Breaking News: New 74' Spencer sportfish sinks...

I posted that link because it had more and better pictures of the situation.

Ouch, those pictures are tough to look at. It really shows the extent of the damage

yes, I agree, very tough to look at, but I keep gong back to look.

The pictures tell a story.


I glad than nobody got hurt.

Yes, nobody getting hurt is the most important story.

From what I read elsewhere they took a short cut between pineros and the mainland which is an unmarked (on charts) narrow passage between reefs.

Here is a chart of the area If true, this is a real puzzler, as there is plenty of water on the east side of the small island. I guess they wee doing a Costa Concordia scenic pass.

based on the above chart pic alone.

I'm pretty certain I would not intentionally run large boat at speed through that narrow unmarked area.

I bet that boat draws 6'

Maybe in a small skiff, but not anything bigger.

That's the other issue with electronic charts. There are no waypoints and magenta track lines (approved course lines) showing which is the real inlet or pass already on the chart. So if you don't know which is the real inlet and which is not and if you're running at speed, well you're just guessing sometimes. At least on a paper chart, most all inlets/passes have a waypoint on the chart, course lines going from there to other ports and you pretty much know, this is the inlet to take. The chartplotter never offers those luxuries.

They can and sometimes do. Probably not what he had though. A lot of ICW cruisers get into trouble because they follow the magenta line. It's not meant to be followed in that way.

I heard that the Spencer had triple IPS 3's. I don't know if anybody can confirm that. If so I can't tell from pics if they sheared off as designed and did not contribute to the sinking.

Well isnt it the captain's job to pick a route based on the requirements of his boat? The only way to make sure a route is safe, it to study the chart, check the depth along the route, note the dangers and when it comes to inlets, cuts and passes do some research on conditions, shifting channels and markers

There are many areas where you don't really want to be in main channel which is what charts will show. The upper Chesapeake or NY harbor come to mind. Large ship channels too. So again it s out jobs to select the best route and they are no oen size fit all

Nowadays I find that most eCharts system whether hardware based or tablet/PC based offer more information routes and WP than basic charts (not talking chart books or guides)

Pretty sure i see struts and shafts in the above picture as well as rudders (or what's left of them...) that was not an IPS boat

Would the damage to the hull have been as severe if it was a fiberglass hull instead of wood?

Hard to tell Bamboo, at those speeds rocks/reefs are not gentle on any material. Had to zoom in on Carl's pics to be sure but she looks like the Divinycell cored bottom, Paul switched to that a while ago. We both buy from the same supplier and when he orders a full hull's worth it sometimes wipes out their inventory!

It depends. I think that fiberglass would have equally destructive results in that situation. I think the cold molded hull would actually give better and not transmit as much of the impact to other areas of the boat. On a fiberglass boat with impact like that, you'll generally also see a lot of bulkheads broken loose. These are just my thoughts.