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Fatalities on the bar


JonD

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Two locals overturned their boat this morning crossing the Narooma bar. One is still missing and the other passed away after members of the public tried to keep him going with cpr. The skipper was an experienced boaty, having spent most of his life comercialy fishing from here ( now retired ). The missing person is part of the local fire brigade, hopefully he's found soon.  I hope to join the search tomorrow from beneath the surface.

Bar conditions wearnt overly bad.

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1 hour ago, JonD said:

 The skipper was an experienced boaty, having spent most of his life comercialy fishing from here ( now retired ). The 

Bar conditions wearnt overly bad.

Saw this on the 9 news.

Condolences to family & friends.

With that info has to make you wonder how something like this can happen though?

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Very sad news. Have heard reports that they weren't wearing life jackets and they hadn't logged on with Marine Rescue. Given that JonD said that he was a retired commercial fisho and very experienced, I certainly hope those reports are not correct.

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22 hours ago, kingie chaser said:

Saw this on the 9 news.

Condolences to family & friends.

With that info has to make you wonder how something like this can happen though?

The boat looked quite small - a centre console tinne about 4.5 to 5m, which wouldn't take too much to flip over. 

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44 minutes ago, Mullatt said:

I certainly hope those reports are not correct.

Me to, not sayin this was the case here but sometimes when people obtain a lot of experience in anything they can tend to be a bit blasé about what looks an easy circumstance! 

24 minutes ago, kingfishbig said:

The boat looked quite small - a centre console tinne about 4.5 to 5m, which wouldn't take too much to flip over. 

I here what you are saying but the vessel looks more capable than some of the inflatable vessels used in the search.

I have next to no experience about crossing bars but it should be a reminder to us all to think safety 1st & when in doubt hold back & err on the side of caution.

'No fish is worth it' was the words used at the end of the 9 news story 

https://www.9news.com.au/national/boat-capsize-man-dies-nsw-south-coast/cfd1302a-4118-4672-bf03-d3c225f30c4d

 

In saying that, after losing several people in my life way to early to cancer & other illnesses plus having a couple of near death experiences of my own in my activities that I whole heartedly believe life is for living & if enjoying one of the things you love gets you then its better than dying a slow & painful death in some hospital bed.

But hey, that me & how I process these sorts of things!   

We all accept the dangers that life brings, otherwise we would all wrap ourselves in cotton wool!

 

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Yes the boat was a little broker 5m. The owner ( who passed away ) had just had the suzuki serviced after issues of it dropping to limp home mode after it had been idiling a while. It may well of been that the engine once again dropped to limp home mode when it was needed to run at full rpm, this is an issue I'm also having with my suzuki 140 at the moment. 

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5 hours ago, JonD said:

Yes the boat was a little broker 5m. The owner ( who passed away ) had just had the suzuki serviced after issues of it dropping to limp home mode after it had been idiling a while. It may well of been that the engine once again dropped to limp home mode when it was needed to run at full rpm, this is an issue I'm also having with my suzuki 140 at the moment. 

Doesn't speak well for Suzuki motors Jon. Hope that you can get yours sorted and reliable. bn

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13 hours ago, kingfishbig said:

The boat looked quite small - a centre console tinne about 4.5 to 5m, which wouldn't take too much to flip over. 

In some cases when it comes to bar crossings smaller boats can handle it better than bigger boats given their ability to turn and run. You will see it a lot with the noosa bar with little tiller steer boats just zooming around in the lull between waves until they find their gap and away they go.

Narooma doesn't have the room for that option though from my understanding. John may be able to elaborate further.

My great uncle turned two over on narooma over the years

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20 minutes ago, Plethora said:

Narooma would be about the worst bar on the south coast - we went down there a few years back and I took one look at it and turned around and fished the river -

Moruya isnt a hell of a lot better i can tell you. Narrow channel

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3 hours ago, New Signing said:

In some cases when it comes to bar crossings smaller boats can handle it better than bigger boats given their ability to turn and run. You will see it a lot with the noosa bar with little tiller steer boats just zooming around in the lull between waves until they find their gap and away they go.

Narooma doesn't have the room for that option though from my understanding. John may be able to elaborate further.

My great uncle turned two over on narooma over the years

Not too sure about that. Any outboard powered mono hull can turn very quickly. And turning and running once your commited is probably more risky than just taking the wave head on. At least with a decent sized boat you have the weight and HP to punch through the wave - as long as you have made a reasonable judgment on the conditions relative to boat size on the day. Ie if your stategy is avoiding breaking waves altogether then you probably shouldn't be attempting a crossing.

Edited by kingfishbig
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The current fairly rips in and out of the Inlet and across that bar. I have never gone across it, but fish the inlet and lakes with both boat and kayak. I was up there on Tuesday as well but later in the morning, saw the Marine Rescue and helicopters.

J

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I like having the power and speed a small boat can often use but like mentioned above weight and size can also punch through certain waves. Trouble punching through big waves is that most boats aren't built to do that, several have lost windows as well as having cabins and flybridges lifted from the hull on this bar. My zodiac had been the best boat Ive ever used in bar conditions here, it literally performed like a big JetSki. The first day I used it the bar was pumping 2m, great test day. I found that I could do turns between sets ( the golden thing not to do ) fast and safely, which would be great in rescue emergencies. Ive pulled people from water that the much larger charter boats wouldn't attempt to.

That morning had waves at the point I would of simply not headed out, not because I lacked confidence but simply because of an increased risk which isn't worth it. Another 30mins south to Bermagui rarely has such bad conditions. I agree that Moruya is another poor bar crossing but in saying that pretty much every bar I ever use has its issues, Wooli, Southwest Rocks, etc. Narooma seems far easier to me as I know how it behaves but the fact most people cross it well before sunrise to catch live bait is crazy, running home after dark is far safer in my opinion.

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I should clarify that i am not for one minute suggesting turning and running on a bar is a good idea. My point was simply that it is an option available to smaller boats like tiller steers that can turn on a dime when trying to punch through a curler simply isnt an option.

In bigger boats once committed that's really it, just have to get your timing right and if for some lapse of judgement you get it wrong, do your best to ride through it as well as you can and not panic. 

As Jon said above there have been many a big boat lose windows, clears and even flybridges. If i knew how to post pictures id grab the one of the cruiser getting crunched on i think merimbula 

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13 minutes ago, New Signing said:

I should clarify that i am not for one minute suggesting turning and running on a bar is a good idea. My point was simply that it is an option available to smaller boats like tiller steers that can turn on a dime when trying to punch through a curler simply isnt an option.

In bigger boats once committed that's really it, just have to get your timing right and if for some lapse of judgement you get it wrong, do your best to ride through it as well as you can and not panic. 

As Jon said above there have been many a big boat lose windows, clears and even flybridges. If i knew how to post pictures id grab the one of the cruiser getting crunched on i think merimbula 

I'd rather have a steering wheel though if I had to go through a wave. It will be hard to maintain direction with a tiller if your body lurches. I once got throw out a tiller steered tinny and it wasn't even bar conditions, just a bit of chop, the impact made me lurch and effect the steering and out I went..

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