Heartbreaking day for me

[hammlfam]

I play on a resevoir in Indiana. Well, the water is down right now about 4ft. They have put out Bouy's but have them poorly placed. There is one in the middle of the lake that I already knew was a low spot. With the water down, it was about a foot deep. I went to the left of the bouy about 40 to 50ft at about 20mph pulling 2 tubers. The bouy was not marked properly. I bottomed out.

Here is the damage.

1. Shot prop
2. Bent strut
3. Bent rudder
4. Gel coat damage from prop and rudder.

I find out today if I'll get the boat back in time to use this year. Otherwise, I'm done for the year.

I hope everyone's weekend went MUCH better than mine. Oh yeah, in my short trip back to the marina and at the marina, I ran into 4 guys that have hit the same spot in the last 2 weeks. I can only imagine how many others have hit it.

[Matt Garcia]

Ouch. That's the one thing that all inboard boat owners are bound to experience. I had the same situation happen to me last year but I hit a log or tree of some sort (never did see what we hit).

Bummer it happened on your new boat, hopefully you will get fixed up soon.

[GIZMO]

Did the same thing last weekend at Lake Powell. Small amount of gel coat damage, destroyed the prop and some funny noises have started.
Dealer is going to take it to lake and have a listen. If you get jonesin'
for some board time take a winter vacation to AZ. We'll take you out.

[smendez]

hammlfam:

Sorry to hear about your boat. If you're like me, there can be little anyone says that will make you feel much better. It's a real bummer to have your boat damage like that.

For you in the future, and for all readers of this thread, please make note that your depth finder can be set to alert you of shallow water.

I navigate the Mississippi River north of St. Louis and dredging operations are constantly making previously navigable waters too shallow to get your boat through them.

I have my depth finder set to alert me when the water gets to 3 feet. As soon as the water level gets to 3 feet or less, a quite loud alarm sounds and I know to take corrective action.

I realize that this may not always help you, specially when you hit a submerge log, tree, etc., but if it saves 1 out of every 50 accidents, then in my opinion it's well worth it.

I hope your boat gets repaired soon, and best of luck!

Saulo

[David]

Same thing happend to us. The 4 things you listed were the same as ours. I made a thread a few months back about it with pictures. The boat was in the shop for almost 12 days (2 weekends), but we got it back just like new. The worst part is waiting. Good luck to you and your boat.

[tkuzma]

Smendez, I know I should read my manual, but how do you set an audible alarm at a certain depth? Thanks in advance.

[smendez]

tkuzma:

I remember just pushing buttons until something happened. I tell you - I'm not very good at these things, so if I was able to do it, it should be fairly simple.

However, I did take the time to copy the two pages off the manual relating to this. I'm trying to post the file. it's a compress (.zip) pdf post.

Saulo

[hammlfam]

Update

Just a quick update. The final damage is.......

$5973.


$4500 of that is just gelcoat repair on two sections. One section about 4inches around and the other about 2inches around. Man, I'm in the wrong business.

[Domsz06]

its under the depth rating and then you push the side button and it comes up with shallow, so you can set it for how shallow you want it. I have mine set upat 5 and it works great.

Dom

[Flying Tiger]

I'm sorry to read about your mishap.
It will soon be behind you. You'll soon forget.

I've sat the kids down and told them this may happen.
Just do your best,, and if we bottom out,, well, we tried our best,,, and our insurance will fix it,, and pack you stuff we're heading for gameworks in Vegas,, and a show, and the Hard Rock hotels pool area.

Ya gotta suck it up and move on.. and have good insurance that the dealer recomends.
But still,, I feel your pain,,,