Life raft adrift at sea
Submitted: Saturday, Feb 03, 2007 at 11:04
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Member - Poppy (QLD)
Off topic I suppose but we stayed at
Lucinda N.Q last weekend and fished the reef for 3 days (great)
On Sat morning on our way to secret spot we found a 6 person inflatable life raft adrift, as there had been some bad storms overnight we decided to take a closer look ( a little
spooky ,I might add)
The raft had the flaps on the tent part tied back which indicated to us that someone had been inside at some stage and also had about 3 inches of water inside and gas cylinder used to inflate it.
We called the coast guard but due to storms in the area reception was not good, so used sat phone and were eventually contacted by Townsville Water
Police who asked us to stay with the raft while they checked out serial number and until coast guard arrived,
well after 2 hours and no coast guard we drifted 2
miles and electrical storms approaching we rang water
police and hightailed it out of there.
Contacting coast guard today to see what the result was and will keep you posted, but nothing on the news about missing persons at sea
Cheers Ray
Reply By: ZukScooterX90 (QLD)Member - Saturday, Feb 03, 2007 at 12:21
Saturday, Feb 03, 2007 at 12:21
G/day there Poppy,wife & i had same sort of dilemma in
Devonport in the new year recently minus the life raft.We were driving slowly around the fringe of a beach & the wife says stop i think there is a body floating on top of the water.So we stopped & having a good 'bo peep' at the said body,i did not think it was,but she was persistent,i thought if you had a body that drowned it would be floating face down not up which what 'our body' was.By this time we were starting to get the hair standing up & skin going goose bump the said body half sat up to our relief as we were about to get out of the motor
home to go into the water for a
closer investigation.
Cheer's Bob.:))))
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Reply By: Kiwi Kia - Saturday, Feb 03, 2007 at 12:26
Saturday, Feb 03, 2007 at 12:26
Can you claim salvage ? That raft may be worth big $$$ :-))
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Follow Up By: fisho64 - Saturday, Feb 03, 2007 at 13:07
Saturday, Feb 03, 2007 at 13:07
yep, theres nothing more satisfying than cashing in on someone elses misfortune!
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Follow Up By: Mike Harding - Saturday, Feb 03, 2007 at 14:23
Saturday, Feb 03, 2007 at 14:23
A bit harsh, I think - fisho64.
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Follow Up By: fisho64 - Sunday, Feb 04, 2007 at 00:54
Sunday, Feb 04, 2007 at 00:54
Im sure Kiwi has taken it in the same vein that his comment implied :-))
But there is a serious side also.
I have worked at sea most of my life. And there has been plenty of cases over the years of rafts, EPIRBS, liferings etc being souvineered and disposed of, destroying vital info into what has happened. A classic case was the "Patenella", a schooner sailing WA to Qland that disappeared without a trace off
sydney, under supicious circumstances. The ONLY piece of
debris recovered was a lifering that turned up in a
boaties shed several years later.
Very few seafarers would consider doing that, and having to explain to the family of a dead mariner why they have to pay to get it back. You would likely be not very highly thought of by you fellow seafarers!
Anyway a 6 man liferaft is worth a few grand, complete with the casing etc. But without is probably worth very little.
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Reply By: Sam from Weipa Auto Electrics - Saturday, Feb 03, 2007 at 14:23
Saturday, Feb 03, 2007 at 14:23
Hey poppy I watched that truck burn thats in you're avitar You must have been doing a trip to the cape around that time hey?
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Follow Up By: Member - Poppy (QLD) - Saturday, Feb 03, 2007 at 19:25
Saturday, Feb 03, 2007 at 19:25
Yes Sam, we go to
Mapoon every year(great fishing) and sometimes twice a year. Having just said that, last year was the first year for about 8 that we never got there, went to the
Kimberley instead
Cheers Ray
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480045
Reply By: Niffty - Saturday, Feb 03, 2007 at 14:54
Saturday, Feb 03, 2007 at 14:54
Hi
I lived in the Torres Straits for 4 years, The amount of stuff we saw drifting past was surprising.Inflated diving gear, fully workable dingys ,dug out canoes and packages of suspected drugs!Don't be surprised what some people can afford to lose.Lots of people get lost up that way either intentional or not.
Best report it like you did and forget it.
Niffty \
Perth
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