friends who had met their end, only to find it was 2 drunken yobbos in a 10 ft tinny with no safety equipment.In this case I believe it was actually a commercial fishing boat that foundered but the recent "spate" of fishing boats going down is marked by ex commercial boats, no longer in survey and not subject to MNZ manning and competency requirements. There are a hell of a lot of them around including Easy Rider which was a sad old piece of crap when I last saw her over 25 years ago. Very good point. Sometimes it's hard to find out in the media if it was actually a real commercial boat, or if it was a bunch of drunkards playing sailor/fisherman. Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Wheels, the "bottom" in most of the fjords is a long way down. Its possible that it got chucked upon some rocky outcrop and rolled around I still call that the bottom. Pete, it's the Cray boat KC and the two crew are from Te Anau. She's a big, or I should say, was a big 50+ft Alloy commercial Cray boat. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Vessel was the K-Cee, 13.3m alloy cray boat apparently in good condition. Initially the bow section was found on the rocks about 24hours after last radio contact with V/L. It was pretty much unrecognisable as a boat, bent and twisted ali. Then the aft section was found out to sea (the picture in post above). Seems the superstructure/mid section of the V/L remains missing, although one might expect that part to sink. EPIRB and liferaft bladder have been found along with plywood parts from the dinghy - so doesn't look good from that perspective. To date I think there is no clear indication as to what happened, but to do that damage to the structure of a 14m Ali crayboat indicates some serious action. There was 6m swell onto rocks around that time, and as mentioned it was probably operating close to rocks (as opposed to trawling/fishing offshore somewhere). By all accounts the V/L was in good condition, and the skipper was a good operator - so what happened? (Please no-one say 'rogue wave' - I heard that Mildred-the-rogue-wave went on holiday to the Northern Atlantic after the appearance she put in with Easyrider). Crayfishing in 6m swell on a rocky lee shore does not leave a great margin for error (if that was true). Any problems could escalate to full scale catastrophe fairly quickly. Must be tough on the families and friends. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 I did very little crayfishing around Fiordland but did my fair share in Foveaux Strait and east coast of Stewart Island. The Fiordland cray fishing industry is extremely challenging and has developed a breed of extremely tough and skilled seamen. Imagine waiting for a swell to carry you over a reef so you can lay or haul a pot on the back side of it (and then get back out again). That is not mean they are cowboys, as a cowboy would not last 5 minutes in the sort of conditions they face, but they certainly push the envelope. They also recognise the importance of rigorous maintenance as any engine defect in those conditions is going to go real bad, real fast and I can't recall ever seeing a dodgy boat working there. If I had to guess I would say the tragedy came about as the result of an unforeseeable mechanical issue or a momentary lapse of concentration (rope around prop?). My thoughts are with the families, I have an enormous amount of respect for the guys who fish there and have never met one who I wouldn't be proud to call a mate. Link to post Share on other sites
weap10 5 Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 Very bloody sad. It looks like they shouldn't have been out in that weather but were pushing it so finish up and get out in time for duckshooting. The conditions can change pretty quick down here however everybody else had decided to stay inside the fiord. RIP Beast my old mate, you'll be missed but not forgotten. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 Looks to me like she's been cut into pieces by a collision with another vessel. Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 Except there are not a lot of vessels down that way and a lot less in Ships big enough to do that. Plus pretty hard to hit something that size without knowing it. Aluminium tumbling around over rocks in the big surges would soon look like that. Link to post Share on other sites
Fogg 427 Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6878919/Death-boat-Easy-Riders-design-flawed Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 Very very different design to Kcee though, just incase someone gets confused. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 Yeah, completely different boats.. that stuff headline re Easyrider is a bit dramatic, I don't see anywhere in the recommendation that it states the design is 'flawed'. It says the stability is limited (thats normal for a boat) and can be operated safely within its limits (also normal). Link to post Share on other sites
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