Been running thru Packery Channel for about a year now, on select calm days. Today was calling for .7 ft swells @ 3 seconds. It had been a while since we went out so my 6 yr old son and I geared up and headed for the rigs to hook up with some winter snapper. Well as I got closer to the mouth of packery, something didn’t seem right. Tide was ripping out and saw some larger waves roll and then kind of die off. Well I sized them up for a moment as it looked ok outside of the wave break. And right when I realized it was too rough, a big wave came and we went over it, slightly air born. Next wave was coming and was much bigger, breaking sharp from the fast outgoing tide. I had no choice but to take it head on as turning my 19ft vessel sideways would mean a certain disastrous flip. We went over with nose in the air and took on a lot of water, and hit the backside with a lot of force from the free fall. Now slightly panicking at this point I knew we were in danger and needed to keep moving forward. Once outside of the breakers at the mouth of the jetties I assessed the situation in calmer waters. My son was very afraid, my boat had taken a pounding and we were now kind of stuck. I knew fishing was now out of the question but I was not prepared to turn around and face the following seas of packery channel on the way in. I needed a plan. I was prepared to wait a few hours for the tide to slow down and try to get behind a wave and stay with it, but my son was fearful for his life and he wouldn’t even consider it. I called sea tow and they eventually sent their 23’ Dargel Kat out to assist us. They came thru packery and met us out there about 3/4 mile out, loaded my son in their boat, and one of them boarded mine. The plan was to follow them in and the captain would help me with my boat. We ended up coming in pretty smoothly just between sets of big rollers and rode it in perfect. They normally don’t do those kind of rescues as they leave it to coast Gaurd but we were just blessed to have their help this time. Was very thankful for the help from Sea Tow and also felt very ashamed of my decision to even think about going out there. Had communication with Coast Gaurd as well, and kept them updated on our status. Also has satellite phone handy but that wasn’t going to save us this trip. Ive had nothing but good luck going in and out of packery so far on calm days, and thought this time would be no different. I shutter to think what could have happened if my boat flipped in the channel near all those rocks in that turbulent water with my son on board. For those of you that have been thru some stuff, what advice would you give someone on getting through situations like that safely? Never again will I trust a weather report, or make such a stupid decision with so much on the line.
SKIPJACKSLAYER
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