# At least 1 dead off Lesner



## SkunkApe (Dec 9, 2006)

Not sure what happened. I'm sure ya'll will see the news. Capsized boat, 6 in the water, at least one dead. All I can say is PFD & Drysuit. 

I took a dog walk on the beach this morning and saw the CC Helicopter dropping a rescue swimmer and hoisting multiple people out of the water. I thought it was a drill, but there were way to many police, navy and CC boats on the scene. Just goes to show, even in the most busiest of waterways, you're toast in a matter of minutes w/o the right gear on. 

Skunk


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## drawinout (May 11, 2008)

Caught that on the news too Skunk. That's sad. Probably some idiots in a 18 foot flat bottom john boat or skiff. Prayers go out to their families, and I probably shouldn't say idiots being that people have lost their lives.


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## drawinout (May 11, 2008)

It's back on 13 now. Doesn't look like it was that rough out there, wonder what happened? Looks like an aluminum boat. Now their saying there are conflicting reports about the 2 confirmed dead. 1 confirmed dead, 2 stable, 2 their unsure about their conditions, and one is critical.


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## jhmorgan (May 16, 2007)

Saw the bottom of the boat, did appear aluminum but hard to tell. All I know is that when mating out of Dockside, we would see crazies out there in john boats of all sizes, overloaded pontoons at the 3rd island, gheenoes at the 2nd, so I thought I had seen it all. Then xmas eve when I was back in town for the week I went trollin out of Rudee. Now the conditions were not THAT bad, but thet winds were blowin upwards of 20. And of course, what did I see 1.5-2 miles off the coast? A flats boat!! I get nervous in top of the line flat's skiffs goin over some wakes. You could not pay me to go out in the Atlantic OCean in December on one, asking for trouble. While I pray for these people who had this accident today, people need to better understand the inherent risks of cold water boating...


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## basstardo (Jun 5, 2006)

There was a small craft advisory in effect until 1:00 today. 6 people in an 18 foot boat is too much in my opinion, especially in rougher conditions. Nobody's life is worth a fish.


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## drawinout (May 11, 2008)

Definitely too many people in the boat Terry.


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## 05 grand slam (Nov 7, 2007)

my dad told me about it. 6 guys went out into the bay in a bass boatit capsized and 4 are confirmed dead. had all the safety equip but the water was just to cold. my heart goes out to their family members.

and for the yakers i dont want to hear about one of our own please go out with all the necessairy equip. and dont do anything stuped.


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## drawinout (May 11, 2008)

All I know is they were from Arizona. They were supposedly in an 18' aluminum tracker boat with a V hull, so it wasn't a bass boat. May as well have been though as bad as the trackers are for the bay. They can keep that soda can. From the last I heard there was 1 or 2 confirmed dead, 2 stable, and there were a total of six on board. That may have changed by now. Sad story. It's back on the news right now.

Ok, it's 2 dead and the other 4 are being treated for Hypothermia.


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## jlentz (Sep 11, 2005)

Just saw pics on another site. It looks to be an 18' fiberglass tracker duel console boat. Not wise to go out in that boat this time of year in those conditions. Prayers to the family.

John


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## 05 grand slam (Nov 7, 2007)

doesnt suprise me he got it mixed up but cannt argue with him lol


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## drawinout (May 11, 2008)

05 grand slam said:


> doesnt suprise me he got it mixed up but cannt argue with him lol


LOL.. If it's your own father, the story is always "right". It's a shame they couldn't save the second guy. At first they said he was dead, then they got a heart beat, but in the end they couldn't save him. As far as the boat being fiberglass, I didn't even know tracker made a fiberglass boat, so I could have been wrong about it being aluminum.


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## drawinout (May 11, 2008)

According to yahoo news, the boat was definitely aluminum. Just my opinion, but for bay fishing an aluminum boat isn't worth the metal it's made of, never mind the 25 grand they charge for a similar model tracker boat. I've thought that ever since I was a youngin. I lived on a river when I was young, had my first boat at 12 which was a little 14 foot flat bottom Stump Knocker. A lot of the other kids in the neighborhood had aluminum jon boats. If there was a ripple on the water we fished my boat.:fishing: That's just my personal experience with aluminum boats.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090114/ap_on_re_us/capsized_boat


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

That is a shame.


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## Justfshn (Nov 22, 2007)

The coast guard did a great job putting themselves at risk, at least they saved four of them. I read that the two dead were older like past 60. Cold water is dangerous. There was a small craft this morning to.


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## jhmorgan (May 16, 2007)

drawinout said:


> According to yahoo news, the boat was definitely aluminum........ I lived on a river when I was young, had my first boat at 12 which was a little 14 foot flat bottom Stump Knocker.
> 
> http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090114/ap_on_re_us/capsized_boat


This same thing is being debated on another site. I still think that all Trackers are aluminum, it is just the new age seamless hull. However, one of the guys on this site was at the dock when they pulled it up and says he touched it and it was fiberglass so we will have to see I suppose.

You cant beat a stump knocker for river fishin! Still a large number of people runnin them on the flats down here.


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## jlentz (Sep 11, 2005)

jhmorgan said:


> This same thing is being debated on another site. I still think that all Trackers are aluminum, it is just the new age seamless hull. However, one of the guys on this site was at the dock when they pulled it up and says he touched it and it was fiberglass so we will have to see I suppose.


Do a search for Tracker fiberglass boats, they started making them in 1985, not sure if they still make them now. I do not think they can bend aluminum like the hull in the pics on the other site for th new age seamless hull. 

John


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## jhmorgan (May 16, 2007)

I had heard there were old fiberglass ones (and I actually found some late 80's boats listed for sale that said "Tracker Fiberglass.."), but when I went to their site and looked under "About" then "Quality Construction" I found this page...

http://www.trackerboats.com/about/quality-construction.cfm

"If you could peel back the hull of a TRACKER® boat, you'd see why they're so brawny and long lasting. Marine-grade aluminum forms the hull, longitudinal stringer system, compartment lids and the all-aluminum transom. Precision manufacturing equipment guarantees a consistent, tight fit. Internal support systems are designed to provide stiffness and rigidity. Pressurized foam, which provides maximum flotation that meets or exceeds U.S. Coast Guard requirements, is injected to reduce flexing and to improve rough water performance. Special tools and techniques, created by our master craftsmen, boost the strength and sturdiness of individual pieces and the welds that join them. Every external weld on our all-welded hulls is guaranteed with a transferable DuraTrack™ Limited Lifetime Warranty. The external welds on your TRACKER boat are guaranteed as long as you own it, or we'll fix it for free. Your local dealer can provide more details."


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## jlentz (Sep 11, 2005)

jhmorgan said:


> I had heard there were old fiberglass ones (and I actually found some late 80's boats listed for sale that said "Tracker Fiberglass.."), but when I went to their site and looked under "About" then "Quality Construction" I found this page...
> 
> http://www.trackerboats.com/about/quality-construction.cfm
> 
> "If you could peel back the hull of a TRACKER® boat, you'd see why they're so brawny and long lasting. Marine-grade aluminum forms the hull, longitudinal stringer system, compartment lids and the all-aluminum transom. Precision manufacturing equipment guarantees a consistent, tight fit. Internal support systems are designed to provide stiffness and rigidity. Pressurized foam, which provides maximum flotation that meets or exceeds U.S. Coast Guard requirements, is injected to reduce flexing and to improve rough water performance. Special tools and techniques, created by our master craftsmen, boost the strength and sturdiness of individual pieces and the welds that join them. Every external weld on our all-welded hulls is guaranteed with a transferable DuraTrack™ Limited Lifetime Warranty. The external welds on your TRACKER boat are guaranteed as long as you own it, or we'll fix it for free. Your local dealer can provide more details."


The above description is for current production aluminum boats. The website below will give you some of the history. Click on the years 1985 and 1986 where they talk about manufacturing Fiberglass Tracker boats and the facility built for that purpose.

http://www.trackerboats.com/about/images/TMtimeline2006.swf

It looks like all Trackers produced now are aluminum but they did produce some fiberglass models for a while which is what was described in the terrible accident yesterday.

John


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## jhmorgan (May 16, 2007)

Yeah they do have older ones, and the pictures of the hull would make me think fiberglass. But the boat does not look 20+ years old and the reports I have read from local news stations say that it was an 18 foot aluminum boat. Pure confusion regarding the boat in my eyes


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## jlentz (Sep 11, 2005)

jhmorgan said:


> Yeah they do have older ones, and the pictures of the hull would make me think fiberglass. But the boat does not look 20+ years old and the reports I have read from local news stations say that it was an 18 foot aluminum boat. Pure confusion regarding the boat in my eyes


Boat does not look 20+ years old to me either but I am not saying it was. What I am saying is the Tracker fiberglass manufacturing plant was opened in 1986. That does not tell me when they stopped producing fiberglass boats just when they started.


Don't believe everything on the news, they try to get the story out quickly and it is not always accurate. From what I have read from two different sources, one who actually helped load the boat on the trailer and another who was there, was that it was an all fiberglass boat. 

John


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## drawinout (May 11, 2008)

I could ask a guy that was actually on the boat two weeks before, but I'm not going to ask him a dumb question like that right after he lost his friends. He's made contact with us on a different board. Supposedly the boat was rated for 7 people, and the guys on board had some combined "120 years" of boating experience according to him. They were from Phoenix AZ and have been making this trip for 5 years. They trailered the boat over at the end of November, flew back to AZ for Christmas, then flew back to VA for more fishing. Sounds like they had some salt experience including with the Chesapeake Bay. Something drastic must have happened for them to turn her over. I guess we'll just have to wait and see when the "whole" story is out. I would ask the guy who was fishing the boat a few weeks ago with them, but it's not the time to be asking trivial questions like that. Not after he lost good friends. He said he's not sure how they flipped the boat either.


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## map120277 (Jul 17, 2008)

*Experience?*

If these guys had experience they would not have been out in those conditions. Small craft advisory, blowing 20-25, 18ft boat, 3-5 ft, 6 people, way over weight limit, equals a disaster waiting to happen. When your truck and trailer is the only one in the parking lot that should tell you something. Think twice.


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## Lipyourown (May 11, 2005)

They took a wave broadside and the engine failed. That's all it takes. Terrible.


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## drawinout (May 11, 2008)

I can agree with that map, but now isn't really the time to argue it. I made the same mistake by posting somewhat "negative" comments myself on another board, but it became a bit more personal when I realized some of the family and friends were reading the thread. The fact of the matter is people are dead, family and friends are hurt, and could really do without the negative comments right now. I think there were alot of things that could have been done to prevent the accident, but they have it rough enough right now without reading negative threads.


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## map120277 (Jul 17, 2008)

I wasn't trying to be negative at all. Sorry if it came out that way, I was just stating the facts. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of them.
Andy


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## red_fish (Jul 22, 2007)

jhmorgan said:


> Saw the bottom of the boat, did appear aluminum but hard to tell. All I know is that when mating out of Dockside, we would see crazies out there in john boats of all sizes, overloaded pontoons at the 3rd island, gheenoes at the 2nd, so I thought I had seen it all. Then xmas eve when I was back in town for the week I went trollin out of Rudee. Now the conditions were not THAT bad, but thet winds were blowin upwards of 20. And of course, what did I see 1.5-2 miles off the coast? A flats boat!! I get nervous in top of the line flat's skiffs goin over some wakes. You could not pay me to go out in the Atlantic OCean in December on one, asking for trouble. While I pray for these people who had this accident today, people need to better understand the inherent risks of cold water boating...


qp

I know a dude that goes 15 to25miles off shore in a 19skiff outta hatteras you talking bout hardcore


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## mud (Sep 23, 2007)

Easy for us to sit behind our computers and wonder and not be able to imagine the things that can go on out there. Forth of July was a nightmare for me in my 18ft center console when a storm came rippin outta no where while at water side and I had put in at petersons (across the bay). Wind and sideways rain got so bad everytime I pointed the bow where I wanted to go the wind and waves would push me away like I was a toy. When I saw a 23 footer struggling and bouncing and taking on water I knew it was time for me to not fight the current and hit the nearest dock. Hit the dock and turned on the bildge and left her idling. Had about a foot and a half of water I had to push out the scuppers before I was able to get going again. This all happened in about 10 minutes, bay went from dead calm to 5+ foot chop in no time. My thought and preyers go out to the family and friends as those waters are unpredictable no matter how many years you have on them.


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## rattler (Jul 3, 2004)

WELCOME TO THE CHESAPEAKE BAY. Things change in a heart beat. Unless you have a boat that can take it, if the weather is changing, stay close or don't go out. It takes years to learn the bay weather and when you think you "got it", it will rise up and smack you one. Sorry to see more deaths(RIP). Just a bad choice to go out and you see what happened. We can all learn from this.


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