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

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.

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

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

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

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. :mad: 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. :eek: I'd never make a doctor. :D

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

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. :drink: 6 people and I was the only one to see it happen. Guess the others where sight seeing. :rolleyes:

BajaRunner ???? I'm lost.

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

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

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

:eek: whoops

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

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.

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

Does flipping (twice...) and barrel rolling (once) a Bahston Whaler count??? :eek:

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

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.

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

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.


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.

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

not trying to be funny, heres one of your posts. i may sell my baja and get a fountain, so i can hit people at night and not sink (that was me being funny :rolleyes:)

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

Let me t-bone your Fountain with my Baja 405 and see who has the most damage.................... :D

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

lmfao!
:D :D

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

It would probably hurt your boat a lot more than you think, and mine, not nearly as much. You'd probably skip right over the top, probably wouldn't touch anything below the rubrail unless a drive smacked it. And it doesn't take a very big hole in the hull to sink a boat, you better hit my boat directly with the keel or you're going down.

Don't discount the strength and safety of a hull in a collision, you never know what's going to happen. In the middle of the night, things can come out of nowhere, even if you're driving safe and sober and have more than one set of eyes looking out (as i did). I've seen pictures of at least 3 serious accidents on this lake this year, and I'm convinced of the value of fiberglassing the hull and deck together during the construction of the boat. That factor certainly saved my boat from experiencing structural damage, and very likely might have been the difference between walking away scared ****less and ending up in the hospital or worse.

Another accident in the news this summer involved a drunk hitting a guy and his kid in a 25 nova close to head on. The kid was in the cabin and ended up in the water. There was no "big hole" in the front of the boat, it appeared the hull and deck separated during the collision and the kid went through the hole. He wasn't found until the next morning. If the hull and deck had been one piece, the kid would have most likely remained in the boat, and may have survived. Instead, the father was frantically searching the water for his son, and could not find him until the next day.

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

2 footers ? Nah, it takes at least a 4 foot wave to break a Baja in half !!!

:D :D :D

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

Talking to a wall makes more sense than talking with you. im done. enjoy your fountain made of steel.

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

Thank god.

I'm glad it's easier for you to cut and run than to refute anything I said. Makes it way easier for me.

I'll continue to pay a premium, even for a smaller boat, if that means stronger construction and better quality. You can continue to enjoy your Brunswick boat.

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

Thanks ..... we will :evilb:

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

Yep

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

About 15 years ago I was on a 221 Four Winns Liberator and was sitting stationary with engine off. A 24 ft Crownline was heading toward us and kept creaping closer and closer eventually aiming right at us. We yelled, waved our arms to no avail. T-boned us at about 45 mph and went right over us Two of us dove off the boat at the last second. A 14 year old dove into the cuddy and rode it out. No one hurt. The guy said he couldn't see because the sun was blinding him.
As far as boating at night , I don't do it anymore. Done all the stupid stuff like running hard etc. and have been lucky. Too hard to see and to many guys with no lights. Just not worth it. I pull out at dusk.
Ohh, I had a Baja and liked it. Then a Scarab and now a Velocity. It's all good. Love how this Velocity runs.

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

i been involve directly in 89 accidents, but i see many others, from the air you see a lot

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

Never and I like it that way. Never even seen someone else.

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

I was in one as a kid many years ago, when our Sea Ray 300 collided with an unlit moored sailboat at night. Luckily we were only slightly above idle. It was amazing how little damage was done overall. the sailboat needed work, but aside from the bowring being bent on our hull, only minor scratches...how's that for Sea-Ray quality! :drink:

I have also observed 2 in my time on the water. One was a gas explosion :eek: , luckily everyone was rescued, and the boat sank before our very eyes...The other one was while I was working at a historic site years ago. A sailboat hit a powerboat and the sound of the impact echoed all throughout the bay

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

About 10 Yrs Ago We Lost A Steering Cable. As Soon As It Happened We Chopped The Throttle And Still Went 60ft Into The Marsh. No One Was Hurt And No Damage To The Boat.

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

Another drunk, why am I not surprised.
It never ceases to amaze me how many people think they can get drunk and operate heavy machinery.
I wish the drunk would have died instead of the poor kid.

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

there i was minding my own dad gum business cruising about 50 mph in my 357 formula there was a jet boat running just out front of me about 200 ft off my port with a perfect rooster tail when my boat just shook and something went over my head i pulled the throttles back and looked around and saw a jet ski about 50 ft off to my port with no rider about 50 ft to my starboard was a man floating face down i dropped my water bottle and spun the boat around and came along side him i had already dialed 911 i was about to jump in when he rolled over and said that was the biggest f-n wake i he had ever seen that's when i told him he hit me mid hull and flipped over my boat fish and game got this story he has heading out to jump the jet boats wake and then jump mine when he went thought the rooster tail of the jet boat he closed his eye's and ran right into me 1st jet ski i ever saw with full ins. paid to perfectly rep. my boat $6972.00 all in all could have been worse most of all nobody got hurt

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

Passenger in my friends Bayliner when it backfired and had a mini-explosion. We both got off un-scaved and learned Bayliners burn pretty darn fast!!!!

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

20years ago in my old Scarab had a GD jet ski try to jump my wake, He hit the side of the boat 1 foot from the rear.He all most made it. He told the cops I ran over him :eek: if I knew he was going to say that Id left him in the water and owned a jet ski :rolleyes:

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

I would bet it would cave in the side as it went over it,just like it would most boats.Just think of a Eliminator in TX :(

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

14 years ago I had a 25-30 ft boat cut me off while I cruised paralell to shore in my 17'9" cobra jet open bow jet boat. The guys in the other boat were not looking AT ALL were they were driving (drunk as skunks),they turned suddenly and eratically in front of me for no apparent reason,bent my bow rail and my bow poked a hole in the side of their boat even though I put in in reverse and held it wide open taking about 300 gallons of water over the bow. They didn't want to get arrested so they said "don't worry about it before they limped off while everyone in my boat frantically bailed water out and I kept the engine running (motor was under water to the valve covers). I didn't have anywhere to turn to avoid them without hitting a dock either because I was watching them running paralell to me and I kept moving closer to shore to keep from getting too close,then they suddenly turned in my path. In hind sight I should have just slowed down and cut acrossed behind them before it got to where it ended but you live and learn.It took a new bow rail to fix my boat and the nose wasn't so pretty anymore but there boat had a 1 foot hole punched in the side of it,Smitty

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

Air Rescue?

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

yeap , for the last 16 years










** resently retired, i'm to old to swim in....... :eek:

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

You forgot to mention how many drinks you had.

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

1999 NYC poker run....28 Apache....rogue wave at 80mph........4 guys in the water.....I sustained a head injury and was knocked out w/o a life jacket , pulled from the water not breathing, started breathing again on my own, coma for 4 days, rehab for 6 months. Other guys got broken leg and a broken jaw, blown out ligaments and cuts. Had just bought my brand new AT up from FLA. 4 days earlier........ :eek:

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

While I've never had any collisions, I did put my 13' Boston Whaler up on the beach while showing off. :rolleyes:

My dad beached his 1962 36' Chris Craft. We were out on Barnegate Bay one night coming back from a restaurant at the foot of the Sea Side Bridge. As you approach Silver Bay from the south there is a section where you can see the bay through the trees on Cattus Island. Dad thought it was the bay's entrance and spun the wheel. A couple minutes later we hit the swamp a cruise speed and beached her. Lucky it was a full moon high tide. We just slid right up high and dry. Next morning after the tide went out there was 12'+ of dry ground from the transom to waters edge. Took a local contractor a week to dredge a channel to the boat and then dig the muck out from under her. Damage?...two blown transmissions, one bent shaft and prop. No hull damage.

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

When i was 12 I ran around the lake in a 10' Achilles RIB w/ a 9.9 merc on the back. There was a small island that was maybe 5 feet across and sandy at the narrowest point, where everyone would hang out. I'd head for the island full speed, kill the throttle as i hit the beach, and skid right over the island and into the water on the other side. If i was quick enough back on the throttle, i could keep it on plane when i landed back in the water.

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

Paid my dues also......Dave

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

Same thing happended to me this summer! I hate GD PWC's! :eek: I didn't even see it coming, he came in from my blindspot. I thought I had hit something under the water. Boy was cut up pretty bad but managed to jump back on and took off. I was able to get his registration and gave it to the police. I was lucky and most of the impact was under the boat on the lifting strake and chine.

If it happens again i'm mounting a Ma Duece .50 cal on my engine deck!

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

couple years ago it happened to my brother in a 24 outlaw, thanks to the wall type transom instead of a molded swim platform.. 4 adults 2 child under 2 years old. , no one wearing pfds, He was idling at night when some drunk guy in a 20 foot boat came right behind him. drunk boat never saw my brother. my brother and another adult jumped in water, while the other hide themselves on the floor. the problem was: 2nd adult who jumped in water jumped with his 2 years old son no pfd. brother swam back to the boat (was not easy boat was still idling) and the father in the water was close to drawning trying to keep his son breathing out of water. Even if people were throwing flotation device every where he could not see them because of dark. Brother jumped back in water and took the kid. Noboby really injured, except drunk boat was total loss and sank, and they had to go to hospital... We now never run in dark, unless emergency to help, with many many spotlight...

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

That nearly happened to us. Precisely why we don't go out at night anymore either. :(