I went out for blackmouth in the San Juans on Saturday. There were quite a few boats out there and maybe even some that were catching fish. I went 0/1 on a nice fish, probably in large part, to the combination of barbless hooks and an unforgiving jig rod but... oh well.

The real drama was in the middle of the day when I looked up across the water and began seeing smoke coming off of the water... never good. The smoke was about 3 miles away from me and I could see that there were 2 or 3 other boats much closer to the scene. As I'm doing 35 mph towards the boat, a huge firewall erupts out of side. After a short pause, I could even hear the explosion over my motor and the wind. As I got closer, I approached a boat floating nearby. I was told the person from the burning boat had jumped into the water and been pulled out with mild hypothermia and a minor burn on one hand. That is the only report I heard of the person's condition. The boat was called the Elana and it was out of Bellingham.

The person was saved by the willingness of normal fishermen to step in and help. Although the USCG was relatively close, they were still 10 minutes away from the scene after I left the scene. At that point, numerous other private boats could be seen heading directly towards the fire. On such a beautiful day, the smoke was striking. From the pics, you can see the boat is a total loss and things actually worked out about as well as possible. It is a reminder to make sure safety gear is up-to-date and functional. It also serves to show how much we are benefitted by others with the shiat hits the fan.

This all took place just NW of Cypress Island. Mt. Baker can be seen in the background.

no pics where are they?

uh...

I can't see the pic




(and i really want to ...)

Yeah, where is the "file manager" now? I have no upload link in the reply or edit forms?

Ahh... that is better. I didn't realize that you can actually click on the words"File Manager" to start the process.

holy [censored]



nice pics!!!

Wow! I'm glad it was a nice day so that the problem was visible to the rescuers and the victim was easy to find and haul aboard...on a rainy and windy day there would have been less boats, less visibility, and a much greater chance of someone going in the water and never coming out alive.

Fish on...

Todd

So...Did she burn to the waterline?

Holy Crap, Batman! Glad no one was hurt. It always amazes me how quickly a boat, car or house can go in a fire.

Kaiser -
Saw that as well -

Saw the large fireball followed by the thick black smoke from maybe 4 miles away. Immediately picked up the gear and made the run to the site - must have gotten there just after you - there was 5 or so sport boats there when we arrived and heard on the radio that the "sailor" had been picked up. Thank god for concern anglers!

Also left prior to the Coast guard showing up. Not much left to do but stare and wait for it to sink.

Makes one think about having fire extinguishers and FFDs close at hand. Pretty scary stuff and sure didn't seem take long for the boat to be completely engulfed in flames. According to the radio sounded like a tug to the north may have been the first to call it in to the USCG but as you said a number of private sport boats were first on site.

Tight lines
Curt

The boat ended up sinking.

Dan

Thanks for the update, Dan. Does it just get left on the bottom then?

I'm guessing it sank at the spot it was burning? I didn't notice it at the time but from the first photo, it looks like it had its anchor down?

Also, is there any USCG website that lists these types of events or calls the USCG takes?

Thanks, Kaiser D.

WOW.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

I was fishing just south of there and listening on VHF16. There was help already on-site when we first heard of the fire. My buddy (who was listening closer than me) said the victim was wearing a survival suit?

I guess people in the USCG are saying that the unofficial cause of the fire was a heater in the boat. Be careful out there.

If the guy was wearing a suit, it sounds a little suspicious to me...

Yeah, your posting about the suit was the first I'd heard of that. If that guy did indeed have a survival suit on, he may find a mightly curious insurance company. It just isn't the type of accident that would leave time to put one on. Also, I was told by someone on scene that he had "mild hypothermia". I've never had the misfortune of having a survival suit on in the water but I'd think you'd avoid hypothermia if you had the suit on and were pulled out of the water within a few minutes. I hope to never find out.