Pleasure boat pulled from depths of bay

Steel Away sank during sudden thunderstorm in late July

By HEATHER RAWLYK, Staff Writer

Published 09/03/08

It was an "all-heck afternoon" just outside the mouth of the Magothy River in late July, and the waves that were crashing over the stern of Mitchell Raup's 45-foot recreational trawler had reached 8 feet.

Courtesy photo

Crews from Curtis Bay-based Smith’s Shipyard and Deckelman’s Boat Yard of Essex pull Steel Away, a 45-foot recreational trawler, from a shipping channel in the bay last week. The two-deck trawler sank during a severe thunderstorm near the mouth of the Magothy River on July 27.

Before he knew it, Mr. Raup, his wife Marian and a 12-year-old passenger were standing ankle-deep in water, said Sgt. Ken Turner, a state Natural Resources Police spokesman. It was too late for the bilge pump to be of any use.

"Basically, it was at the point of no return," Sgt. Turner said. "The boat was quickly sinking."

As the boat sunk, Mr. Raup, his wife and the boy clung to a dinghy that served as the Steel Away's lifeboat.

A Good Samaritan on a sailboat plucked the three out of the water and took them safely to shore without injury, Sgt. Turner said.

On Thursday afternoon, more than a month later, crews from Curtis Bay-based Smith's Shipyard and Deckelman's Boat Yard of Essex, pulled Steel Away, a two-deck green and white pleasure boat, from 36 feet of water just north of the Sandy Point State Park lighthouse.

It took crews 10 days to locate the boat using side-scan sonar underwater searching equipment, said Kevin Smith, supervisor of Smith's Shipyard. Searchers had scanned 500 linear feet of the bay by Aug. 25, eventually detecting what looked like the bow of a large boat on the screen.

"We sent divers in the water to check," Mr. Smith said. "She (a diver) asked, 'Is the name of the boat Steel Away?' and we said, 'Yep. That's it.' "

Police said Mr. Raup, 49, and his wife, 50, both of Washington, D.C., and a boy - whose relationship to the couple is unknown - were traveling south in the channel of the Chesapeake Bay at 7 knots at 2:30 p.m. July 27 when a severe thunderstorm swept in.

"All heck broke loose at that moment," Sgt. Turner said.

The sudden thunderstorm caused winds of at least 25 mph and waves 6 to 8 feet high, he said.

Waves plummeted the stern of Steel Away, eventually pouring in.

"They didn't notice until the last minute they're in water up to their ankles," Sgt. Turner said.

Mr. Raup did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Because the boat sank in deep water, it was not a navigational hazard and there was no rush to pull it from the bottom, Sgt. Turner said.

Mr. Raup's insurance provider called Natural Resources Police the following day and asked for the coordinates to salvage the trawler.

The map coordinates police gave to the insurance company were based on where the couple and boy were rescued, and where debris - including an upside-down hot tub - was found floating in the water.

"So basically, we had to go by where the owner was picked up by a sailboat," to find the Steel Away, Mr. Smith said. "Those were the only coordinates we had. It was confusing because eyewitnesses had said the boat drifted. We had some other coordinates of debris that was found. We found a dinghy and a hot tub. It was definitely frustrating."

Things got even more difficult Aug. 10, when a tractor-trailer careened off the Bay Bridge and into the bay, killing the driver. The crews were pulled for about a week to help with that salvage operation.

Mr. Smith said once searching resumed, crews realized they'd twice gone over the spot where the Steel Away sat sunk into the mud, but the waves and wind prevented the sonar equipment from picking up an image of the trawler.

"You'd figure something that big you'd be able to find," he said. "But it wasn't showing up."

On Aug. 25, the crew finally discovered the boat.

After locating the Steel Away, Smith's Shipyard sent a dive team from Maritime Technologies last Tuesday to the bottom of the bay to hook straps under the boat.

"It was kind of a chore," Mr. Smith said. "It was sitting in so much mud, and at that depth of the water."

Bad weather caused the crew to stop short that day and to not continue working until Thursday, Mr. Smith said.

First thing that morning, the crew brought a heavy crane into the bay to remove the boat from the water. The boat was lifted to the surface at 1 p.m., and loaded onto the deck of a barge by 4:30 p.m.

The incident was a hot topic on www.tidalfish.com message boards, with members posting and asking for details of the sinking and wondering whether the boat had been salvaged.

"Anyone know the GPS coordinates or any more info on the story," one member posted. "Love to find that the owner decides to leave the boat down there. … might be a fun dive."

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Operator Error - September 5, 2008

Apparently the operator wasn't paying attention to the weather OR the radio. If he had, he would have had plenty of time to turn the vessel into the wind and seas. Even taken abeam, the seas would have not have capsized the vessel. I've seen boats founder from a following wake from another larger vessel passing astern. Lack of Situational Awareness caused this sinking.