Michelle0614

JDUB, Hi, I'm a newbie on this site; I read that you live very close to the Delaware Memorial Bridge...I just posted about a boating accident we had near there on Sat. 9/22 at about 3 pm.....We hit something so hard it took off all three blades of our prop.....It was in an area as we headed south from Philly, we just passed under the D.M. Bridge and veered left towards the shore, very slowly; in about 25 ft. of water, and we were about 100 yds.+ away from the shore. I think it's called Salem Cove. Do u know anything of the history of that dangerous area? What are there? Rocks? Pilings? Lots of wrecked boats? Did it used to be a marina or wartime docking area? Did u ever have an accident there too? Or anyone else on this forum? We didn't see any danger signs anywhere either!

WTF????!!! I wish we had one of those GPS thingys so it would show us live what obstructions were over there, etc.....Some CG guy told me that. How much do they cost?

Please clue me in about anything you know about that area; Does shoal just mean land, or does it mean rockey land?

Thanks in advance for any info....I'd still like to know what it was we hit........in 25 ft. of water!!!

Michelle from Delaware County, Pa.

jdub

iTrader: (1)

That's right in front of my house. You found the rock jetty. It is marked with two caution bouys. But if you came from under the bridge and went left to the shore line you most likely didn't see it (obviously). How far were you passed the bridge when you veared left?

DiamondPerformance

iTrader: (2)

You found the rock jetty. Lots of boater's hit it.

jdub

iTrader: (1)

whats up Bill...I still need to get those manifolds and risers. I'll be in touch.

TexomaPowerboater

Ouch, that sucks. It should be covered by your insurance. You may have done more damage than you think.

Fountain38SC

Time to have the drive inspected.

DiamondPerformance

iTrader: (2)

Not much John, call me anytime!

Michelle0614

The only buoy we saw was one big red one. We were going along South, like heading towards the canal, we just went under the bridge, staying more to the right as we went under, then we saw what looked line a nice little beach area and someone on a jet ski boat zipping around.....

We started like I said in slowly bearing left....about a mile after the bridge; depth said 25.......all of a sudden.....BANG! and then the motor sped up to this God awful sound, lost all power........dropped anchor.......hubby (Mark) knew it was the prop.......We were almost panic stricken......but kept our cool somehow...Mark raised up the tilt and saw the prop blades totally gone; put the spare one on in about 15 mins.....as I was holding one of his legs so he wouldn't fall in the water and hoping he wouldn't drop the wrench in the water or one of the 2 small fittings he had to replace. I glanced to my right, and about maybe 30 or 40 yds. away I see these couple of seagulls or some type of bird sitting on what looked like pilings or rocks sticking out of the water!!!!!

Are there are lot of wrecked boats laying in there too JDub?

Was this red buoy one of the warning ones? Is ANY red buoy a warning buoy???! (Mark took a boating course about 5 yrs. ago but if it was he didn't remember, had a minor stroke since then).

That other guy that said "time to get the drive checked".....heeeeeeeeeee's riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!!!! When we started the motor back up, and it ran, but when he engaged the prop into drive, it made some banging noise........?????!?!?
We cruised home slowly towards Essington (Anchorage Marina) at about 15 or 20 mph.....got back to the dock ok, but we side banged the boat beside us, we were soooooooo shook about that accident, especially Mark, who drives the boat.......I can't I don't know that much about it to drive it yet.......I keep looking for a brake pedal, ha!!!

Anyhows......there's a small leak near the drive shaft, I can see it at night with a flash light, as I have to go and empty the bilge once a night, as the center compartment on the boat fills up to 3/4 every day.....!!!! I know we should pull it out of the water........but we paid to the end of Oct. for slip rent......I want to just go out and about once or twice more, stay within
a mile or two of the slip......due to drive failure fears.......
it worked the day of the accident and reverse worked as well.

Lastly, had to cut anchor loose at the accident site, I just could not pull it up by hand.....and Mark tried to free it by using the boat motor, didn't work.

Michelle

jdub

iTrader: (1)

Sounded like a busy day. You hit the jetty alright. There are two white bouys marking each end of it. If you came in just past the bridge you most likely went to the left of the bouy and never saw it. They are not big and if you're not looking for them you can easily run past them. Stay in the channel until you get into the canal, especialy at low tide. There were a couple old boats that sunk along time ago. I remember seeing them at low tide when I was young, but they are long gone now. But the rocks are still there! Be safe, stay in the channel.

Michelle0614

Yeaaaaaaah a busy day indeed........but JDub, I'll be Dayummed!!! We both cannot recall seeing ANY white buoys, just that big red one. Do u know what red buoys mean? or are they just main channel markers?