NJ Saltwater Fisherman Forums
NJ Saltwater Fisherman => News and Information => Topic started by: kezsr on October 11, 2010, 12:09:31 PM
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Apdate. Capt. Joe Just Posted..
"Just got a report that the guys were found alive 120 miles east of Atlantic City at 7pm tonight by a CG helicopter."
ATLANTIC CITY — Coast Guard aircraft and boats are searching for six men who failed to return from a fishing trip off Atlantic City.
The Coast Guard says it received a call from the wife of one of men on Sunday night. She said the men had left Forked (FOR'-ked) River Saturday aboard the 32-foot vessel Black Magic for an overnight fishing trip about 85 miles east of Atlantic City.
They were due to return Sunday morning.
The men are identified as Bernie Otiemsky, Jerry Lewis, Ed Filcox, Geoffrey McDade, James McDade and Ray Somerville. There is no word on their hometowns.
Two rescue helicopter crews, a C-130 aircraft and three Coast Guard boats are searching.
Source : mycentraljersey.com (http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20101011/STATE/101011036/Coast%20Guard%20searching%20for%206%20missing%20boaters%20off%20NJ?GID=0TtxeG9VHApuFPcUzx2Xj7ugsIfj9jYhck5AWWfziiU%3D)
Update :
There is also now a report from the AP that the boat may have gone offcourse and could be as far north as Martha's Vineyard, after initial reports put the boat 85 miles east o
Thomas McDade is the son of boat owner Geoffrey McDade and thebrother of one of the other fishermen, James McDade.
He says his mother called the Coast Guard on Sunday afternoon when the group did not return as planned from an overnight deep-sea tuna fishing trip aboard the 32-foot vessel Black Magic.
The Coast Guard initially was searching off the New Jersey coast, but they have moved to the north, near Martha's Vineyard, Mass., after a mayday call came from there around 1 a.m. Monday.
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Ah Man.. not good.. I hope everything turns out ok
Here is More
Six Boaters Missing Off Atlantic City
Updated: Monday, 11 Oct 2010, 12:08 PM EDT
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Six men are missing after they didn't return from an overnight fishing trip 85 miles east of Atlantic City, N.J.
Two rescue helicopter crews from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City, a C-130 aircraft and three Coast Guard boats are searching the area known as the Canyons, or Toms Canyon for the missing men.
The Coast Guard says it received a call at 6:40 p.m. Sunday from the wife of one of men.
She said the men had left Forked River Saturday aboard the 32-foot vessel Black Magic for an overnight fishing trip.
The web site for the boat says it is a 40-foot Viking that is piloted by a charter captain, and it specializes in trips to the Canyons.
The site says the boat is equipped with a satellite rescue beacon and life raft.
They were set to return Sunday morning.
The men are Bernie Otiemsky, Jerry Lewis, Ed Filcox, Geoffrey McDade, James McDade and Ray Somerville. There is no word on their hometowns.
Anyone with information about the missing boaters is asked to call Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay at 215-271-4960.
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wow..not good.. I hope all turns out OK..
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I hope and pray it's not the Ray Somerville, I know....
Regardless, I hope and pray for a good outcome for this incident and all involved.
I think of all the times me and my friends went out to the canyons in boats less than 30' long and what could have happened.
But we always did the trips on the buddie system, and never lost sight of each other. All ways a minimum of 3 boats.
( the just in case rule )
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Update :
There is also now a report from the AP that the boat may have gone offcourse and could be as far north as Martha's Vineyard, after initial reports put the boat 85 miles east o
Thomas McDade is the son of boat owner Geoffrey McDade and thebrother of one of the other fishermen, James McDade.
He says his mother called the Coast Guard on Sunday afternoon when the group did not return as planned from an overnight deep-sea tuna fishing trip aboard the 32-foot vessel Black Magic.
The Coast Guard initially was searching off the New Jersey coast, but they have moved to the north, near Martha's Vineyard, Mass., after a mayday call came from there around 1 a.m. Monday.
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Lets hope everybody returns safe and sound.
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Mystery Grows Over Lost Charter Boat
Updated: Monday, 11 Oct 2010, 3:30 PM EDT
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Six New Jersey men failed to return from a weekend overnight fishing trip, and the Coast Guard was searching for their sport-fishing boat Monday off the coast of Massachusetts, where they might have issued a mayday call.
The six men are Bernie Otiemsky, Jerry Lewis, Ed Silcox, Geoffrey McDade, James McDade and Ray Somerville.
The Press of Atlantic City says Otiemsky and Silcox work for Peirce-Phelps Inc., a Philadelphia-based company that sells heating, ventilation, cooling and other home consumer products.
Thomas McDade said his father, Geoffrey, and 26-year-old brother, James, were among the group that left Saturday morning on a trip to catch tuna about 85 miles east of Atlantic City. They were to return Sunday morning and when they weren't home by the evening, Thomas McDade said his mother called authorities.
The search for the 32-foot vessel, Black Magic, initially focused on the area near where the men had planned to go fishing.
But a Coast Guard radio tower on Martha's Vineyard picked up a mayday call around 1 a.m. Monday, Coast Guard Petty Officer Jonathan Lindberg said. A recording of the call was played for families of the missing, one of whom recognized the voice as that of her husband.
The search then was expanded to include Martha's Vineyard, though the guard was continuing to search the area off New Jersey, he said. Two rescue helicopter crews from Atlantic City, a C-130 aircraft from Elizabeth City, N.C., and three Coast Guard boats from ports along the Jersey shore are searching.
Lindberg said there has been no contact with the boat since the mayday call, and no emergency beacon had been detected. The boat was equipped with an emergency positioning radio beacon, or EPIRB, which is designed to float free when the unit gets wet and automatically broadcast its position to rescuers.
The mayday call offered some hope that the boat hadn't capsized or sunk.
"I've been trying their cellphones, but they're too far off shore," said Thomas McDade. "There's nothing much we can do except hope and pray."
The weather in the area was mostly calm over the weekend, said Greg Heavener, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's southern New Jersey office.
"The winds were fairly benign," he said. "There were a few spikes where it briefly reached 25 knots, but that was very, very quickly. There weren't any gales out there, and the seas were 3 to 5 feet, nothing out of the ordinary."
Geoffrey McDade is a diesel mechanic and James McDade is a machinist in the Navy.
Besides the EPIRB, the vessel carries an array of safety gear including a global positioning system, an autopilot, three VHF radios, a supplemental radio known as a single-sideband radio and an inflatable life raft, according to the boat's website. T
Anyone with information about the missing boaters is asked to call Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay at 215-271-4960.
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Every captains nightmare, prayers are with them for a safe return.
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A lot of confusion in the media. they are showing the wrong boat and web site. this is a 32' Blakfin
(http://www.thehulltruth.com/attachments/boating-forum/89340d1256402389-32-blackfin-best-32-blackfin-blackfin-89-03-m3-pics-017.jpg)
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nosmly
my prayers to the anglers and families for safe return.
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I'am at a home on LBI (Brant Beach) a CC helicopter just flew over heading SW toward Atlantic City airport. Most likely needing to re-fuel.
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I sure hope this has a good outcome
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Just got a report that the guys were found alive 120 miles east of Atlantic City at 7pm tonight by a CG helicopter. t^ t^ t^
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Thank God....
Thanks for the update Joe...
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Thank you
Can't wait to hear this story
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Just got a report that the guys were found alive 120 miles east of Atlantic City at 7pm tonight by a CG helicopter. t^ t^ t^
Did they catch anything? 5hrug ;D
That's great news! t^
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That's GREAT NEWS>> I Hope everyone is ok.. t^
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OUTSTANDING NEWS, our prayers were answered. clp
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Sounds like they had mechanical issues and were adrift. Chopper was staying on scene until a CG Cutter arrived. All aboard seem to be fine.
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Great news,all alive
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Sounds like they had mechanical issues and were adrift. Chopper was staying on scene until a CG Cutter arrived. All aboard seem to be fine.
I'm thinking there will be some BIG lessons learned here... nosmly
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like how the C.G. switched gears from 85 off Atlantic City to searching Martha's Vineyard????
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Awaiting the true story from the Capt and crew...
Thank God they are alive.
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CG up north heard a mayday call at 1 in the morning I believe it was. Don't know how they may have associated it with this vessel.
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Prayers were answered. slt Coast Guard
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What we go through to catch fish wow. TG all aboard are fine
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There are things here that have bothered me ALL DAY..
Epirb? Radio? back up radio.. Hand Held.. Float plan..
Guess I'll have to wait for the facts..
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good news
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GREAT NEWS...THANK GOD...AND A SAFE RETURN.. clp
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There are things here that have bothered me ALL DAY..
Epirb? Radio? back up radio.. Hand Held.. Float plan..
Guess I'll have to wait for the facts..
Ahhhhhhhhh, facts. I bet the media won't let facts get in the way of a good story. ::)
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Glad to see they found the crew safe!
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There are things here that have bothered me ALL DAY..
Epirb? Radio? back up radio.. Hand Held.. Float plan..
Guess I'll have to wait for the facts..
I didn't want to ask especially given that it looks like some people here might know at least one of the guys on the boat. The reports said they had all of them onboard, I can't imagine why they weren't used. I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt until we hear from those on the boat.
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Those early reports were taken from the wrong Boats Web Site. And they quoted " From the website it reads they have a life raft and an epirb"....etc. But this was bad info. nosmly
I just know there will be lessons learned from this. and I'm sure the "WHAT IF" Policy wasn't thought out well enough for this crew.
and I think a lot of us don't use that "WHAT IF" Enough...
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Glad everyone is alright. Anyone know if they caught any fish on the drift? <'((((><
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;D
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good ending, thankfully, but wtf either way:
perhaps they did not know how to test and/or operate the epirb? wtf, woulda saved a lot of time, money, and worry...
found this on a quick search- obviously even if not mandated these units must be regularly inspected and tested:
http://www.sarsat.noaa.gov/EPIRB_inspecting.pdf
or perhaps they did not have an epirb? maybe go 15off w/no epirb but 50+? wtf were they thinking? Sounds like at least a few on board should have known what they were doing...
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There are things here that have bothered me ALL DAY..
Epirb? Radio? back up radio.. Hand Held.. Float plan..
Guess I'll have to wait for the facts..
Epirb for sure would have worked if it was operational.
Hand held is useless beyond curvature of the earth ( 12 to 15 miles max )
As is the vhf . that far offshore you would need a really long extention pole for the antenna to carry a signal to land or another boat. But is better than handheld giving you a range of 50 to 85 miles.
Mind you VHF does not work Like AM (bouncing off of clouds and other antennas. VHF is direct antenna to antenna. the only thing you can do is increase the height of the antenna to get more signal distance
I'm kind of supprised most of you guys aren't familiar with the limitations of your equipment.
But I guess for our purpose and routine's the VHF is just fine cause we rarely stray beyond it's normal working distance.
Here we go.
This boat was at the limits of it's ability to communicate with any one. And the worse happened, they lost power and communications.
Then as if that was not bad enough, They were blown further out to sea far beyond ( some 50 miles) the working limits of there equipment
[/quote]
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nosmly
Still a hand held will help radio searchers.. even if it's only good for 5 miles or so. passing airplanes and unseen boats may pick up a Mayday..
No Epirb.. nosmly
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I agree 200%
I only posted the Radio information cause someone on Face Book sent me a message saying ,"Thats why I always take my cell phone with me on my boat"
But he never went further and lost sight of land and didn't know the phones don't work further out.
See , for his usefull need to communicate the phone is sufficient cause he never looses sight of land and a cell phone works just fine.
Point being if you don't have a need during normal conditions, no one ever thinks of the abnormal happening
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Boat U.S rents Epirbs for a very small fee. Just in case anybody needs to rent one for an offshore trip. The price for similar devices are dropping every year. Good news that everyone is safe regardless of any equipment issues.
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Great to hear All are safe.
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I agree 200%
I only posted the Radio information cause someone on Face Book sent me a message saying ,"Thats why I always take my cell phone with me on my boat"
But he never went further and lost sight of land and didn't know the phones don't work further out.
See , for his usefull need to communicate the phone is sufficient cause he never looses sight of land and a cell phone works just fine.
Point being if you don't have a need during normal conditions, no one ever thinks of the abnormal happening
lol Yea I read that about the Cell Phone ;D
Do what I did. No Epirb.. go with 2 boats and have someone come along that has one. Even though it is registered to them. they will still get the signal and when they make the call to the main # they are told yes. he is fishing on a friends boat.
Then Purchase one from Capt. Matt at task marine. best 400$ i ever spent t^
I still have a few more things to get. I'm always thinking "WHAT IF"
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How about that life raft Rod? Put that I your list for Santa...
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if you lose total power out there,80 percent of the time its due to corrosion, not all the batteries dying out. alligator clips and some extra wire will allow you to splice your vhf directly to a battery even if you lose power out there. at least this will give you the extra 15-18 miles of range to contact another vessel in the area.
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How about that life raft Rod? Put that I your list for Santa...
It is on my Winter Buy List t^
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I still have a few more things to get. I'm always thinking "WHAT IF"
Like, "What if Bucktail forgets to bring the Hostess Cupcakes or Tastycakes or..." ;D
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Yea. Like last time. No Cream Filled Treats smk
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By the Grace of God, everyone returned home safe and sound. Were lessons learned? I'm sure they were by all on board, as well as a few of us here on land. Oh, and I read in the paper, they did at least catch a Shark! TT^ <'((((><
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Mariner tells his tale of sea saga
TEXT SIZE By: BEN FINLEY
Bucks County Courier Times
Lower Southampton resident Ed Silcox was rescued from a disabled boat along with five others in the Atlantic Ocean after a fishing trip went horribly wrong.
They rode 8-foot swells on a near-powerless boat.
Water started coming on board, and the only thing keeping the bilge pump going was a tiny, 115-volt generator.
They had a small VHF radio, which they used to try to reach somebody. Anybody.
They shot flares out at two big freighters in the distance. They were ignored.
The reflected tiny mirrors at high-flying air planes. Nothing happened.
"We realized one thing," Lower Southampton's Ed Silcox said late Tuesday night. "This boat can't sink because we got one hell of a swim back."
Minutes after driving home from the New Jersey Shore after being lost in the Atlantic with five fishing buddies, Silcox told a captivating tale as several family members gathered around him.
"I was worried. One of the things that ran through my mind was if this boat sinks, what do we do? That's it. We're dead," Silcox said. "It was a strange feeling. But you just got to push that away to make things work."
And so they kept trying to reach someone with their small radio and the bit of power they had. And they finally did, briefly speaking with a woman from the U.S. Coast Guard before the signal died.
Eventually, they were found, 120 miles east of Atlantic City.
"I was never so glad see anything in my life," Silcox said of the Coast Guard helicopter. "Without the Coast Guard, we'd still be floating out there."
The men's reunions with their families Tuesday were full of laughter and hugs. The other fisherman told similar stories to Silcox's.
Their boat, a 32-foot vessel called the Black Magic, was taking on water and running out of gas to run the pumps.
"I really had thoughts that we wouldn't see them again. We did have life jackets," said one survivor, Bernie Otremsky of Haddon Township, N.J. "But since no one knew where we were ... how long are you going to last like that?"
A chain of good fortune gave them a happy ending.
The Coast Guard station on Martha's Vineyard, Mass., heard bits of a mayday call. A helicopter that was part of the search team found their vessel, and a Coast Guard cutter slowly towed the boat to shore.
Advertisement The reunion at the Coast Guard station in Atlantic City was joyous. The men's relatives snapped pictures of the news photographers who were there to capture the boat's arrival. Otremsky's three grown daughters laughed at how their dad was wearing shorts and reminded him not to forget the coffee pot he'd taken from the family kitchen for the trip.
The six men, connected through family and work, set off Saturday morning for what was to be a 24-hour deep-sea tuna fishing excursion.
Sunday night, Geoffrey McDade, a truck driver from Forked River, N.J., was planning to take his wife out for dinner to celebrate their 28th anniversary.
His son James McDade, the boat's owner, was due back soon at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton, Conn., where he's a first class petty officer.
But around 1 a.m. Sunday, the men realized their boat's battery was dying after an electrical failure.
The group of longtime boaters with mechanical experience tried using a generator to give the batteries enough of a charge to start. They tried rewiring the vessel. Nothing worked.
They soon found themselves with their sandwiches eaten. They started to figure out how to ration the remaining food and water and agreed to do whatever they could to keep the boat afloat.
They slept, prayed and worked on the boat. They tried to use the radio to reach someone, even as they drifted farther from the coast.
The morale had reached a low point by sundown Monday.
Geoffrey McDade said some of the men took photographs of a beautiful sunset, then worried they would never show them to anyone.
Ray Somerville of Woodbridge said he's no longer eager to go so far off shore.
"I've been on the water a lot of my life," he said. "Going out there is a whole different thing to do."
And the six of them, who also included Jerry Lewis of Trenton, didn't catch a single fish.
But as they were being towed back, they threw out a couple lines, Silcox said. They got a couple bites. But, Silcox said, the men couldn't ask the Coast Guard to stop.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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:-\ "WHAT IF?" nosmly
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But as they were being towed back, they threw out a couple lines, Silcox said. They got a couple bites. But, Silcox said, the men couldn't ask the Coast Guard to stop.
Love it! rofla
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did any of the survivors mention their epirb?
none of the reporters did...
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They Didn't have one... nts
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This story should make a lot of people ask the right questions before they hire a charter for offshore fishing.
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Thank God there safe....
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My saying is "you must expect the unexpected" The sea can be flat, blue sky, no storms within 500 miles and the sh*t can hit the fan. No epirb, No live raft,= not smart nts. Thank God they return safe but this is a big lesson to all of us. SAFTY FIRST!
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This story should make a lot of people ask the right questions before they hire a charter for offshore fishing.
t^
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Fortunately everyone is okay,things could have been totally different. Thank God they were found, could have been "6 lost at sea". I hope everyone has learned from this, I know I'm guilty of having gone out unprepared in the past and gotten away with it. nts Makes you stop and think doesn't it.