Local teens ‘lucky to be alive’ after boat sinks

Two local teens are lucky to be alive after the boat they were fishing in began taking on water in the middle of Lake Cataouatche.

Hunter McDonald, 17, and Chase Petit, 17, were headed out on what they assumed was a short fishing trip on Oct. 25. But after the two launched from Pier 90 and made it halfway across the lake, their 17-foot aluminum boat began taking on a lot of water through the hull. What made matters worse was that a cold front was moving through the area and temperatures were in the high 50s.

“When we entered Bayou Couba, the boat had too much water to continue,” Hunter said. “With the bilge pump running and the plugs pulled, the water was still overtaking the boat.”

At this point, the two decided to turn around and head back to Pier 90, but they were smashing into 3-foot waves coming out of the north.

“Hunter called me and told me that the boat was taking on a lot of water and sinking,” Bruce McDonald, Hunter’s father, said. “The cell phone cut off after that, but a minute later he called back and said ‘the boat is sinking and we are in Lake Cataouatche!’”

Bruce told the two to put on their life jackets and took off to Pier 90 to launch his boat.

“The urgent sound in my son’s voice began to scare me,” he said. “The thoughts of hypothermia and being in the rough water really sunk in.”

When Bruce entered the water in his boat, he called his son to find out their location, which was the middle of the lake. Petit had already called 911 and the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries and the St. Charles Water Patrol had been dispatched.

“I headed due east and the water was very choppy with a still, north wind and the 3-foot waves were splashing water everywhere,” Bruce said. “In the middle of the lake I called them again and Hunter told me they could see me.”

But Bruce could barely make the two out.

“When I reached their location, it looked like they were standing on the water,” Bruce said. “The floatation in the front of the old 17-foot aluminum boat kept the bow from going under and they were standing in it.”

The two boarded Bruce’s boat only 30 minutes after the first frantic call was made.

But Petit wasn’t out of the woods yet. When the boat began taking on water, he jumped in the lake to retrieve his documents. On the way back, he began experiencing the first stage of hypothermia.

Petit ended up being OK, and Bruce is just happy that the two filed a float plan and remained calm during the ordeal.
“They filed the plan with their parents, stayed with the boat after it went down and kept their cell phone dry,” Bruce said. “They also wore their life jackets.

“They are lucky to be alive.”