Charter Boat "Jig Strike" Sinks at Cortez Bank

[Crab Pot]

Work up this morning to my buddy's group text chat from my last trip.

At first I ignored it but messages kept coming in so I looked at my phone to see of our worse fear for those of us who go out on medium and long range boats.

The Jig Strike struck a subsurface object and sunk within in minutes at Cortez Bank. Thank God no loss of life, I don't think anyone was seriously hurt, and good portion of the fleet was there. The Legend was the rescue boat and beelined everyone back to port.

I don't know what electronics the Jig Master had but I know most boats have forward looking sonar. Not implying it didn't though.

My biggest fear is fire on these trips. One of the first things I do is make sure the bow escape hatch isn't blocked once I get settled in.

This could have been so much worse. The Captain did a wonderful job assuring passengers and crew were accounted for.

https://wonews.com/jig-strike-sinks-at-cortes-bank/

Steve

[alantani]

saw that yesterday.  scary....   

[Keta]

Bummer.   The captain and crew did their duty and the fleet did there's  so no one died.

[Gfish]

Man that sucks. Submarine? No, but really, what could it have been?
Great to hear that the abandon ship procedures were done right.
Godda know when it's investigated what they think might as been the cause... I'mina guess a large waterlogged tree or log...

These guys were "on It". I went on a cruise ship for my Honeymoon and was surprised that maybe only 1/8 of the people onboard showed-up for the life boat drill. Trust nobody else to be responsible for your safety.

[pjstevko]

There's a ton of rumors going around that it may have hit the reef or the bow broke apart after setting anchor on the reef....

[MarkT]

https://www.bdoutdoors.com/forums/attachments/img_1199-png.1602844/?hash=e39eeb5ed424185cba4d0d04691d1e37

[Crab Pot]

I have a video of the Legend rescuing the Jig Strike life raft but can't post it for some reason.

In the video a rather large section of bow is seen floating by with damage as if it hit something.

At least that's what it looked like to me.

Those guys were so lucky to be with the fleet.

[foakes]

One of the times we were up at Salmon Falls, just North of Ketchikan —- we were on a 25' charter fishing Kings & Halibut.

We received a PAN PAN PAN (possible assistance needed) announcement on the emergency Channel.  Another 25' charter had impacted a submerged log at high speed —- and was taking on water.  Family of 4 on board plus the skipper.  We were only 6 miles away, and possibly the closest to the incident.  We immediately went to the location.

Vessel was taking on water slowly, bilge pump was barely able to keep up with the crack in the hull where water was coming in steadily.  We saw a good floating log close by —- went over and towed it to the damaged vessel.  Then using lines we lashed it to the Port side to keep the vessel upright and safer.

We transferred the family to our vessel.  Within 10 minutes another charter was on scene from the same outfit —- and the passengers were safely transferred to that one.

As we left and continued our fishing —- we spotted a large Coast Guard cutter going into two of the fiords on Prince of Wales Island —- trying to locate the damaged vessel.  We radioed them where the location was —- and they towed the vessel back into port.

These types of incidents tell us that lives can change in an instant.  Any of us can be on our knees in the next minute praying for ourselves or others —- without any warning.

The sea is and can be an unforgiving environment.

What makes the difference is good safety equipment, an experienced crew, cool heads, and immediately reading the situation correctly.

I am grateful that with a serious impact like this to the Jig Strike that the crew was on top of things.  There was no time to flounder about.

Best, Fred

[jzumi]

2 days before this event, we were anchored maybe 1/4 mile west of the buoy on Cortes Bank on the Peace, freediving for yellowtail.  On Thursday, the water was very calm and looked nothing like in the video shot from the Legend.

15 divers, calm conditions, great underwater visibility.  No one in our group reported encountering something like that under water but we only dove a very small part of the banks...

Scary.

[Gfish]

How shallow does the Cortez Bank get?

Hope their insurance was paid-up. Not that I count on that working the way out should for them.

[Crab Pot]

How shallow does the Cortez Bank get?

Bishop Rock, in certain conditions gets exposed between waves.

On glass days it is visible on the surface if the tide is right.

I've never seen Bishop Rock in any conditions, but I have seen the buoy that marks it.

It's normally covered with between three to "whatever" feet of water to answer your question.

Steve
 

[Crab Pot]

Posted YouTube Video's.

Still amazing this ended as well as it did.

One guy in the video said "the bow fell apart" while underway.

[Bill B]

A tragic outcome but fortunately no loss of life. I credit the captain and crew for that.

After reviewing numerous videos I noticed quite a few sandals/slides/flip flops or whatever you call them strewn about the water and raft. I make it a habit to wear closed toed shoes or well strapped sandals when traveling.  I.E. road trips, airplanes, even sport boats.

Nothing worse than running around barefoot in an emergency situation cutting the bottom of your feet on broken glass, sharp rocks, sharp metal, etc.  Maybe chock it up to years of wearing boots while working in a prison. Something to think about.

Bill

[JasonGotaProblem]

A tragic outcome but fortunately no loss of life. I credit the captain and crew for that.

After reviewing numerous videos I noticed quite a few sandals/slides/flip flops or whatever you call them strewn about the water and raft. I make it a habit to wear closed toed shoes or well strapped sandals when traveling.  I.E. road trips, airplanes, even sport boats.

Nothing worse than running around barefoot in an emergency situation cutting the bottom of your feet on broken glass, sharp rocks, sharp metal, etc.  Maybe chock it up to years of wearing boots while working in a prison. Something to think about.

Bill

I'm told foot injuries and complications are the #1 cause of ER visits after a hurricane.

Good advice. But where I grew up falling asleep with shoes on at a party meant you were wasted and fair game to be messed with (sharpies, etc)

[oldmanjoe]

Looks like every one in the life raft is wearing footwear "boots "  Flip flops are what they walked on board with .
  Somebody has a story to tell tomorrow night ...