Search underway for missing Lake Sinclair boater after fishing boat hit log, tipped over. Really strange circumstances.

[nimrod]

I think the wgxa article has thrown everyone off on a commercial fishing tangent. From the 13wmaz article it says they hit a log in the water and all the gear was thrown to one side of the boat and they were ejected.

From the article:
Rebecca Gilbert tells first responders she and her father were fishing in their 19-foot boat near Putnam Beach Tuesday morning.

"They apparently had hit a log floating in the water," said Sheriff Howard Sills.

Sheriff Sills says the impact caused all of the rigging and gear in the boat to shift to the left, flipping both Rebecca and Patrick into the lake.

"She said she'd tried to keep her father up the best she could," Sills said.

 

[oops1]

I lost my oldest son 2021 Labor Day weekend in a drowning incident. He was in a canoe on the river and fell out of boat. No life jacket on. It can happen in an instant to anyone.

That’s terrible, prayers for you and your family. I can’t imagine.

 

[SemperFiDawg]

May have been netting shad with large tanks on board.

Maybe some from the local area will chime in.

 

[across the river]

Prayers go out to the family.



A 20 foot carolina skiff is a pretty dang stable boat. I can't imagine what kind of commercial rigging they could have had that would snag and pull the boat over. Any ideas? Surely it's not just long lining.

https://wgxa.tv/news/local/search-underway-for-missing-lake-sinclair-boater-03-22-2022

There have been a lot of issues with Carolina skiffs getting waterlogged, and it is well documented. There are braces below the floor filled with foam. If you get a means for water to get below the floor there is no realLy no good way to get the water out. They have added some additional lower plug drains as the “fix” for some newer models, but the older ones don’t have drain holes position to get the water out. Makes the boat ride really low when it get full of water weight. Add some tanks for fish in as well, and I can see it just having too much weight. That will dramatically affect the stability.

 

[GTMODawg]

There have been a lot of issues with Carolina skiffs getting waterlogged, and it is well documented. There are braces below the floor filled with foam. If you get a means for water to get below the floor there is no realLy no good way to get the water out. They have added some additional lower plug drains as the “fix” for some newer models, but the older ones don’t have drain holes position to get the water out. Makes the boat ride really low when it get full of water weight. Add some tanks for fish in as well, and I can see it just having too much weight. That will dramatically affect the stability.

This is true of all foam in all boats....it does nothing until the boat is filled with water and if it is already saturated with water it does nothing then. When it is saturated and the boat ain't swamped all it does is lower the water line like any other added weight. I have refurbished a lot of boats in my life and only in rare instances was the foam not merely less air space than the actual foam itself, which ain't much, and the rest is water being held in the boat permanently. There will always be some inherent air trapped in the most water logged foam which will provide some floatation BUT it is not much compared to the amount of water being held already. You can fill a boat hull up to the gunwales with dry foam and it will only make the boat sit lower in the water when it is not swamped. The weight of the foam is like any other weight and the floatation only applies when the hull is full of water. Good point.

 

[GTMODawg]

There have been a lot of issues with Carolina skiffs getting waterlogged, and it is well documented. There are braces below the floor filled with foam. If you get a means for water to get below the floor there is no realLy no good way to get the water out. They have added some additional lower plug drains as the “fix” for some newer models, but the older ones don’t have drain holes position to get the water out. Makes the boat ride really low when it get full of water weight. Add some tanks for fish in as well, and I can see it just having too much weight. That will dramatically affect the stability.

This is true of all foam in all boats....it does nothing until the boat is filled with water and if it is already saturated with water it does nothing then. When it is saturated and the boat ain't swamped all it does is lower the water line like any other added weight. I have refurbished a lot of boats in my life and only in rare instances was the foam not merely less air space than the actual foam itself, which ain't much, and the rest is water being held in the boat permanently. There will always be some inherent air trapped in the most water logged foam which will provide some floatation BUT it is not much compared to the amount of water being held already. You can fill a boat hull up to the gunwales with dry foam and it will only make the boat sit lower in the water when it is not swamped. The weight of the foam is like any other weight and the floatation only applies when the hull is full of water. Good point.

 

[madsam]

Dang I hate it for that daughter....Use to be commercial catfish baskets on Sinclair ...This time of year is bad for floaters. Especially Murder Creek area.

 

[trad bow]

Maybe some from the local area will chime in.

I did born and raised right off the water by Sinclair. 64 years old and have dabbled in the commercial fishing trade off and on my entire life. Post. 11 & 17

 

[cowhornedspike]

According to the DNR facebook page the man (body) was recovered today around 1.30pm

 

[across the river]

This is true of all foam in all boats....it does nothing until the boat is filled with water and if it is already saturated with water it does nothing then. When it is saturated and the boat ain't swamped all it does is lower the water line like any other added weight. I have refurbished a lot of boats in my life and only in rare instances was the foam not merely less air space than the actual foam itself, which ain't much, and the rest is water being held in the boat permanently. There will always be some inherent air trapped in the most water logged foam which will provide some floatation BUT it is not much compared to the amount of water being held already. You can fill a boat hull up to the gunwales with dry foam and it will only make the boat sit lower in the water when it is not swamped. The weight of the foam is like any other weight and the floatation only applies when the hull is full of water. Good point.

The foam isn’t in there in a Carolina Skiff or any other boat to make it “float” better, it adds stiffness and backing to the fiberglass so that simply banging it up against the dock or dropping something on the deck one time doesn’t crack the fiberglass. The issue with the Carolina Skiff was one of design not allowing water that made its way below deck to be removed. Common problem among the older models of the brand. Water that made it below deck got “trapped” and there was no way to drain it out. Water will eventually get through whether you want it to or not, which is why you see a lot of these older boats with glassed wood transoms eventually rotting. There is plenty of info online and you can see a bunch of people drilling drain holes in their Carolina Skiffs to get the water out. There are plenty of other boat manufacturers with foam in the hill that don’t have that issue because they were designed better.

 

[Dennis]

Ok folks this guy was my wife's sister husband younger brother. He was a commerical cat fisherman and he did not have his life jacket on. Please wear your life jacket

 

[turkeykirk]

Sad.
In my younger days I thought I was “bulletproof “. I don’t get on the water now without a PFD on.

 

[trad bow]

Ok folks this guy was my wife's sister husband younger brother. He was a commerical cat fisherman and he did not have his life jacket on. Please wear your life jacket

Dennis sorry about your family’s loss.

 

[SemperFiDawg]

He was a commerical cat fisherman

I never even knew there was such a thing. I had always assumed it was illegal to net or trap them and also thought it was illegal to sell any fish caught in public waters. Shows how little I know and sorry for the loss.

 

[Dutch]

Dang, I believe that's the guy and his daughter I talked to last Wednesday at the Armour Bridge Ramp at Oconee. They were pulling thier Carolina Skiff out, had a huge water tank in the center with catfish they had caught that day. Said he was a commercial fisherman and lived in Monroe Country.
Didn't get his name, but sure sounds like them...real nice fellow. Prayers for his family.

 

[sleepr71]

Could be any of us. All it takes is to miss something in the water,or another boater to not be paying attention. Wear a PFD.

 

[Dutch]

Could be any of us. All it takes is to miss something in the water,or another boater to not be paying attention. Wear a PFD.

I fish alot by myself,so I invested in a auto-inflate PFD. Plus remember to WEAR YOUR KILL SWITCH. I also have a set of rescue steps to get back into the boat.

 

[DAWG1419]

If you crank the big motor you best be wearing a pfd. We always have. Now I wear an inflatable all day.

 

[bany]

I lost my oldest son 2021 Labor Day weekend in a drowning incident. He was in a canoe on the river and fell out of boat. No life jacket on. It can happen in an instant to anyone.

My condolences.
All truth there, anyone anytime.

 

[bany]

Ok folks this guy was my wife's sister husband younger brother. He was a commerical cat fisherman and he did not have his life jacket on. Please wear your life jacket

Prayers up for the family. Tough deal no matter how it happened, God Bless.

 

[Ray357]

All I can figure would be trotlining.

I am guessing either herring or he is selling catfish alive and had huge live tanks on board.