Stuff happens real fast out there. I was caught several years ago in a big cat. Weather was flat calm and called for 1' or less seas with a 30% chance of thunderstorms. Had a huge storm roll in on us and we could not out run them. We saw 3 water spouts before the storm reached us. Went from flat calm to 8'+ with huge chop in a matter of minutes. Port motor ended up getting swamped and the cap of the boat was separated when a 10’+ hit us from the side. This we filled up one of the pontoons. Had the starboard motor hammered just to keep the bow pointed into the waves. All 5 guys had life vest on and we were tethered together. First time I ever made a mayday call and hope I never have to again. We activated the EPS on the radio, had eperb, and dry box with flares and emergency signaling devices in hand ready for the boat to go over. The storm only lasted 45 minutes but I did not think we were going to make it back. This gave me a new respect of going offshore.
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