Commercial Boat missing off GA Coast

[ssramage]

Coast Guard searching for 31-foot fishing boat that went missing off the Georgia Coast

The United States Coast Guard is asking for help looking for a missing 31-foot fishing boat.

www.actionnewsjax.com

Wife texted me this last night. Boat is 3 days overdue and hasn't made contact in 6 days. Apparently one of her coworker's nephews is on board. Prayers that the USCG finds them quickly.

 

[DOUG 281]

Hope they find it

 

[4HAND]

Any news?

 

[ssramage]

Boat is still missing. Charleston Coast Guard was involved last I saw. Reports are they had all commercial safety equipment on board including EPIRB and a life raft. Very strange...

 

[Batjack]

Boat is still missing. Charleston Coast Guard was involved last I saw. Reports are they had all commercial safety equipment on board including EPIRB and a life raft. Very strange...

Pirates?

 

[Deerhead]

Prayers

 

[GeorgiaBob]

Weather offshore Brunswick has not been ideal for the last week. The Coast Guard notice indicated possibly 80 miles offshore which would put them in or across the Gulf Stream. Wind shifts have created pretty uncomfortable slop waves that are made dangerous by large swells and wind speeds occasionally in the mid 20s to 30s. I pray that the rough conditions have caused them problems with their engine and radio, but nothing worse.

 

[Doboy Dawg]

If the EPIRB was functioning they should have been found.

 

[tjchurch]

If the EPIRB was functioning they should have been found.

Yep

 

[Doboy Dawg]

Pirates?

Twenty years ago I’d said, Ain’t no way. After what happened to the crew of the Joe Cool in Florida, anything is possible.

I hate to speculate, but a couple of weeks ago I saw a vessel very similar to this one listed for sale on FB Markeplace. I honestly couldn’t tell you if that’s the same vessel, especially since I’m currently in Facebook jail.

 

[basshappy]

Anyone wondering if the new crew the owner just put on the boat stole it? I thought I read the owner said he hired a new crew of 3 and they went out.

 

[ssramage]

If the EPIRB was functioning they should have been found.

That was my thought as well...

Anyone wondering if the new crew the owner just put on the boat stole it? I thought I read the owner said he hired a new crew of 3 and they went out.

I don't think so. Crew is pretty well known down here and one of the kids is family of a teacher at my wife's Christian school. They're pretty tore up about it.

From what I've seen, they'll be calling the search off today if nothing is found.

 

[crackerdave]

Hope they find them.

Keep us posted.

 

[ssramage]

UPDATE: Potential sighting of missing fishing boat ignites new hope

A missing boat with three local fishermen aboard it may have been spotted overnight Saturday more than 200 miles offshore of Charleston, South Carolina, the father of one of the

thebrunswicknews.com

 

[crackerdave]

Sounds like they may be ok!

 

[ssramage]

That sighting was on Sat, but they're a LONG ways off shore. Maybe this will be enough for the Coast Guard to keep the search on and get them closer to where they should be looking.

 

[Mexican Squealer]

Praying

 

[crackerdave]

Do they not have a radio?

 

[cowhornedspike]

I have a little bitty garmin in-reach mini unit that I carry with me out at sea or deep in the wilderness...there is never a time I can't get a message out and there is no excuse for something like that not being on board. JMHO

 

[GeorgiaBob]

Do they not have a radio?

A good VHF radio has a range of up to 25 miles talking to other ships or boats. A very good VHF might be able to talk to a Coast Guard shore station (with a 300' antenna) out to 70 miles, or even 100 miles if the weather conditions are exactly right. Pull up a map, mark the major Coast Guard stations and draw a seventy mile arc from those stations into the Atlantic - that's the furthest the boat's radio might reach.

If they had engine trouble, they might have lost battery to power a radio. Any electrical problem could leave them drifting, without radio. If they were smart and paid attention to safety notices about their epirb, they would just set it off and the Coasties would be there in a few hours. Unless the battery is dead on the ebirb!