Bad day on the Chesapeake Bay

F1nut

I wouldn't be surprised if it hit a rock or other under water obstruction as there are tons of those in the bay. It is definitely in too shallow water for its size.

https://nypost.com/2024/07/31/us-news/superyacht-the-lovebug-capsizes-in-chesapeake-bay-prompting-wild-rescue/

I once saw a very large cabin cruiser at full speed go on the wrong side of a buoy marking what was once a permanent 4 legged metal I-beam marker that was cut off just below the water line during the winter. It ripped the entire hull off the boat, stuff was flying everywhere and it sunk in seconds. There were a lot of other power craft around, which came to the rescue. I never found out if anyone was injured, but I'd be surprised if they weren't.

The reason for the disaster, the idiot captain of that vessel was impatient and didn't want to go slowly through where all the other craft and I were traveling.

Nesmith98

Drive unit seal possibly. You would think if they hit something on the bottom somebody would have felt it and said something about it. Regardless, I'm sure the insurance company is cringing right now.

skrol

I was going to say, "Is there any bad day on the Chesapeake", but that is a bad day.
I miss boating.

mrbigbluelight

"“Boats of that size have alarms that tell you when there’s water inside the boat.”

My 1852 Lowes Jon boat had a "Water In The Boat" alert system.
It was called "How Comes My Feets Are Wet ?"
....a manual system.

BlueBirdMusic

Jstas

Isn't the West River spot where all the fancy "yacht harbors" and "yacht clubs" are?

West River is pretty far up the bay, about 2/3rds of the way to Baltimore from the mouth and getting into the brackish waters. It gets real shallow in many areas. Like, no more than waist high and tides affect water level drastically.

Once you get north of the Potomac, unless you're a small craft drafting less than 2 feet, if you go outside the channel, you're hitting bottom. It's much like the back bays at the Jersey Shore. You see wide open areas where there's no one, there's a reason for it. It's not a short cut. Especially if you only see flat bottom johnboats and clam diggers out there.

I've watched many an impatient mook try and cut across The Great Bay instead of following the channels because "Yo, bro, Ay Cee is right frickin' dere! I can SEE it! Why I gotta go all da way 'round dere? Eff this!" then they yank the wheel and head out of the channel, get like 15 feet outside the markers and go from about 10 feet of water to a foot and a half and it's like The Kraken just grabbed them.

Even saw one guy fly out of his Fountain and land in the water. When he stood up , his Fountain had cut it's own channel so deep, it was sitting upright with no list from running aground at all. The water was only up to his knees. He was asking us for help but our stupid little 19 foot Trophy was not going to pull a 40 foot Fountain out of the muck, especially with the tide running out.

There's a reason the Chesapeake is known for blue claw crabs. They don't like deep water. They live in the shallows and there's so many of them they are like roaches. That's because the Chesapeake is a prime, shallow body of water that they thrive in.

That story was funny, though. Dude didn't want to wait for the slower boat traffic!

122 foot yacht. Probably has a max speed of 20 knots. Dude...you ARE the slower the traffic! I've been on sailboats that can out run that yacht on a decent windy day on the bay.

And that boat didn't sink as much as it hit bottom and listed over to it's side. They won't be able to float it again without high tide. They are going to have to get a jet dredge and blow the sand out from under it to get enough water to get buoyancy back. Either that or a crane.

Jstas

Ah, Boat International has some better shots of the underside and large sections of hull missing. They struck something.

https://www.boatinternational.com/yachts/news/no-fuel-pollution-lovebug-yacht-capsizes-sinks-chesapeake-bay-maryland-usa

And here's the specs on The Lovebug

https://www.boatinternational.com/yachts/the-superyacht-directory/lovebug--38753

Max speed, 17 knots.

Pretty much everything out there with them was likely faster and only going slow because of waterway limits.

Those boats aren't for speed, they are for long distance travel. That boat has a range of 3,000 nautical miles. It can sail from Annapolis to El Salvador on one tank of fuel and do it in absolute luxury.

SeleniumFalcon

When a really big guy has a bad day on the bay going 15 knots:

mrbigbluelight

That boat has a range of 3,000 nautical miles.

Somehow I could see the "Captain" going back to the marina and trying to get his money back because
"Hey, you said this boat could go 3000 miles and I only got 10 !"

Jstas

SeleniumFalcon wrote: »

When a really big guy has a bad day on the bay going 15 knots:

"Nuts! The props are diggin' sand! Everybody to the front of the boat and start bouncing!" - Battleship Captain...probably

mrbigbluelight

^^^They might have been distracted by the missing strawberries 🤔

mhardy6647

I'm glad nobody's brought up having a bad boating day on the Patapsco River in this thread...
oops.

billbillw

How about a Bad Day in the Greek Isles?
https://www.autoevolution.com/news/superyacht-ethos-runs-aground-after-crew-accidentally-left-a-door-open-237869.html
It will make me think twice next time I'm on a Superyacht. I'll make sure to keep that life jacket handy!

F1nut

So, jump into the water if that is what is required to close the access door and let the bilge pumps do their job. Sounds like the crew and captain are incompetent.

billbillw

F1nut wrote: »

So, jump into the water if that is what is required to close the access door and let the bilge pumps do their job. Sounds like the crew and captain are incompetent.

They are probably too busy dealing with passengers like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXHcamoXv7k

The movie is great BTW. Very strange for sure, but great.