Rescue off Coral Bay
Yesterday we found ourselves about 15 nm off the coast at Coral Bay.
'we suddenly lost all power on the boat. No radio, GPS, SOUNDER & unable to start the motor. we were out of phone range.
'The batteries were both brand new & topped up before our trip up. We'd been out twice since our arrival without any problems.
'we checked all we new how to on the boat & were unable to establish a cause.
'With no apparent option I activated the emergency beacon.
'the response was everything you could hope for.
'Given the remoteness of our location just added to the thanks we feel for our emergency services.
'The boat will now visit a specialist to identify and rectify whatever the problem is before we venture out again.
'I just felt it necessary to write a brief report & express my sincere thanks to our emergency services.
Jsmolly
Posts: 179
Date Joined: 10/04/12
great outcome! good to
great outcome! good to hear.
no doubt it was Bernie that got to you
great bloke, drops everything to help out and that costs him money!
Cruise Control
Posts: 973
Date Joined: 03/11/10
Good to hear. All too often
Good to hear. All too often these experiences don't end as well.
sunshine
Posts: 2562
Date Joined: 03/03/09
Brilliant, Marine Rescue just needs more volunteers
At least we are being resourced much better thanks to DFES. Great outcome and reinforces just how important EPIRBs are
crano
Posts: 696
Date Joined: 04/11/09
Nice
Good outcome. See you soon.
Faulkner Family
Posts: 17899
Date Joined: 11/03/08
Not good at all. Thankfully
Not good at all. Thankfully you did get back safe and the boat in 1 piece. Hope you get the tub sorted
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
Brock O
Posts: 3180
Date Joined: 11/01/08
Great reminder to check all
Great reminder to check all our safety gear is up to date and were it should be..
davewillo
Posts: 2288
Date Joined: 08/09/16
It's great that this had a
It's great that this had a good outcome. I must admit I'd be pretty stressed to lose all power well offshore. Definbitely makes you appreciate the emergency services and a good EPIRB!
PGFC member and lure tragic
Lefty 44
Posts: 149
Date Joined: 04/12/17
Curiosity
Just out of curiosity, who came and got you?
Was it one of the charter boats or was there marine rescue in the area?
sealure
Posts: 113
Date Joined: 19/05/12
It was Jake ( Ranger) &
It was Jake ( Ranger) & volunteer sea rescue man also named Jake who came out in the Coral Bay sea rescue vessel.
'As Jake ( Ranger) said "we need more volunteers ".
The two Jake's were incredibly helpful & my wife & I cannot help but praise them for their service.
sealure
Posts: 113
Date Joined: 19/05/12
I should also mention that
I should also mention that the charter boat Thunder responded to the emergency & was more than willing to tow us in had it been necessary. They established that we had water & food & no injury. They were then contacted by radio to confirm that the sea rescue were on their way. They very kindly offered to stay until help arrived.
I have been very remiss in not acknowledging their help & consideration.
Lefty 44
Posts: 149
Date Joined: 04/12/17
Cheers for the info.It would
Cheers for the info.
It would be hard to get people volunteer as not many perminant residence there.
Those that are are working most days. With all the boats going there it would make sense to have a DOT boat there perminantly.
Maybe with the town getting a hospital and police station (or so I have been told) that may change.
scubafish
Posts: 952
Date Joined: 15/08/12
Helpfull tip
Would like to be kept up with what the problem was in the end.
Tip for all boats is to carry a length of two strand wire (red/black) with a built in fuze & alligator clips on each end so you can bypass all other elec things on your boat in the case of Emergency.Connect direct Batt to radio/DSC/sounder/usb port for Phone charging ect.
P.s ,multimeter essential.
http://img.gg/BQ91Sys
sealure
Posts: 113
Date Joined: 19/05/12
Please note that I speak
Please note that I speak from a knowledge base of zero.
'The Yamaha motor is serviced regularly. The batteries were replaced before leaving Perth & had been topped up
The VST fuel filters had been replaced in February last year.
'We now know that on the day in question the fuel pump suddenly & without any warning ceased to function. This solved the motor issue.
The loss of electrical power remains unsolved at this time. Perhaps there's a major fault in the battery distribution control system.
'We know that the house battery was flat when checked on return. The start battery was also low possibly due to attempts to get the motor started before resorting to the EPIRB.
'The bad news is there are no fuel pumps available in Australia apparently. A minimum of 8-10 weeks from Japan.
Until the fuel pump is sorted we are unable to establish what the power problem is likely to be.
'We've shortened our stay at Coral Bay & hope to eventually get a new fuel pump.
Meantime we've learned a great deal about fuel pumps, VSTs & filters in the VSTs. We've also learned that Yamaha fuel pumps can fail suddenly & without any warning.
I really appreciate your suggestion above but I'm not sure I could do it with the ease you suggest.
sunshine
Posts: 2562
Date Joined: 03/03/09
I hope it's not your ECU
Symptoms appear similar, total loss of electrical power to the motor. My radio / sounder / gps on separate electrical buss so they remained operational. Final cost of repair $7,000 as new ECU incompatible with gauges so they had to be replaced. Very interested in final diagnosis
sealure
Posts: 113
Date Joined: 19/05/12
Will do my best to update
Will do my best to update when fuel pump is finally replaced.
Swompa
Posts: 3809
Date Joined: 14/10/12
You will be an expert by the
You will be an expert by the end of it!
sealure
Posts: 113
Date Joined: 19/05/12
This may be of interest to
This may be of interest to those following this thread.
'Yamaha dealers in Perth do not stock fuel pumps apparently because in their experience they rarely fail. This is contrary to a number of sites on the internet. Only when a problem arises do they order one in. No doubt the quoted cost of $1500 dollars per pump (there are 2) without necessary extras & labour might play an important role.
My owner's manual clearly states that fuel pumps should be inspected/replaced at 300 hours or 3 years.
So far the only reasonable way I've found to asses a pumps function is to connect it directly to a battery & compare it's sound with that of a brand new pump. I cannot imagine this being done during a service especially when no new pumps are available for comparison.
Sadly it seems that it's both quicker and cheaper to order new pumps from USA via the internet.
Obviously I still have a great deal to learn.
Curndog
Posts: 446
Date Joined: 21/11/16
Logging on
What channel do people use to log on / off in coral bay and who monitors it? When logging on what information do you need to give? I'm heading up there in few weeks and this story has made me think I should probably be a bit more cautious about safety as i plan on going quite deep. Will definatley check over all my gear.
sorry dumb question but I did skippers ticket many moons ago and have never logged on before, bit silly I know. I think there are probably a lot of us who should take it more seriously lol
sea-kem
Posts: 14890
Date Joined: 30/11/09
Check this mate, not sure
Check this mate, not sure when it was printed but has most the info you need. I usually chat to ther crews before heading out up here to see what frequency they monitor on VHF.
Love the West!
Curndog
Posts: 446
Date Joined: 21/11/16
Link attached?
Hey Sea-Kem,
is there meant to be a link attached?
cheers
sea-kem
Posts: 14890
Date Joined: 30/11/09
Sorry mate yeah, Spicey has
Sorry mate yeah, Spicey has pasted below.
Love the West!
Spicey
Posts: 217
Date Joined: 17/01/11
Coral Bay Radio
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.transport.wa.gov.au/mediaFiles/marine/MAC_FS_Coral_Bay_Maritime_Facility.pdf
Hey mate copy and paste this link it will get you info on Coral Bay Marine Radio Frequencies. Think these stations are monitored out of Exmouth and local 72 or 73. Can check in with the charter office next to the IGA and bakery as they used to have a log in system. Not sure if they still do but could point you in the right direction I'm sure.
Curndog
Posts: 446
Date Joined: 21/11/16
Thanks!
Thanks guys, appreciate your help
Rowanhill
Posts: 68
Date Joined: 28/01/14
Sealure- we where actually
Sealure- we where actually at the ramp when ur freinds and sea rescure where putting their boats in..so we did the quick ferry for them from parking to ramp etc..such little help but at that point i was hopefully 3 minutes saved could have been critical...as a boaty..i must admit i had an empty feeling in my gut watching these guys drop everything to help u..ur friend and wife[ sorry didnt catch their name] particullay had a pale look on their faces as they where not in the know u where safe at that stage..after they where half way down the passage we saw Bernie and he mentioned u had been spotted and were safe...my empty feeling disappeared so quickly....funny how even a stranger in trouble... as a fellow boater i felt it was one of my mates....the relief i felt and strangley knowing that if it had been me, im sure my mates would do the same
so glad u got home safe in the end...this is all that matters...
sealure
Posts: 113
Date Joined: 19/05/12
My friends mentioned your
My friends mentioned your help & truly appreciated it. They were very anxious for our safety at the time. Please let me thank you on their behalf. They are back in Perth.
'Many thanks for your kind words.
The response of everyone who knew of our troubles certainly helps restore one's faith in human nature.
'Our very sincere thanks to you all.