L E O B L O C K L E Y M E M O R I A L C A M P A I G N

Swamping Safety Database

Details of incident 63

Date	December 2002 / Jan 2003
Location	Swan River, Perth W.A
Water Temperature	Relatively warm (20deg)
Boat(s) involved	8+
Boat Construction	Sykes, wing rigger (very low cut gunwhales and no V-deck)
Outcome	Crew swam boat to shore. No injuries. No damage to equipment.
Description	On return leg to the shed the wind picked up, a power boat went past and within 10 seconds the 8 went from being dry to being completely submerged. The boat stayed "afloat" (with the blades adding some buoyancy?) about 30cm under the water. The cox was picked up by the coaches boat, the crew swam the boat to shore where we emptied it and left it until later. There was no damage and no injuries. About 30 minutes later a coaches boat (aluminium dinghy with 10Hp outboard) started to sink and then flipped over on its attempted return to the shed ! We had to get the bigger boat out and tow it. Still no injuries, thankfully