The Back Story To Yesterdays Viral Break Down.

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Dad? is this a boat show? Cause this one is no fun. NO FUN ..DAD!

It was all over facebook and emails flying around. “Boaters rescued from choppy Lake Huron waters after vintage Chris-Craft becomes disabled” When breaking down in a classic boat is news other than here on WoodyBoater is a good sign that the world is getting back to a normal routine of old boats doing the thing they do. A better more dramatic headline should have been. Tow Boat Sinks Trying To save classic boaters.

We have all been there

So, whats the back story on the over dramatized news? Sorry, it’s equally boring, but does illustrate how quickly simple things can escalate. The good news is the captain knew what to do. Didn’t panic, just did what needed to be done.

A three hour cruise. Gilligan and Mary Ann?

Here is the sequence of events as reported by the owner and Mark Edmonson from
Diamond Boat Works and the Moore’s

WOW, what a beauty! I love these models

Sitting here at the boat shop with NE winds, 4-5’ waves and wind chill at 37 degrees, ugh!
One our good customers, Brad Moore of Sand point, MI. Had us restore a show winning 1946 white sided U22 a year ago. And enjoys using it on Lake Huron.

And Ginger and lets just say the dogs name is Lovy!

While an experienced yachtsman he and his three children want to get out of quarantine and enjoy a calm ride on the lake. Once out they had problems with a loose throttle lever and stopped to check it out. When he went to start up his battery was dead. NOT COVID RELATED.. BTW.

This is a beautiful early U 22 thats very very well taken care of

Realizing he grab the wrong battery. He was dead in the water. He contacted me for help. I notified Tow Boat US I informed him to drop anchor. and wait for the tow boat. His next text (three hours later) the tow boat sank!

Thats not good!

A second tow boat was summoned. Mean while the neighbors on shore took notice and called the sheriff department and they also launched a boat to assist. In the end it was over 5 hours to return back to his dock only a mile from the breakdown. Brad said “he is very grateful to all the home owner, sheriff department and the tow company for fetching him off the lake”.

We all know that look.. The “Dad. I WILL NEVER LET YOU FORGET THIS!”

So needless to say, a great adventure with the kids, who of course will NEVER let Dad forget this. And a new family story is gonna be told for generations. And in the end, that’s what our little community is all about. Family memories, togetherness through sunny calm days and windy rough ones. Congrats to the Moore crew and how some smart thinking, and good seamanship saved the day.

A perfect name, Calm captains are good captains

To quote Mark again “Brad being a excellent boater never was worried. The old Chris rode the big waves fine.”

The family is back, safe, warm and somewhere on that wall is going to be a framed version of the news story. Click HERE!

15 replies
  1. Troy in ANE
    Troy in ANE says:

    Glad to know that everyone is safe.

    Will need to read further to find out more about the sinking tow boat.

  2. Greg Lewandowski
    Greg Lewandowski says:

    Bravo to Mark and all the others involved for making this a happy ending. Once again proves why you don’t go out on big water without a good anchor with 100ft anchor line!

  3. Matt
    Matt says:

    Reading between the lines. I suspect this happened close to shore and bulk heads. So anchoring was a smart move. The Tow boat got swamped by a wave, and then drifted into the bulk heads. I think. BETWEEN THE LINES HERE. So smart seamanship on the moors part and a lot of patience saved the day.

  4. Phil Little
    Phil Little says:

    Couple this TowBoatUS story to the one posted recently about the TowBoatUS operator who fell overboard. His boat ran circles, eventually crashing through a dock and into a seawall. Who rescues whom?

  5. Mark in Ohio (sometimes da U P )
    Mark in Ohio (sometimes da U P ) says:

    You can fix them up, and make them pretty. But they are still old boats. Sh!t happens. Im glad everyone is safe.

  6. Brad Moore
    Brad Moore says:

    Just to be fair, the Tow Company acted out of extreme professionalism, their smaller boat was nearby in Caseville, on a trailer, they got to me as fast as they could, things just changed really quick;y on Lake Huron, as they can. When the owner was made aware of problems he dropped everything, grabbed his Larger Boat near Caro (25 miles away) had headed out! I am so grateful for Jimmy and his dedication to boaters in our region, along with the support of the Huron County Sheriff’s Department. I am still amazed how well the U-22 handled such HUGE water, but you probably will NOT catch me out there before Memorial Day next year!

  7. Matt
    Matt says:

    Thats a great point Brad. The Tow Boat guys are mission driven and always reliable. We here in Reedville have our own group called Smith Point Sea Rescue, all volunteer, and its not easy. You are out there in many cases in bad conditions trying to help someone in a bad condition. HUGE shout out to the towing company.

    • Mark Edmonson
      Mark Edmonson says:

      So true Matt. I Have had to use them and Coast Guard on a few occasions. They are dedicated to their jobs.

  8. Briant
    Briant says:

    Wait. Messing with a dodgy throttle lever and then a dead battery. Is this not the same thing that happened to Matt a few days ago with Stink Pot getting gas?

    (Granted, he was not in the situation of needing a tow boat.)

    What the heck is it with CC boats, loose throttle bits and then dead batteries??!?

  9. Al Campbell
    Al Campbell says:

    A+ for seamanship. Dad had an anchor with a proper rhode and knew how and when to use it thereby saving his family and their boat. Those kids will go boating with that dad again. Well done!

  10. Bob Schoepe
    Bob Schoepe says:

    August Belle, seems like a solution might have been some sort of jump starter battery.

  11. Keith Hettel
    Keith Hettel says:

    My uncle had the same boat. Identical. His battery failed and I crank started it. Put the crank that came with the boat, out it on the flywheel and let it rip. Turned right over and off we went.

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