Bertram 630 Sportfish Sinks?

This was posted on the US Coast Guard web site from Nov 6:

Although not specified in this story, several other forum websites have said it's a 63 Bertram from Long Island on delivery to Palm Beach, FL. This is unconfirmed and not substantiated yet by the authorities.

Hit something meaning grounded, or 'something' as in a sea container or the likes.

Will be interesting to understand the full report once complete / released.

Ok, who has a chart near by? What does it look like approx 20 mi east of Myrtle Beach?
As I recall, that would put them north on Wyniah (sp?) Bay/inlet. 20 miles out east should have them in good water. I've had to run for Wyniah Bay Inlet in rough weather & remember there isn't anything to worry about farther out than the main channel markers which only run out about three miles. I would venture to guess that a new 63' Bertram's insurance Co will have it hauled up to the top. Get your spy cameras ready.

20 miles out would have them right enroute between frying pan shoal and Port Royal Sound. Word is they hit something. No real mystery. Just part of the job. BTW, this captain and his father have been running boats for the Bertram Dealer here for as long as I can remember.
On a related note, a 44' commercial fishing boat went down yesterday off Cape May with 3 souls.

That's grim, sorry to hear that. It must have been ugly up that way.

I was in Norfolk and left mid day, it had been getting worse and worse since Wednesday afternoon. There was a helicopter carrier across the river from where I was that had two tugs holding it against the dock when I looked out in the morning. Even the river had whitecaps. I don't want to think about what it was like outside in a small boat.

Anybody have any idea of what type seas they were in?
Cruising along with some mild chop or digging in and out of the trough taking a beating all the while?

PropBet,

Not sure of the sea state, but since it happened on Nov 6 it was well before Ida had an impact on the area. According to another site, the yacht was white hulled and came from a dealer on Long Island. Lindenhurst doesn't see too many yachts of this size and make, so it wasn't hard to find it on Yachtworld. This is the presumed yacht in question. Don't know when the photo was taken.

Regardless of the boat, very glad to see these two men were saved from this situation and the fishing vessel Pacifics made the efforts to pick them up. As we know too well, these events many times have differnt outcomes. Just look at Sea Tractor, a 44-foot fishing boat that went down Wednesday 20 miles off Cape May with the loss of three men. God rest their souls.


Photo courtesy of Yachtworld.

The Bertram wou;d have been out of Surfside 3/Marine Max, Lindenhurst. No outragous seas that I've heard. Not so the case with Sea Tractor

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Detailed Wave Summary
for 44066 as of (5:00 pm EST)
2200 GMT on 11/13/2009:
These wave data are displayed in rounded times.


Significant Wave Height (WVHT): 24.3 ft
Swell Height (SwH): 16.7 ft
Swell Period (SwP): 12.9 sec
Wind Wave Height (WWH): 17.4 ft
Wind Wave Period (WWP): 9.1 sec
Wave Steepness (STEEPNESS): AVERAGE
Average Wave Period (APD): 8.4 sec
Previous observations
MM DD TIME
(EST) WVHT
ft SwHft SwPsec SwD WWHft WWPsec WWD STEEPNESS APD sec
11 13 4:00 pm 26.2 18.7 12.1 N/A 18.4 7.7 N/A STEEP 8.7
11 13 3:00 pm 28.5 22.3 12.9 N/A 18.0 10.0 N/A AVERAGE 9.2
11 13 2:00 pm 23.6 17.7 12.9 N/A 15.7 9.1 N/A AVERAGE 8.5
11 13 1:00 pm 24.6 21.0 12.9 N/A 12.8 6.2 N/A AVERAGE 8.5
11 13 12:00 pm 22.0 16.1 12.1 N/A 15.4 9.1 N/A AVERAGE 8.0
11 13 11:00 am 19.7 12.5 10.8 N/A 15.1 9.1 N/A STEEP 7.8
11 13 10:00 am 22.6 16.7 12.9 N/A 15.4 9.1 N/A AVERAGE 8.3
11 13 9:00 am 25.3 21.0 12.9 N/A 14.4 8.3 N/A AVERAGE 8.6
11 13 8:00 am 23.9 16.1 12.1 N/A 17.7 7.7 N/A AVERAGE 8.5
11 13 7:00 am 23.3 16.1 12.9 N/A 17.1 10.0 N/A AVERAGE 8.5
11 13 6:00 am 22.6 15.1 12.1 N/A 16.7 7.1 N/A AVERAGE 8.2
11 13 5:00 am 25.3 17.7 12.9 N/A 17.7 7.1 N/A AVERAGE 8.6
11 13 4:00 am 26.2 17.1 12.9 N/A 20.0 10.8 N/A AVERAGE 8.7
11 13 3:00 am 25.3 15.4 12.1 N/A 20.3 8.3 N/A STEEP 8.5
11 13 2:00 am 25.6 19.0 12.1 N/A 17.1 6.7 N/A STEEP 8.6
11 13 1:00 am 22.0 16.4 12.1 N/A 14.8 9.1 N/A AVERAGE 8.1
11 13 12:00 am 22.0 13.5 10.8 N/A 17.1 9.1 N/A STEEP 8.0
11 12 11:00 pm 25.3 16.7 12.1 N/A 18.7 10.0 N/A STEEP 8.6
11 12 10:00 pm 23.3 13.5 12.1 N/A 19.0 10.8 N/A AVERAGE 8.2
11 12 9:00 pm 22.0 17.1 10.8 N/A 14.1 8.3 N/A STEEP 8.1
11 12 8:00 pm 22.6 17.1 10.8 N/A 15.1 5.3 N/A STEEP 8.1
11 12 7:00 pm 22.6 16.1 10.0 N/A 15.7 6.2 N/A STEEP 7.9
11 12 6:00 pm 21.3 12.5 11.4 N/A 17.1 7.1 N/A STEEP 7.8
11 12 5:00 pm 24.3 13.1 12.1 N/A 20.3 10.8 N/A STEEP 8.2

Plot of wave energy versus frequency (and period)

Will be interesting to see how this sinking turns out.
Saw on another site that there was a classified notice in the Sun News in Myrtle Beach under legal notices:

Classifieds
Legals : Legal Notices
NOTICE TO SALVORS Owners...
Date Listed: November 13
Newspaper ID #1194127
NOTICE TO SALVORS Owners of the P/Y ABSOLUTELY, 63' Bertram Sport Fisher sunk November 6, 2009 in Atlantic Ocean off Myrtle Beach, hereby give notice that all pure salvage assistance is declined. The sinking of the vessel is under investigation and any interference with the wreck or with the ongoing investigation will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Those with knowledge about the vessel or the sinking or wishing to offer contract salvage assistance should contact attorneys for owners,

(I removed the phone number and e-mail)

Perhaps some of you maritime law experts can shed light on the question of is this enough (this posting in a local paper) to ward of salvors? The notice does sound serious and hints that the owner's party may want to preserve the vessel for later litigation. Thoughts?

I'd suppose that the insurance company would also have a vested interest in determining the cause of the sinking. This could get very interesting.

I wish a maritime attorney would chime in on this. "Pure salvage" describes what someone with a boat and diving gear might do on the weekend. The boat is abandoned and if someone raises it, it is the court's decision how much the salvor receives.

It seems to me that unless the owner or the insurance company has a diver in residence on the wreck they will be hard pressed to claim the boat is not abandoned.

It sounds like some attorney blowing smoke to try and keep the weekenders away.

A standard and generic statement, prior to an official course of action.

I'm not a lawyer, but if the boat is abandoned and is resting on the bottom no consent from anyone is required for a voluntary salvor to retrieve it.

The "official course of action" in this case sounds like the attorney and the owner trying to keep the whole thing under their control rather than let the courts and insurance company get it. If it was even insured ...

If I were a weekend salvor I wouldn't let that silly threat stop me. I wonder what the owner paid to have that published, and why?

The key word is “abandoned”.
I don’t believe the boat has been abandoned by anyone, it just takes time to sort out the legal mechanics of salvage.

Sorry, the last person to leave the boat "abandoned" it. Hence the old term "abandon ship."

It is sitting on the bottom. Unless there is a diver clinging to the wreck that boat is abandoned. that doesn't mean the insurance company or owner doesn't have a claim but it means that the sunken wreck is abandoned and any weekend salvor has the legal right to raise it and submit the salvage to the court to determine his award.

I suspect that the boat may not be insured or coverage may be denied for some reason and the lawyer is trying to scare off voluntary salvors long enough for the owner to attempt to raise it. There is more to this than meets the eye, methinks.

Marmot pretty much addressed the top level idea here as to why the notice was posted, and the legal end of it. While I'm not an attorney, I am a diver who has 100's and 100's of hours under water, and a few hundred more doing salvage work.

At a 30,000 foot view, any boat in the ocean, sitting on the bottom can be (in essence) claimed, as of it being abandoned. Or someone can lay claim to it for salvage / recovery purposes. First come first serve. So if I lay claim to a boat, file the paperwork in the courts, it's mine until otherwise noted. This opens a whole new world and legal book of antiquities, and so on but that's for another discussion and not applicable to this particular boat.

In short, the way I read it, is the notice basically says: "back off salvors / divers / treasure hunters / weekender go getters with mask/fins/snorkel, the boats off limits, and we have legal claim to it"

Why they file it is probably for the above reason, as well [and more importantly] to protect the vessel for (surely upcoming) legal litigation as to why it's sitting on the bottom.

My USD$0.02, take it for what it's worth.