Ms PatriYacht

I forgot to say, this is very sad our thoughts go out to his family and friends he certainly seemed like a guy who lived live to the fullest. Rest in Peace
Donna

BadDog

Not to take away from the seriousness of the tragedy but I have real a burnzmyaz problem with cruiser wakes at times. In the Ohio river you may be rafted up or near shore and a fat az cruiser will come by at full plow speed. Not on plane and not off plane. Just a wake 5 times what it should put out. Other times in the chute behind the island hiding under a shade tree some of the more clueless one but at least partially considerate will slow from plane speed to full plow as if they are doing you a favor. It just makes a bigger wake. I think they like it.

I have seem much damage from these types of boats and inconsiderate operation. It is real bear to be at the gas dock and have them come by throwing a monster wake. The river is a 3/4 mile wide but apparently they want to read the pump price as they go by instead of going to the other side of the river.

SHARKEY-IMAGES

My condolences to the family....

I came into that channel around mid day. Myself and one or two other boats came off plane as the channel got narrow by A-Bay. Honestly, I was surprised to see how fast some of the cruisers and other type boats were plowing through there while it was so congested. I needed to come back up on plane to keep from taking anything over the bow. At one point I came back off plane to try to make my way through the channel. Another cruiser came passing on my port side while I was idling along. Too late for me to actually make any move to avoid his wake, we took it right over the side into the cockpit soaking my wife and 2 year daughter who were sitting in the back seat. 28 foot Checkmate seem too small for that area at that time.
We ducked inside A-Bay to get dried off and have lunch. At that point we chose not to go any further. It only seemed that was where the traffic started. Having come up from Kingston, we knew we had a nice ride back without all the traffic.
Maybe another time....
It may have been Pirates Weekend or something as I watched two boats hosing each other down and seen 1 guy fall off the stern after throwing a water balloon. Drive in gear, engine running, it was a disaster waiting to happen. All this with in 25 ft of one of the coasties who was monitoring the situation. The roughly 20 ft boat looked like it must have had close to 10 or 12 adults on it. I thought maybe they were going to be boarded, but I don't think that happen. We got out of there as safely & quickly as we could...
I would like to go back, but maybe come up on the Canadian side. I think that is where I really wanted to boat anyway. I would just need to keep an eye out for the shoals.....

Rippem

keep in mind this accident happened 2-3 miles downriver from Alex Bay where the River is WIDE, and there is none of the shenanigans you speak of.

An experienced performance boater misjudged his situation or the one that he was approaching, running in relatively open water.

An accident is just that, unfortunately in this case fatal.

SHARKEY-IMAGES

Would that be east or west of A-Bay?
We only went as far as Boldt's Castle took a few pics before getting swamped and then proceeded inside the A-Bay area which had plenty of Coast Guard and MP on hand with boats & skis...

Rippem

downriver/East. There's lots of room once your out of the American narrows going downriver.

SHARKEY-IMAGES

Ok, That was the area I avoided due to the congestion getting to where it opened up. Plus after seeing the tail end of a freighter ship made me think twice about going up that way....

Rippem

That's because looking east towards Deer Island is where all the traffic is coming/going from Lake of the Isles (around to port looking downriver) in/out of the main channel. Lake of the Isles is a 2 mile bay approached from the NE) up inside of Welsley Island. When you go over the American span of the bridge to Canada, rt. 81 follows around the inner most of this bay. That water you see from 81 is Lake of the Isles.

Like most visitors you saw 1/2 of 1% of what there is here.
Connect with a local such as myself next time, and we will show you the true beauty of the area.

It's the clearest water most beautiful FW boating on the planet.

SHARKEY-IMAGES

Oh I know I missed out on alot.

I think we did good for our 1st time out up there though. It seemed like we were driving for hours and hours. Just taking in the views and watching the run.
Would really like to hit the Canadian side and drive through those small Islands.

axapowell

This Email was sent to all Thousand Island Power Boat Club members today from the President Mark Hodge:

"As many of you may already know, we lost one of our own on Saturday
August 14th. John "Nitrous" Gosson was killed driving his boat on the
St Lawrence River last Saturday afternoon. John joined our club in
January of this year and participated in the "Run for Fun" on July
17th. He was driving his red 26' American Offshore cat at a high rate
of speed Saturday when he hit a wave causing the boat to kite upward.
The boat then bounced hard off the stern then caused the bow to stuff
into the water. The boat then apparently overturned and sank. His female
friend onboard was removed from the water and is recovering at St
Joseph's Hospital in Syracuse. John was found in his boat and removed
from the water on Sunday afternoon. John had a love for speed in both
cars and boats. His colorful life centered around high-performance
engines in go-fast vehicles. He died doing what he truly loved to do.
I know he will be greatly missed by all who knew him. Our club salutes
you John, May you rest in peace........."

Just got back from the Bay tonight. Pretty sobering moment. Please boat safe and and thanks to all lent a hand in the rescue attempt.

Our thoughts are with John's family and friends.

Dave & Gail