Toledo

Thanks! Im wanting to hit the artificial reefs directly south of rollover. Bay boat so less distance in the gulf the better. I had heard conflicting info about water depth in the canal heading south.

I was at Pirates Cove when it happened. My observations-

We were on the dock with kids swimming and began to hear thunder in the far distance to the west-northwest. I checked the radar to see a well formed storm heading our way but still a good distance off. I then told the kids they had a few more minutes. About 10 minutes later I had them get out and gather our things that we didnt want to get wet or blown away. About 10 minutes more, the thunder was getting closer and a gentle wind started from the west. It slowly built and 10 more minutes the wind increased to 25-30 from the west. From first thunder to bad wind was a solid 25-30 minutes. And the dark sky's approaching from the west were obvious the whole time. Maybe they had a mechanical problem but there was ample warning to get off the water in time.

Maybe another 20-30 minutes later first responders started to show at the launch. A lot of people showed but it took a good while for them to get a boat in the water.

When I heard the news of what happened, I was borderline pissed. Because the captain had plenty of time to avoid the situation. The boat had visible signs of not being seaworthy. And because I was sitting there looking at my bay boat in the water the whole time while a pile of first responders had just stood around with their thumbs up their butts.

The barge that capsized had a large metal enclosure built onto the back of it along with a window unit and I assume generator. I had always noticed how rear end overloaded they appeared. Squatting badly from all the crap piled on the back. My speculation is the rear end was overtaken by a following sea as they were traveling with the wind, back towards the marina. A party barge is typically pretty seaworthy but the excess weight, up high and in the back, probably contributed to it flipping over. The two that died were recovered quickly so that tells me they had life jackets on but were stuck inside the enclosure.

Main need for now is a little bigger boat while keeping it light. I know Lowe was making a thin skinned 1636 as late as 2015 but not anymore.

If I can find what I want, I probably will do gator glide just to help with the dragging.

Do none of the custom builders work with .050? Too thin to weld consistently?

Now we need a link to said video.

Im wanting to get a 16x36 bare bones jon built. Thin .050 aluminum. Looking for something that will float as shallow as possible with two guys and can easily be drug across an inch of water. I already have a 1436 that works well but would like more displacement while adding minimum weight.

Is there anybody building that sort of thing?

Any big manufacturers still selling a riveted one?