posted 02-23-2003 02:00 PM ET (US)        

By the way, the water up there was 55 degrees , by my fishfinder. Lucky for them it was relatively smooth and a Saturday -- they probably would have gotten picked up relatively quickly, but that hypothermia clock was definately ticking...

I've posted link after the body, if you want to follow it.

"Boat Sinks in Paradise Cove - Malibu, CA"


LAST EDITED ON Feb-23-03 AT 05:44 AM (PDT)

Hi Everyone,

Unfortunately the following story is very true, since it happened to me and my 3 friends Rick H., Allan A. and Mike H. yesterday
Saturday February 22, 2003.

Basically what happened is my 2000-year Model Robalo 29’ with twin Mercury Optimax 225s sank within 30 to 60 seconds off Paradise
Cove - Malibu, California in 40 feet of water.

Here are the details. After 3 months of waiting for my boat to get finished rigging out, the 4 of us met at Marina Del Rey on Saturday
morning at 0630. The boat was in its slip, floating as normal. Earlier in the week, my bait tanks and fishfinder were installed, so 3 new
holes were put into the boat.

We got bait and fuel, and left the harbor by 0745. We made the run to Paradise Cove running about 30 knots. Once we got to the area,
I slowed down to meter some structure and look for fish, which I did for 15 or 20 minutes. It was around 0900 at this point and
everything was fine. Once I located structure we started fishing. Within 5 minutes the boat started taking on a little water. I made sure
that the bilge pumps and fish box pumps were on, which they were.

We immediately decided to turn on the engines and run the water out. But then the water started coming very fast. I was attempting
to get the boat on the beach, but no such luck. I instructed my friend to call out a May-Day with our GPS coordinates while I went
below to get the PFDs and Ditch Bag. As soon as I looked into the cabin I saw water coming out, I knew right then that the boat was
lost.

I thru out the PFDs and Ditch Bag yelled to everyone to put on a PFD and then the boat was under. This took from 30 to 60 seconds.
We only had time for one May-Day then the boat was gone.

So now 4 of us are in the water, 2 of us had the PFDs on and attached. The other 2 put them on and attached them in the water; the
boat sank that fast. Since I have grown up swimming and body boarding in the ocean, I was not afraid to be swimming once again in
the ocean. My first thought was to get everyone together and then swim for shore, which was about 1/2 mile away.

Strangely I noticed one of the guys removing some of his clothes. I am thinking in my mind, what the hell is he doing? Well I didn’t care
what he was doing; I just wanted his PFD on and fasten, so that is what I did.

OK, now for the Ditch Bag, which has an EPIRB, the best flares money can buy, flashlight, hand held VHF and hand held GPS. I look to
make sure that the EPIRB is working, which it was thank you ACR! Now it is time for my hand held VHF and GPS, to get back in touch
with the Coast Guard. Guess what, these critical safety items are gone. The two devices were zipped into compartments and then
zipped again in the main compartment. The only thing that I think that happened, is one of the workers stole these devices, and now I
needed it.

Since it was a cold morning, I had thermals on and 2 extra fleece sweaters, so I wasn’t cold in the water, actually I didn’t even think of
the water. The only thoughts I had were to get everyone together and start swimming for shore. One of my PFDs is a Stay Alive PFD
that contains Rope, Flares, Light Sticks, Whistle, Water, and Mirror. So I was planning to tie the rope between the 4 of us.

I didn’t need to worry about tying us, since about 1 mile away was a boat headed right for us at full power. It seems that a commercial
Sea Urchin (I love Uni even more now) boat was in our area. He noticed us fishing and then a couple of minutes later he saw our bow
sticking up and the four of us in the water.

Well the Kathryn Ann out of Oxnard, California (boat name) is now fixed in our memory forever. Hi picked us out of the water and we
were back on a boat. We only spent 15 minutes in the water, but the water was 60 degrees. The captain of the boat is Terrell Cryer
told us that he left his diver in the water, so off we go to find him. It took us 15 minutes to find him and boy was he surprise to see us
on the boat. We were joking with him, that we were DFG and we swam out to check their catch.

Well about 30 minutes later, a Coast Guard Helo showed up on the scene and then 10 minutes later two LA County Lifeguard boats
were on the scene. The Helo spent 15 minutes looking for our boat, since we were moving somewhat when we broadcasted our
May-Day and GPS coordinates. Surprisingly, there was not that much debris, I am still amazed by this. So the Helo didn’t find the boat,
but we had our last know coordinates.

As soon as everything settled down on the Kathryn Ann, I managed to borrow his cell phone and call two people. My father (the boat
was a gift from him) and my ex-wife. I needed her to reach the emergency contacts that I listed on the EPIRB and tell them everything
was OK, since I knew the Coast Guard would be calling. Terrell agreed to dive the area to try and find the boat and salvage our rods
and reels.

So we got Terrell’s information and transferred to a LA County Lifeguard boat and we were headed back to MDR. On the ride back, the
four of us were simply amazed how fast the boat sank and talked about the possible causes. 2 of the guys just started fishing 5 years
ago, but they have been on a lot of boats and trips. The other Mike and myself grew up fishing and on the water. Mike has two boats
also. None of us have ever heard of a boat sinking so quickly.

Of course I have spent the night thinking over and over what happened and could I have done anything any different to save the boat.
I am confident that we did everything we could in such a short time. The amount of water that was coming in was like a fire hydrate
turned on full blast. I had no time to do anything but grab the PFDs and Ditch Bag. I will find out shortly the cause of the sinking, but I
think that maybe the section where the 3 new thru holes were placed maybe cracked and caused a giant hole.

I got a hold of my insurance company and they instructed me to begin salvage right away, if the boat was salvageable. I then called
Terrell and he told me he was still on the scene (it was 1930 when I called him) and had great news. He found the boat and spent 2
hours diving the scene and recovered most of our rods, reels, and other gear. This morning Mike and I are taking one of his boats out to
pick up our gear.

Terrell has offered to salvage the boat and of course he will get this business.

There are four important safety things that I have learned. First of all, every boat that my family owns will have an automatically
inflating life raft on it. We are buying one for our 45’ sailboat today. Second, before leaving the dock for each trip I will inspect the
contents of my Ditch Bag. Third, rolling your deck boots down is dangerous, the other Mike had his boots rolled down and immediately
filled up with water and he had to kick them off. My boots were up and took in no water at all. Fourth and the most important, if it is
good enough for the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Navy Seals then it is perfect for me, we will always have a buddy system in place
before we leave the dock. Each guy will be paired with another guy in case of emergencies. If I ever end up in the water again, it will
be right next to my buddy.

When I was swimming around in the water, I thought about what is truly important in my life and it is my loved ones. The boat, the
gear and all the other stuff can easily be purchased again, but our lives are the most important and precious thing.
The only thing that really matters is that 4 guys went fishing and 4 guys came home.

Sincerely,

Michael Fleder
Redelfm90504@yahoo.com