Lake Travis accident
 

A 32 Fountain flipped 1.5 times backwards and injured 4 people while we where there, We rescued the victems about to drown 2 where careflighted, it was pretty bad, where is the pic of it going down JTB:( :( :( :( :( :(

Was the fountain owned by the local guy that Clay knows from the lake Travis Power Boat Association? That was the only 32 that I saw while on the lake and docked at Carlos N Charlies.

Holy crap! :eek:
That's terrible! :( Lucky you guys were in the area. Your efforts are commendable.

Any new info?

Re: Lake Travis accident
 

I have some pics, I will get them resized a post them here.

Fountian sinking
 

Here are some pics of the boat before it went down.

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That was all that I was able to take because when we got there the boat was right side up and going in circles. There was way too much going on and I did not even think about getting the camera out.

WOW, another Fountain accident in the same weekend.

That is terrible, hope everyone will be okay, and glad you guys were there to help them out.

Can you give a better decription of how it happened? Having a hard time picturing how it flipped 1.5 times backwards.

the 1/2 is when it landed upside down :D

just kidding. they are just lucky to be here today

I don't know how it happened, but I guess it was not actully 1.5 , it flipped backwards and hit nose first and some how got right side up and still running in circles, it happened fri at 4:30 pm just off mansfeild dam, it really makes you think about things, 2 of them would have been gone in seconds we actually pulled them from under water, its hard to tread water with broken limbs, if you see my boat in post 7 they are still in the water. I thank God we saved them and did not pull in a dead body. If any one knows the victoms, I would like to be contacted to see how they are doing

Damn, that just makes me sick. It's a sad reminder of just how fragile life can be.

Asset ... great job on helping those people to safety.

Liquid, you guys are hero's!

Those folks are very lucky you were there.

Many thanks from all us boaters.

I cannot imagine what was going through your minds. Two years ago we had a buddy slip on the swim platform of his 29 Fountain, his feet went out from under him and it happened so quickly that we don't know if he hit is head on the platform ot the outdrive. Put it knocked him out and we had to pull him in and get him to the hospital. He was okay thank goodness, but it will really shake you up when something like that happens.

Last year on Hartwell there were three of us running 65+ when we saw a large cruiser ahead of us about a mile and all of a sudden we saw a Fountain point straight to the moon come down hard and completely stop after hitting the wake.

We did not even slow up and all of us shot by them and over the wake like it was not there. The guys in the Fountain were all standing and looking at us like we are nuts. Steelware was one of the boats in his 25 and there was another 25 and my 36. Bottom line was that Fountain stood straight up and we shot over it getting a little air and flying level.

I had this in mind as I was reading this thread. Not saying anything bad about Fountain at all, just wondering how they had it trimmed, what water conditions they encountered, etc.

Good job Liquid.

The 32' and twin engine 29' Fountains are usually very tail heavy. Probably what caused the big air that you saw Dock.

I'm sure you are right about that.

I have had the pleasure to drive a 29 single, two different 35's, one 38 and one 42. I found that the 38 and 42 felt very stable and I felt in full control. The 29 did not like water hitting it from the side much. I had a hard time feeling comfortable that I was in control. The 35's scared the hell out of me, they both had 575's and were too fast for my experience level. Bottom line is it helped me to decide to stay with a true deep vee.

A good friend that only lives about a mile from me purchased a 1999 model 32 Fountain with twin 502's late last summer.

He had only been out in the boat twice when he stopped by the house to tell me what had happened. He did not even know the term "Hook & Spin Out", but that is what happened to him with his wife in the boat. They were lucky, the boat stayed right side up and they both stayed in the boat. He bought this boat having only owned a single Scarab ( I think it was a 24 Foot) and the guy he bought the boat from did not give him any driving instructions.

I shared with him what I had read on OSO and learned from the guys that owned the Fountains I had driven and he was amazed. He had been driving the boat just like he drove the Scarab and was pushing it harder than he should have with very little seat time.

Now we give him a hard time because it alway looks like it is sinking! He always has a LOT of water in the bilge after a day of boating.

I have never seen a 29 twin in the water, but can only imagine it would be worse than the 32.

Thanks

I actually looked at a 29 Fountain and am glad now that I stuck with a 30 Outlaw instead.

I saw a 26 stand straight up to the moon only 50 yards from the same wake I hit with my 23 and I had no problems.. why one boat will fly level and one will stand straight up and come down hard depends on a lot of factors... I know two people who were flipped out of outlaws also,,, it can happen to any person and any boat,, gotta be careful out there..

It can happen in any boat, the driver needs to know how to tab and trim, A liot of people think tabs should be up and I totally disagree, I witnessed a 29 outlaw stand straight up and come down on the stern and have to be towed and the people went to the hospital. I was right next to them at a Poker Run in Galveston in My 24 in my first Poker Run, But I pay a lot of attention to the water,trim,tabs, and throttle and I flew Level. The bad thing was it was a 5 or 6 foot Freighter wake that could be seen obviously comeing with plenty of time to react. That was definatly driver error, however I do not know what happened to the Fountain, There are rumors it hit something, But we saw nothing and it was 100+ feet deep, and the driver told me" it was a big wake and " these boats are made to do this all day" I think mabye that is the wrong attitude, no disrespect to the victoms though.

Good point, Liquid. I hear that all the time, "These boats are built for this..."

That's a wreckless attitude, that a whole lot of people share. Always have respect for the conditions and always be prepared for anything even on the calmest days.

I don't care what size boat you have,,, those 4-5-6 foot rollers that are spaced out preety far, that the big cruise ships and freighters make, will totally F' you up..