Bo Palmer involved in a Defiance capsize off San Diego.

[furball]

I'm glad anytime someone shares their experiences. Provides a great opportunity for everyone else. I'm not going to change my habits regarding life jackets based on this but it's great food for thought. I don't want to say anything that discourages folks from sharing, it's much to valuable. Glad everyone is safe.
John

[TD]

Zinbaad--Well said and thank you for saying exactly what I have been thinking on this. Enough said.
Terry

[Mariner]

I THINK WHEN YOU ARE IN A 29 FT VESSEL WITH OTHER PEOPLE ON BOARD AND THERE ORE 20 FT SEAS OUT THERE-- OR EVEN 10 FT SEAS OUT THERE

IT DOES NOT TAKE A ROCKET SCIENTIST TO UNDERSTAND IT IS TIME TO STAY AT THE DOCK

MAYBE ON THE WEST COAST IT IS DIFFERENT-- BUT IN THE NORTHEAST-- 10 FOOTERS PLUS OUT THERE- EVEN IN WIDE SPREAD SWELLS-- COAST GUARD USUALLY CLOSES THE INLETS

YOU GO OUT IN THOSE CONDITIONS-- WHAT DO YOU EXPECT-- OF COURSE IT WAS THE CAPTAINS FAULT.

MIGHT AS WELL GO TO TAHOE AND DRIVE HIS SUV 75 MILES AN HOUR IN A BLIZZARD, ON THE SNOW AND ICE-- HE HAS 4 WHEEL DRIVE-- ????

I AM SURE THIS GUY DOES THAT AS WELL.

THEN FIGURES THE ONLY MISTAKE HE MADE AFTER RUNNING OFF A CLIFF AND SURVIVING WAS THAT HE SHOULD HAVE LOWERED THE AIR PRESSURE IN HIS TIRES BEFORE HE LEFT HOME

I don't think it is fair to judge the captain in this accident without all the facts. Especially given that he acknowledges his mistakes and seems to have learned from them.

I do want to talk a little bit about the conditions common on the west coast river bars. The dominant wave heights in the Pacific Ocean are much greater than what you typically experience in the Atlantic, for several reasons. First, it's a much bigger ocean. Second, on the western coast of the united states, especially up north, the prevailing winds are westerlies, which push those big ocean swells directly up onto our shores, not away from them as it is on the east coast. A 10' dominant wave height is completely normal along the Washington or Oregon coast, even in the summer (they're running 12' off the WA coast as we speak). And that is swells, any sort of chop or wind waves will be on top of that, and they can be 5-10' as well. The San Diego area is typically not quite as bad. Right now, buoy 46231, right outside Mission Bay, is reporting 3-4' swells. However, when a storm is brewing out in the Pacific, those waves can get pretty large without much warning.

But all of this refers to conditions offshore. Where this accident occured was on a river bar. The entrance to Mission Bay isn't as notorious as some of the other inlets out here, but, unlike San Diego Bay, it is a small opening that drains a large body of water over a shallow bar. That means it is greatly affected by the tide. When the tide starts ebbing and the large volume of water held in a body like Mission Bay starts to flow out and hit those big swells coming in over that shallow bar, the wave heights, which are already increased due to the shallow bottom, are amplified and pushed even close together. This can take what would be a 10' swell in open water or on an incoming tide, and turn it into a 20' breaking wave. But, of course, on the other hand, it may not. The worst thing about bar conditions is that they are entirely unpredictable. A slight shift in the direction of the wind can produce unexpected results.

But one thing to understand about this accident is that Mission Bay is not generally known for having these kind of conditions. It is entirely possible for an experienced captain to have spent their entire life fishing offshore in the area and never experience the situation he did on that day. Still, I think the fact that he had mono wrapped around his propeller was the primary reason he wasn't able to outrun the wave on the way in, which he should have dealt with first. But again, hazardous bar conditions are not the norm in that area and so it probably didn't occur to him that he would need that kind of speed to get in. And once you're on the bar....there's no turning back.