Coues&Bass Report post Posted July 11, 2011 San Felipe News The search for the missing fishermen from the Eric shipwreck continues, however optimism for a successful conclusion is officially dimmed. A crew of specialist U.S. divers will arrive from Hawaii tomorrow to do a thorough survey of the sunken vessel which is believed to be lying in 70-100 meters of water - too deep for local rescue services to do extensive exploration. I have seen the boat in the harbor in San Felipe. I know it was an old run down boat from talking with other Fisherman that had made trips on the Eric. Pray they still find some more survivors. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coues&Bass Report post Posted July 18, 2011 San Felipe, News The full magnitude of the sinking of the sport fishing boat Erik, and the presumed loss of life of seven U.S. anglers, is now becoming evident to the San Felipe community. Everyone I meet on the street is devastated by the accident and also concerned as to what this will mean for the future of the port as a sport fishing mecca. Now that the search for survivors has been called off by both the Mexican and U.S. governments, the one thing left to do to solve the question of what happened to the missing fishermen is to locate the wreck. There appears to be no sign of the Erik at the position last identified by the survivors, so the likelihood is that the strong currents to the south that followed the sinking in the early morning hours of Sunday 3rd. July have shifted it a significant distance and possibly caused it to fall into one of the undersea canyons. This is going to take some detailed surveys to determine where it is lying. Oceanographic exploration boats, such as those at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, have gear such as side-scan sonar that gets towed in a pod behind the survey vessel to make a detailed contour map of the sea bottom. However, getting such a survey vessel to come to the Gulf on short notice is a major undertaking. In the meantime, there are many unanswered questions about the licensing and insurance, if any, carried by the boat operators; on whether there was safety gear for every person aboard and whether the required training session and safety drill was held before sailing. Some of the survivors reports indicate that there was a deficiency in this area. The fact that survivors were in the water for some 16 hours before any alarm was raised also makes one wonder if any distress call was received from the Erik before it sank. Down at the San Felipe harbor there is tension in the air. Inspections are apparently being made of every boat going out and I think that we can assume that all the rules, regulations and paperwork will be rigidly enforced from now on. If this boating disaster had occurred to a US vessel, it would result in multi-million dollar liability claims and wrongful death suits being filed, together with years of legal action against every official involved in inspection and sign-off on the permission to sail. How this will be handled in Mexico is now the question on everyone's mind. The outcome could well affect vessel design, modification and certification and may change the whole character of the "mothership plus panga" business model of sport fishing here. There will also clearly be an immediate impact for the many anglers who have booked trips on the Erik for this summer. Will they get a refund of their money or be offered berths on other boats for the same dates? Will fishermen (or more likely their families) be so confident of an uneventful trip in the northern Gulf in the future? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Elkaddict Report post Posted July 18, 2011 Thanks for the update, I haven't heard anything since the news channels quit carrying the story. I have a friend that had been on that boat a few times and he has a few hair raising tales about his "LAST" trip a couple of years ago. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
