How many people on this site have been in a boating accident?

[sleeper_dave]

Just wondering who here has been involved in an accident. Collision, sinking, capsizing, etc. Who's run into serious problems out there? Post details if you like.

[BajaRunner]

You should go ask all the baja people who have had their boat break in half

[Croozin2]

Originally Posted by sleeper_dave

Just wondering who here has been involved in an accident. Collision, sinking, capsizing, etc. Who's run into serious problems out there? Post details if you like.

Nothing in the big boats but plenty of times in the STV's, Allisons etc. Lake Catherine Arkansas in the early 90's, brand new STV MOD-VP just picked it up from the plant in Tennessee a month prior to this race and spent the better part of that month dialing it in. Out for a few test laps early in the morning and when I make a left at the first buoy, WHAMMO, guy drives right over (through) the left sponson and over the top of the front of the boat. Thank goodness I wasn't a little further through the turn or who knows. Just saw a buddy blow over a Piranha last Thanksgiving too. Very lucky guy. Only got a broken leg out of the deal. At around 111mph, it could have been much, much worse. We were the first ones there and only the skin was holding the lower portion of his leg together. I'd never make a doctor.

[US1 Fountain]

Several yrs ago I was skiing behind a friends boat, with my spotter looking towards me, but appearantly past me. I see a 2nd boat pulling a skiier coming from the left bank at approx our 8 o'clock direction. My driver is turning to the right, so the left side of the boat is high, blocking the view of the second boat from my spotter. I see a collision in the works, start waving my hand trying to get my spotters attention. No luck. Then BAM. 2nd boat hits the bottom of my tow boat as it is still high side up in the turn. Knocks both drivers and spotters to the floor and sends my tow boat towards shore. My spotter gets his bearings and yanks the wheel just in time to keep it in the water. I of course let go of the rope right as they hit. The other skier didn't see anything as he didn't have his glasses on, just felt the rope go limp. The 2nd boat split in half along the whole top, my friends boat only got a couple of good scratches on the bottom side. 6 people and I was the only one to see it happen. Guess the others where sight seeing.

BajaRunner ???? I'm lost.

[Ron P]

Does rolling over a race boat count? KW - 1995.

[BRUCE SEROFF]

whoops

[Sydwayz]

I cracked the hull/tunnel in the jet pump on a PWC. A baseball size chunk came loose, and I still don't have a good explaination as to why. It sank to the handlebars and dumped me in 59* water. I was dressed for the ride (air temp was 75*); not being submerged in the water. I got really cold really quick. I could feel my chest tighten up like a brick. I was very lucky a passing husband/wife in a small fishing boat saw me. I was in trouble, and would have been hypothermic within minutes.

[Scott B]

Does flipping [SIZE=1](twice...)[/SIZE] and barrel rolling [SIZE=1](once)[/SIZE] a Bahston Whaler count???

[BajaRunner]

Originally Posted by US1 Fountain

BajaRunner ???? I'm lost.

There is a thread on fountain vs speed on ride, you should read it. sleeper dave is convinced all bajas are pieces of chit and break in half in anything over 2 foot waves. it just irritates me that someone is that naive.

[sleeper_dave]

To answer my own question in this thread, yea, i've wrecked. T-boned a 31 sea-ray amberjack this summer at about 33 mph. Middle of the night. Nobody hurt.

Totaled the sea-ray, mostly cosmetic damage on my fountain, 4-5 small areas needed fiberglass work (maybe 4 square ft total). Sea-ray was an $84k total loss.

I had right of way, but i didn't see the boat until i hit him. He was going about 20 mph from my left to my right, i was at a slow cruise, probably about 33 mph. My money says he had no lights on, but if i'd seen a boat with no lights on i wouldn't have have hit it, and the "bang" was certainly enough to remind him to hit the switch. He was adamant that he had his lights on, even though i never accused him of having them off, so i'm pretty sure he didn't have them on.

We exchanged info, he said he didn't want to involve police and that he wasn't taking on water and still had propulsion, i didn't know the condition of my boat at the time so i headed for shore, as did he. He turned around and called it in as a hit and run half an hour later, when he realized that he WAS taking on water, and said he was dead in the water when some guy in a go fast "ran right over" his boat. Admitted to the cop that he had "a couple" drinks and still wasn't tested. Cop believed him and wrote me a ticket.

Insurance company did an investigation and found the other guy at fault. It was plainly obvious, even to an untrained eye, that he was lying, based on the damage. Lawyer said i could beat the ticket but i didn't want to see his bill for it, so i plead to it and it goes away in 6 months.

i don't like running at night anymore.

The thread in the general forum about the recent boating accident, as well as the other high-profile accidents i've read about this summer, got me wondering how many people here have actually been involved in accidents.

Originally Posted by BajaRunner

There is a thread on fountain vs speed on ride, you should read it. sleeper dave is convinced all bajas are pieces of chit and break in half in anything over 2 foot waves. it just irritates me that someone is that naive.

you're funny

all i said was that baja's are not nearly the same quality as a fountain. i stand by that. Most anybody that's spent any amount of time dealing with offshores, or even just boats in general, will tell you that.

Baja's are made by the same company as the Sea-Ray I hit. My Fountain suffered no structural damage, the Sea-Ray split along the hull and deck, cracked between the hullsides and bottom, and had structural damage more than 5 feet from any area I hit. If i'd been in a Baja i'd probably have had a bit of a swim that night.