Mark P
Senior Member
How does a boat carrying some 30 people or so overturn? Just picking this up off wire. Totally tragic since at least two dead, probably avoidable. We'll see.
Vessel Overturns near San Diego?
- Thread starter Mark P
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Benthic2
Guru
Perhaps it overturned because there were so many people on it ?
Benthic2
Guru
PacificBlue
Veteran Member
Reminds me of the 34 Silverton that did the same with 27 people onboard.
https://www.soundingsonline.com/features/silverton-sinking-were-27-people-too-many-to-carry
https://www.soundingsonline.com/features/silverton-sinking-were-27-people-too-many-to-carry
OP
OP
Mark P
Senior Member
A lot depends on how big a boat it was whether 25 people could cause it to overturn. 25 people at an average of 200 pounds each (5000 pounds total) if they all went to one side to see some thing, maybe enough.
Comodave
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Some of the reports suggest it was involved with smuggling people across the border, maybe.
Benthic2
Guru
Like most accidents, there will probably be multiple contributing factors, like overloading, rough seas and running aground. Seas were reportedly 7 feet.
RT Firefly
Enigma
Greetings,
Not to mention alcohol.
Not to mention alcohol.
ancora
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The boat was a cheap ass built panga, used for smuggling people and drugs...just a shell with a motor. It wound up at Ralph's Beach, a popular surfing spot due to the gnarly waves.
Benthic2
Guru
some articles mention that the boat might have been a panga, but the pictures seem to indicate otherwise. It appears to have been a wooden boat with a fly bridge.
Side note: Pangas are actually pretty cool boats with a fascinating history, having been designed by Yamaha and funded as a World Bank project in the early 70's to allow fishermen an economical boat with a shallow draft that could be launched from the beach, go offshore, and return with a heavy load.
Side note: Pangas are actually pretty cool boats with a fascinating history, having been designed by Yamaha and funded as a World Bank project in the early 70's to allow fishermen an economical boat with a shallow draft that could be launched from the beach, go offshore, and return with a heavy load.
MYTraveler
Guru
The boat in the picture sure doesn't look like a panga. If human smuggling, it is typical for the boat to beach and its passengers to scatter. It seems more likely that it rolled while trying to beach than that it was overturned by heavy seas alone.
Adopo
Guru
Alaskaflyer
Guru
Described as older 40 foot cabin cruiser this morning.
I know this boat. We keep our 1967 Hattetas in Point Loma and have often seen this boat rotating through the local anchorages. The man who owned the boat was a full time live aboard. We locally refer to them as sea gypsys (no insult intended) because they roam from anchorage to anchorage with no home port. The boat was a TOTAL mess and appeared to be home made or had the upper cabin added to an existing hull which could explain it being top heavy. Maybe it was “livable” in the harbor but it was not sea worthy. He would pull by my slip regularly to use the public pump out near our marina. Creepy looking dude. I would never have stepped foot on that vessel so I can only imagine how desperate these immigrants felt to go to sea on such a crap boat in poor conditions. The word locally is that he had been suspected of smuggling before. He was traveling near shore by Point Loma between a massive and unnavigable kelp forest and the Point Loma tide pools in Cabrillo National monument when he had a fuel problem. He called for help and reported he was alone. The boat was pushed ashore as he floundered in rough seas and keeled over when he ran aground. The boat was broken up by the surf rather quickly. My family was onboard our boat in Point Loma when it happened. It sounded like every emergency vehicle in San Diego responded… sirens wailed for over an hour as they rushed to save these poor people. Horrific
If they boarded his vessel in port it would have most likely been in Ensenada. However, there is a lot of surveillance there and he would have raised suspicion so I assume they boarded at sea maybe by panga from anywhere along the coast. There are very few ports he could use within his vessel’s range. Ensenada is about 70 miles south of where he crashed.
PM
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A crappy, wooden boat painted to avoid detection deserves to be beaten by the waves and sunk. Nobody deserves to die due to someone being negligent or greedy, but the owner or captain got what he deserved.
pete
pete
rgano
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The topic of boat type names being a bit flexible, like maybe what constitutes a "panga," got me to thinking of the shapely Hawaiian fishing sampans I used to see back in the 1970s there. They were a far sight different vessel than the sampans I used to see off Vietnam and in Hong Kong harbor. You can see one here https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/news/may20/sampans-of-hawaii.html
brianaderer
Veteran Member
It ran out of fuel
And was pushed into the shore by the waves and broken up. The captain was the only US documented aboard
And was pushed into the shore by the waves and broken up. The captain was the only US documented aboard
oscar
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May want to add some other news sources to your diet. The land route is equally dangerous.
DaveJasper
Member
In my Marina "rumors" are that it was actually a 40' Trawler (not a panga). It was previously docked in our marina under another vessel name for many years, by another owner. If it was this boat, it was a Taiwanese or similar make.
This one apparently had a concrete hull/or concrete in the hull (?) and was in very poor shape. The previous owner donated it recently.
We suspect it was then sold to the smugglers, had mechanical issues, and drifted ashore. Anyone familiar with boating around Pt.Loma would not try and come ashore at this beach due to kelp field and the tide pools.
...and then our rumors and stories keep spinning wildly on...
This one apparently had a concrete hull/or concrete in the hull (?) and was in very poor shape. The previous owner donated it recently.
We suspect it was then sold to the smugglers, had mechanical issues, and drifted ashore. Anyone familiar with boating around Pt.Loma would not try and come ashore at this beach due to kelp field and the tide pools.
...and then our rumors and stories keep spinning wildly on...
ancora
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We refer to these scows as "Alpha Eights" as the "free" A-8 anchorage in the South Bay was filled with them. The anchorage, at great taxpayer expense, was cleaned up and eliminated.
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