The intent of this post is to provide information that may save a life. It is about things done right and things that might be done differently. The focus is on what occurred on my boat and what my partners did to rescue five out of the six folks who were on a guide boat that capsized on the Columbia River Bar June 20th 2014 at approximately 09:17hrs.
With me that day was my long time fishing pal and co-worker Randy Vanderhoof and his girl friend Lenka Frank, who is an RN. Randy and I have fished together for close to 20 years. He is a licensed fishing guide and runs RBV Adventures. The other crew member was my wife Teri we have been fishing together for 44 years. It is because of their efforts that we were able to save those five souls. Words can not describe my respect and feelings for them.
Prior to leaving the dock I had checked the weather and ocean conditions. We were looking at one to two foot wind waves with five foot swells at about ten seconds. High slack tide was at 07:32 hrs. We crossed the bar at about that time and proceeded north to fish for Chinook salmon off the Long BeachPeninsula between the lighthouse and the Condominiums. We had three lines in and were about to put the fourth out when Lenka hooked and landed a nice Chinook. As we were about to put the lines back out the coast guard broadcast on channel 16 via vhf radio. The broadcast was to the effect that the conditions on the Columbia River Bar were deteriorating and that it would be restricted to vessels 30 and under after 10:30 hrs. We all agreed to call it a day and head back in.
As we turned and headed south we saw another boat and Randy said we should go make sure they heard the broadcast. I believe the boat was an Alumaweld Formula Vee with a full windshield and a soft top. We pulled alongside and it was communicated that both boats got the message and were headed in. They were pulling in line so I slowly motored south. Randy said we should stick with that boat and go in together. I completely agreed and asked my wife to keep an eye on the other boat, and not lose sight. I turned a couple of times and saw that the other boat was coming in behind us.
As we got closer to the mouth of the Columbia we could see breakers between the north jetty and the first green can. At that time our course was southwest. We wanted to make sure we would clear those breakers and by gaining ground to the west we would beable to do that.
As we came closer to the middle ground the other boat swung past us and continued on a S.W. course. Shortly thereafter they made a turn to the east and began to cross the bar. I continued at the same speed and swung into follow them. The swells were of such a height that when their boat dropped into the trough all we could see of them was the tops of their fishing nets when we were on the top of a swell. I was attempting to stay on the back side of the swells, when one would out run us I would chop the speed and let the next swell run under us until we were on the back side of it then throttle up again. As we came back on top of a swell we could not see the other boat. On the next swell we saw the hull of their capsized boat and debris in the water. The first thing I did was chop speed. The next thing was radio the coast guard and advise the of the capsizing and request assistance.
The skipper of the other boat had his folks put on their life jackets. When we first saw the other boat we just saw the bottom of the hull and debris floating, but we did not see any individuals. The boat settled by the stern and the bow raised and pointed skyward. Holding onto the bow was an individual not wearing a life vest. Others popped up to the surface of the water. The one not wearing a life vest was holding onto another who was wearing a life vest. The two who were not wearing life vest had been wearing them. Their life vests had become tangled in the boat and were trapping them underwater. They had removed the life vest so that they could come to the surface.
By this time Randy had moved to the stern of my boat and had opened the door to the swim platform and dropped the swim ladder into the water. My boat is a new boat. On my other boat a 22’ Larson offshore I did not have the swim platform, ladder, or door. I made sure they were on my new boat because I heard about the accident a couple of years ago out at the Chicken Ranch out of Newport. An individual went overboard and the other folks could not get him back on board. He died as a result tied to his boat. That is the reason I ordered the setup that I have.
One of the major concerns I had running through my mind was to get these folks on my boat without causing them any harm. My boat weighs over two tons. There was an ugly mass of water pushing and shoving the boat. As I approached the other boat I tried to anticipate the push on my stern and throttled way back. I put my boat in between the sinking boat and three survivors. Randy was at the swim platform with Lenka and they would yell to me to reverse the motors and when to put them in neutral as they pulled in three survivors. My wife had taken the boat poll and was keeping debris out away from the motors. During this time the other boat slipped below the water. The individual who had been holding onto the boat was attempting to swim to my boat. I had been keeping a close eye on him while the rest of the crew was pulling in the other three and keeping an eye on a fourth survivor who was floating out to the west. The four of us were keeping in constant communication with each other by yelling what we were going to do. When I had to maneuver the boat I would tell them. If they saw something that I needed to do they would tell me.
My wife, Teri, tossed a type one life vest to the fellow who had been holding onto the bow of the lost boat. He was brought around to the stern and brought on board. We now had four survivors on board. Lenka and Teri kept an eye on the firth person. Randy positioned the survivors into the cabin and in such a manner so that we could keep the boat trimmed. In those sea conditions this was an important act. The last survivor was too far away to try to back up to the waves coming on the stern just would not allow that. I looked for a hole and timed my turn all the time, telling the crew what I was going to do. I motored passed the survivor and executed another turn all the while keeping an eye on the survivor. I motored the boat back past the survivor so that we could bring him to the swim platform. Randy had tied a type one vest to our rope and after several attempts Randy and the others were able to bring him onto the deck. The hard part was keeping the right distance from the survivors in the water so that they would not be hit with a two ton boat, yet get close enough to do an effective rescue. Communication and trust was the key. Randy and I had fished and worked together for years. He is an intelligent individual and has spent his whole life on the water. With men in the water on our stern if he said reverse, I put it in reverse. When I heard neutral relayed to me I put it in neutral. Hecould see back there. I could not. I had complete trust in him.
When the fifth person was pulled onto our boat we thought we had it made. We had understood that there were only five on the capsized boat. We were then told there was a sixth. By this time a Coast Guard buoy tender was on scene. I had been advising CapeD as we had pulled each man from the water and had maintained a constant communication with them I asked if the buoy tender could see the sixth man because they had the advantage of height. The buoy tender replied that they would be looking but no sight of him at this time. We continued to search in the area until two 47’ Coast Guards vessels arrived. Initially when we were looking for survivors the first five came to the surface. The sixth person never came to the surface while we were there. With three Coast Guard vessels on scene and the chopper on its way I felt that the prudent thing to do was get the five survivors I had to shore ASAP. Searching in that location on the ebb and in a 24 foot boat with nine individual onboard was just not wise. I was well aware of my location and the wave sets. I knew I had to move north to gain the channel and safety. I would gain as much north as I could when I was on the back of the swells. I had as much power as I could get out of those engines. As the swell would leave us I would throttle back and quarter the oncoming wave trying to balance the chance of a pitch pole or a broach. Randy was standing by me at the helm to watch over my left side for the swells as they came under us he would give me the all clear to speed up and gain ground north. I had radioed CapeD and requested that one of the 47 footers keep an eye on us as we tried to crawl off Clatsop Spit. One arrived and shortly after we reached buoy 10. When we reached the other side of buoy 10 the swells calmed a bit and we reached a calm area just before we entered the Ilwaco channel. One of the thing that hampered our move out of the Clatsop spit area was my swim ladder was stuck in the down position. I did not get it back up until we docked at the Coast Guard Station at Cape D.
What I learned from this experience:
* I never imagined pulling five guys from the water. I always figured perhaps I would have someone fall overboard. I now am going to have throw bags on every corner of my deck along with two life rings.
*The rope on my life ring was too short. We lost it right off. This was my fault not the fault of my crew. I should have had a longer rope.
*The secondary rope I had on the deck (to my surprise) did not stay afloat. It got pulled down by the current. My float bags and life rings will all have floating line for sure.
*It is amazing how fast the strength of the survivors dissipated in the cold water. Some had more than others. When a rope was thrown to them some could hardly grasp it.
*I was lucky to have some very good people on my boat. We had great communication and made sure we knew what each other was doing.
*I learned that anytime I cross the bar either way I will have the deck cleared. I will put all tackle boxes, fishing gear and anything else away. We were lucky this time they did not interfere but the possibility was there.
Things that helped:
I recognize that I am a daytime summer sailor on a 24’ sports fishing boat. I don’t have the training like the true heroes that do this sort of thing year round The USCG. What I have done to help in that regard is read a lot of books about sea disasters of small boats on the Pacific coast. I have a copy of Chapman’s Pilotingand have read and reread those chapters on bar crossing to learn about broaching and pitch poling. Then I put hose thing into practice. I have talked to a few friends of mine who were in the Coast Guard Reserve and picked their minds over boat handling. As a summer time sailor for the last 25 years I have tried to learn from others. I have learned you don’t try to fight the swells you try to make them work for you.
The other thing that helped is my former occupation. Randy also does that line of work. Actually there are many vocations where this comes into play. That is controlling the sense of fear or being out of control. Adrenalin flooding your system must be controlled. Adrenalin causes you fine motor skills to diminish, causes you to have tunnel vision, and sometimes perceptional distortion. Getting your mind to focus on the task at hand, step by step, will help control the adrenalin and let you uses it to your advantage.
Watching out for the other guy. We made a conscious decision to watch out for this boat. That is what we should all do in any condition. This is the first and most important thing we did. I only wish I would have let him know on the radio that we were watching out for him. We were the only two boats crossing the bar right at that moment. It is something Randy and I believe in.
The Coast Guard is a great organization. They worked hard to locate the last fisherman, and stuck with it until they did. I would like to thank them all for their response. Having that person on the other end of the radio when you need them is a good feeling. Knowing that help was on the way was reassuring and a big that you to them for being there 24-7.
IR