Big Accident under the VZ Bridge?

N

Northern Ivy

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We keep our boat in Atlantic Highlands; heard this am that a CC tried to pass between a tug and a tow last night around 9:30; I heard that 2 did not make it and 2 other are in the hospital. Has anyone heard more details?
 
Yowsers! We do alot of night time fishing around Sandy Hook. It is amazing on how much commercial traffic is out and about in the area at night. It always surprises me at just how fast these gigantic freighters are moving. Thanks for the article.
 
I was watching the news last night when a story came on about this. The rescue divers went under the boat and were looking around when a hand came down and grabbed one of the divers. Subsequently the arm grabbed the diver and would not let go.
It turned out to be one of the survivors in the air bubble the cabin created when it capsized. The diver said he was 'surprised' by all of this but not as much as the survivor was to see him.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/200...rvivor_of_bay_boat_horror_grabbed_frie-2.html
 
i wonder how many boaters can even ID a tug at night by its light... knowing the meaning of that yellow and extra whites at the stern can save your life...
 
Pascal you have to see the fishermen in the Ambrose channel to appreciate it. Danger blasts sound regularly because they wait until the last second to move.
 
I just don't understand the allure to fishing in a major channel like Ambrose. I've heard the same song and dance about that's where the fish are but I just don't get it. Plenty of fish in places where the big boats aren't forced to traverse and much safer too.

I do feel for the families and victims in this case.
 
I think I saw that tug going down the river on Saturday night. I was out in the center console cruising around that harbor and saw a tug pulling southbound.

Rommer,

You fish the channels because that's where there are steep drop-offs and sometimes thats the only place the fish hang out.

Jonathan
 
There are so many boats fishing out there some times you feel like you're on the subway during rush hour. There's no room to move.
 
Dan, I totally agree with you! We got a good scare the other night as well; we were drifting the Rips at sandy hook; and we see a tanker outbound out three miles on the radar. Not looking to play a game of chicken that we would surely lose; we started both engines. The problem was our teleflex electronic controls at the lower station flipped out and niether engine would engage. One of my crew members trying to hail a unkown tanker at night with only a bearing and Lat and Long stating that you are disabled is not fun at all!!! At this exact moment I hear the five blasts. I scrambled up the tower totry our luck at the upper station. The tanker had still not responded to the hailing (at the tip of Sandy Hook the shipping channel is only maybe 20 yards from shore). We were moments from jumping over board and swimming to shore when the controls at the upper station rebooted.

We learned a big lesson that night; we started out thinking that we were doing the right thing by getting out of dodge in plenty of time (3 miles out giving us roughly 6 mins). I did not anticipate how hard it would be to hail the tanker (we are 38 feet with our nav and spreader lights on so we were clearly visible) at three miles he may have been able alter course. Given the location that we tend to frequent we are seriously considering install an AIS receiver. This is one close call that we do not want to repeat!!!
 
Since we are on the topic of fishing in the Ambrose channel . . .

I do Operation Clear Channel with teh Auxiliary. We don't chase people out of the channel. You are allowed to fish in it as long as you are not anchored. Operation Clear Channel means that we work with Vessel Traffice Service and Sandy Hook Pilot's Association.
http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/mwv/vts/history.htm

We only ask people to clear the channel when there is a tanker, container or cruise ship coming in or out of port. It's amazing how hard it is to get people to move. The fisherman that won't even start their motors till the last second cause a lot of stress for the pilots.

We are always nice about it even though some of the fishermen are not. Most people are friendly and thank us for the warning and move immediately. But one of our Auxiliary vessels was vandalized in it's slip in Sewaren. The Auxiliary flags were stolen off the boat. Remember that Auxiliarists are not paid and we use our own boats and we have to pay for the extra equipment and markings that we need.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Robyns Nest

You fish the channels because that's where there are steep drop-offs and sometimes thats the only place the fish hang out.

Jonathan

Click to expand...


Surfing your boat down the face of a 12 foot wave is very exciting but I try to avoid that as well!

I understand the "thats were the fish are" Jonathan but I just can't understand putting my vessel and passengers at risk for a fish no matter how much fun it is to catch em.

Didn't mean to hijack this thread since we are talking about a tragic loss of life. Backing off the soap box...
 
"We learned a big lesson that night;"

the other big lesson is not to rely on those damn electronic controls... yeah they're cool... but it's not the first time we hear of controls not engaging or malfunctioning.

nothing like a good old fashion cable.

i though electronic controls had a back up ? you mean... there is no way to get in the ER and manually throw the thing in gear ?
 
There is a manual over-ride in the engine room; on our system there is one for shift and one for throttle. The over ride process is not elegant, unscrew the cap; put a special wrench on the actuator that has to be perfectly aligned; repeat for throttle. Not something that I am able to do quickly but something that I have now practiced. The back up to the back is to manually throw the trans into gear and manually actuate the throttle. Of course hindsight is 20/20.
 
Wow, now I know why I like the good old fashioned way of doing things. Something about having to "reboot" my steering controls kinda gets to me...

"The rescue divers went under the boat and were looking around when a hand came down and grabbed one of the divers. Subsequently the arm grabbed the diver and would not let go."

God, that is INCREDIBLY scary!!!
 
Controls you have to re-boot. Remember that old e-mail " If Microsoft Made Cars"

Perhaps Microsoft is making boats now?
 
I knew someone with 480 volvos that had to have 3 harness's replaced before he was comfortable with gear changes. Think about that!
Believe me, I am not advertising a ban on fishing in the channel. It's just that having had a few conversations with some of the commercial captains in large vessels I can pretty much state they go through h3ll on a regular basis because of inattentive inconsiderate operators.
We had a chat with some tug captains on the way down to TT a while ago, and one summed it up as 6 months of pleasure for 10 minutes of pure panic. This guy had a sailboat driven by a kid while mom and dad were elsewhere, cut right in front of him as we watched.
Our 6-71s may be old, but I don't think I'd trade them for modern electronically controlled engines.
 
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