re: Things I learned broke down in the Gulf of Mexico

Didn't even get one. Haha My wife is probably over confident in me also seeing that I'm a high tech redneck & all.

And yes. Very glad you made it back. And glad you posted this up here.

My dad died in a boating accident (capsized) in South America. He was a completely prepared, smart guy when he was in charge, but he put his life in someone's hands who wasn't.

This is a good reminder of how quickly a normal situation can turn abnormal when on the water.

Literally 16 hours of almost. 1 of 20 things could have happened & we wouldn't been in that situation. Perfect storm of self inflected worst case scenario bad luck & over confidence in equip & skill set. It pains me to admit it that. But I'm 100% sure there are many people that post here this may help. It's the 1st time in my life I ever needed help. 37 years old. Grew up hunting/fishing & working. 8 years merchant mariner & 8 years Oil Filed. My safety record & the man hours worked under my supervison is unparalleled. Near perfect. 1 lost time- guy broke skin on his foot with a pressure washer. I pride myself at removing variables before they cause a problem.

Should make a thread like this a lockdown for all boaters thinking of running out to the GOM.

To add insult in injury. Like I said navigation down, so we didn't know how many miles from land we were. & we didn't want prospect rescuers to see us fishing and think everything was OK. So we didn't fish any the hole time we were broke down. Came home with a empty chest.

How much in supplies did you have or do you normally carry when going out? Water especially.

Fully prepared with the exceptions listed. Enough for 3 plus days. I carryied a 30 pack of water & book sack full of canned goods. You can't run a Cadillac on water. 2 people.

This was a case of doing it wrong 1 time & getting hammered over it. We made preparations but made exceptions. Wasn't a beer in the boat either because I was aware I needed to be on point if something did happen with going into the gulf.

quote:

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2- Don't go much more than a couple miles offshore without a marine radio.

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I don't leave the dock without one.

The toughest decision I made was not switching wires on my batteries. It was dark & I was so close to the platform & work boat. If I didn't make it, I wouldn't have had any way to signal except flashlights & cell phone flash light. & ultimately its was bright blue led cabin lights that got the MV Ms Flo's attention hours & miles later.

I'm a novice to offshore, but hopefully one day try it. When you say MV Ms. Flo, does the MV stand for marine vessel? I've been, and been apart of several rescues on inland lakes, that have saved lives. Glad your situation ended positive, and awesome advice to pass on.