Bertram 630 Sportfish Sinks?

I sea trialed that exact boat prior to my owner purchasing a new one. It was a very nice boat and fast! I’m sad to see this happen. I heard it was being brought south to be put on a ship and shipped to South Africa where the new owner was from. I also was told that the boat wall full of new personal items that are not available over there (for fishing) that was purchased here. Has anyone dived on it yet to see the damage and/or recover the owner’s belongings?

Surf, thanks for joining the conversation. My thoughts are that even if the shaft snapped, the prop would have to sheer the rudder off in order to get the shaft out of the stuffing box. Or it snapped at the prop and whipped around and blew out the stuffing box. But I do tend to lean more to a catastrophic holing like you mentioned where there was immediate and significant flooding where you can't even get the vessel to an inlet much less a beach.
Can't wait to see what they find.

JBK - Not sure if anything will be salvagable. a few weeks in the salty ocean and I'll guess all is lost unless made of plastic.

So who has Google Earth Pro? Think yoou could spot a 63' boat under 80 or so feet of water on a sunny day?

How fresh do you think those Google Earth Images really are?

The problems start when things are removed from the salt water and the air hits it. Items like rods, reels, terminal tackle, etc should be okay if attended to ASAP. Even the engines (MTU 2000) I would think would have a great deal of value if again taken care of as soon at they were recovered. Lets not forget cash. It’s still good wet or dry!

We are making the trip south early next week. Most time we shoot the crack in the frying pan (same as he did). I think it’s a no go this time.

I still am not convinced he bumped (or BANGED) on Fryin Pan Shoals. USCG said he sunk 20 mi east of Myrtle Beach. That would put him somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 miles SW of the shoals. Perhaps he bumped earlier & was limping in? I doubt he would have continued on his path unless he thought for some reason the damage wasn't bad & he could make it to Charleston.

I agree with you. But I am certain he shot the crack and “hit” on the other side. If something is there, I want to stay away from it. That’s all

It's a great discussion with lots of theories flying around, which is fine for a banter session, however it may be wise for us all to best understand (from the captain / people aboard) exactly what happened and precisely where it happened prior to drawing conclusions on what, where, why, and so on.

If you hear of a car wreck / pile up on an interstate (happens every day), does one immediately change their planned route based on hearing of a wreck the week prior? Of course not.

I shoot through the crack every time going Charlston-Beaufort NC. It's not close to a straight line. Even on a 30kt boat it saves about an hour, and depending on the wind conditions running that line can provide you with significantly reduced sea conditions.

The report is that he came out of Wrightsville. If he came out Masonboro, taking the cut would make sense. However, the course from the cut to Pt. Royal Sound would put him a little over 8 miles further out to sea than where he reportedly sank. If he went inside to Cape Fear and came out there it would put him in the right position. That seems to make more sense.

That would be it, the R1/G2 just west of the "SA"; about 7 miles in from the 2FP. These buoys can be a bit hard to find in rough water and there is a 4' shoal 2 miles to the west of them. The biggest threat in taking that cut though is that the seas build up there so it's rarely used unless you're going into Cape Fear. Again though, that courseline doesn't put them into the supposed location of the sinking.

It saves time, fuel and miles. Makes a long haul shorter at my cruise speed of 22 knots. I do not go around the tower anymore if seas are under 8 feet. Not sure why anyone would NOT take the short cut if they have the experience do to so.

I don't plan to do the math, but I think you'll find that on a run from Beaufort to Hilton the difference would be less than 8 miles which is one reason I seldom bother with the cut. That plus, when seas are kicking a bit, they build up on the shoal and gets a bit confused through that area. Also, although it's marked. I wouldn't call it well marked and the buoys can be a bit hard to spot in a rough sea.

Is it possible for someone to post a chart of the area? I'm sure there are a lot of us following this that are not familiar with the area you gentlemen are referring to.