I here what your saying about seeing your friend and feeling VERY responcible for his condition. I was involved in a serious boat accident in 1987 where I went nose to nose with a boat that was traveling 70 mph and i was doing 50 mph. This guy went over the top of me and the bow of his boat hit my buddy square in the head. I went forward on impact into the dash and wheel and its a good thing i did because i took a 32" 4 blade cleaver to my back. My boat hooked in the water after impact and my friend got stuffed into the cabin. I thought he went over board and was frantic trying to find him all he while the other people got ejected and the boat was running around wide open doing circles around me with no one in it !!! finally I heard my friend gurgle alittle and relized he was in the boat and somewhat alive. I put a life jacket on him and wited for help which came about an hour later. They gave him his last rights in the ER but pulled thru . I wasnt a good feeling. The meat wagon that took me to the hospital that night got into a big wreck and damned near killed me again. It was a night Ill NEVER forget.

Bob

Mark, First off I am glad you and your friend are going to be ok. I was only relaying what I had heard from a friend and I should have known better to wait and find out from you but I was concerned and wanted to find out what was going on since we haven't heard from you. Hope everything gets back to normal and get a bigger boat for that engine;) .
ps.Been there done that.:eek:

Hey Kook. Everything will be OK. I had the same thing happen snomobiling. My buddy was in front of me and hit a sled head on. He was in a coma for 4 days and woke up wondering HOW I WAS. He came out fine and we both have a different outlook on life and speed. Just keep praying, as we all will, and you will be able to look back on this as a humbling experience. As some Baja folks would say: Speed Changes You. Good luck and visit often. It was me who started talking to my buddy that started him talking again. The doctors could not believe it. They said he was quiet as a mouse until I kept visiting and talking to him. That was a daily 8 hour round trip. It was worth it. I get chills just thinking of it. I think I will drive real slow home tonight.

Kook for what it is worth ? **** happens.. we are wishing the best for your friend and yourself....things like this could happen to any one of us at any time...hang in there .... Mark -

Kook: Wishing the best for youre friend........

Kook,
Hang in there man.. I am glad to hear that it isnt as bad as first suspected.. I am sorry to hear that your friend was hurt. Hopefully he will recover with out problems..

I managed a similar accident about 6yrs ago, although the passenger was not hurt, but I was. It takes a long time to heal mentally and physically from such a deal. So we will all be pulling for you and your friend, I hope the best for both of you..
Just take it one day at a time and it will work out.

Dick

Sorry to hear about this..Best wishes for you and your friend

Kook, get well soon and wish your friend my best wishes.

jeez kook, I feel for you man, I hope everything turns out well with your friend. I'm sure he knows it wasnt your fault.

I hope you and your friend get better soon so you can BOTH get back in the saddle! ;)

Kook... Glad to hear you are ok.. Sorry to hear about your freind.. Wish him a fast recovery!


Travis

Dam Kook,sorry to hear about your situation.Keep the thoughts positive and talk to your buddy when you visit.It doesn't matter what you talk to him about,just talk to him.somewhere in the cloud that is a coma is him,listening to your voice.
Remember,an accident is just that,do not saddle yourself with unwarranted guilt.Just take it one day at a time.Your pal needs strong people to support him now,not someone consumed with wrongful guilt.Think POSITIVE,POSITIVE,POSITIVE.

Kook,
I'm real sorry to hear of your accident, and my best wishes go to your friend. As stated by others, stuff happens. I know this is of no value in your position, feeling guilt for an accident is normal, fault or no fault. Give it some time, hang in there, and if you ever need a passenger, I'll ride with you.

Wow.......boats can be fixed, but the news about your freind makes me sick to my stomach. Glad you are physically okay. Beleive it or not, things really do have a funny way of working out for the best. I hope everyone can learn from this. Kook, keep your head up, someday it will seem like a bad dream. Nice job claiming responsibility and taking this like a man, both at home and here on the board. A4

Hope your friend gets better. As was said before S***t happens!. I have had 2 accidents in my life & it is amazing how everthing seems to go in slow motion. Could accident been caused from mech. failure?

Mark:

As everyone else has said, I hope your friend makes a full recovery ASAP, and you'll pull through just fine !!!

Kook,
My thoughts are with you and your friend.
We are all praying for a fast and full recovery.
Im glad you were able to post the facts before the speculation got out of control. It seems that it is easy for all of us to forget that the sport we love is dangerous. It doesnt take carelessness or alcohol to have an accident. For the people that think that it cant happen to you because you do all the right things please be careful and think again. Pushing closer to the limit is what drives most of us here. Weather its boats, bikes, snowmobiles or airplanes its a thrill that without the risk would most likely not interest us.
Thats enough for me.
Get well.

Good Luck to you and your friend Kook!

Ronnie

Alright... I know that exact spot all too well. 10 years ago, in front of Jackson Marine (and bayboat) I stood a 19' Thompson staight up at 55 miles an hour off a totally rogue wave. I had my 8 yr old step son with me, and we both dam near **** ourselves. I was holding on to the steering wheel to not fall to the back of the boat. Josh was luckily laying on the floor by then. Worse boating experience of my life. Sold that boat one month later... spent the next 7 years in a cruiser that couldn't reach 35mph off a cliff.
Now I am in a scarab... but a 30'er. I was out all weekend on the Northeast and even spent Saturday at Lloyds creek. You musta missed me Kook. The bay was flat and prime for rompin. Nothing but an occasional rogue wave. This spot in front of Jacksons can be totally deceptive and I can see how what kook said could easily happen. BTDT

Good luck Kook... hope your bro is ok and that we can still meet up this season. You know how to PM if you get the urge.

BT :cool:

Kook,

First and foremost I'm glad you're ok and I wish your friend a speedy recovery.

I swore I saw you idle into Lloyds Sat afternoon. I called out to you but you didn't hear me.
You and your buddy were both wearing life vests.
I was sitting on my old 24' Formula with it's new owner.

My buddies did say they had been able to chat with you. Because of your problems with Bruce, I of course, knew who you were.

Feel free to call. 302 792 1885

Again my best wishes.
DAVE

Kook, hope everything turns out alright. Our thoughts and prayers are with your buddy for a speedy recovery. You will get through this and take a huge lesson away in the bargain. If there is anything I can do to help please feel free to e-mail.

Good Luck

Ike -
You've taken a lot of hacks for your posts. I was miffed also when I read them. You GOTTA be sure to make it clear that you are only reporting what you have HEARD, and not making judgements. I think that is exactly what you were doing, but your posts still sounded like they contained criticism.

In '92 I was testing my boat after even more cylinder porting and milling some more off the heads. It was a 16' padvee closed-bow runabout sporting a 2.4 fingerported Merc with a 225hp front half and one-piece heads. Boat including motor, battery, and fuel, plus myself, a helmet, vest, and four 45# tractor wheel weights scaled at just under 1,640 lbs. The motor on race gas and 185 psi cranking compression made somewhere near 270hp. There was a local sanctioned dragrace the upcoming weekend. I was making runs and stopping to read the plugs and piston crowns after each pass (in the water). I had been out there an hour or so.

A Metro cop pulled up to the ramp (the ramp is on a jetty that sticks out close to the channel). He waved me over. I pulled over to him and he asked me to step out of the boat. I was not real sure what he was up to, and asked him what was up. He pulled his gun on me and told me that I was under arrest and that I had ten seconds to slowly climb out of the boat and onto the shore with both of my hands in clear view.

I told him to calm down, that I would do exactly as he requested, but that I had prefer he holstered his weapon. He said that he would NOT, but that he would back away a few paces for my comfort. I told him that I wished for him to explain what the trouble was as I was coming out. He told me that he would explain as soon as he had me "secured". As I climbed out in the knee-deep shallow water (no, this is not at a ramp dock), I heard some folks cheering over at the nearby sand beach.

As I stood in the water, I asked him what I was supposed to do with the boat. He said that he could care less what I did with it since it was going to the impound anyhow. I told him that I would certainly appreciate it if he would allow me to trailer the boat (under his supervision and cocked 9mm) and he laughed. He said that I should pull the boat on the rocks and that impound would worry about trailering it. He did allow me to slowly walk the boat 10 yards away to a tire to beach it onto.

I allowed this turd to handcuff me and then asked for an explanation. He proudly told me that he was holding me for the Tn Wildlife & Resources Agency (who has jurisdiction on our lake) who would be arresting me for reckless operation of a motor vehicle and reckless endangerment and hopefully, assault with a vehicle. I was stupefied. He told me that the citizens who had been swimming at the beach area were terrified for their lives and that I had been operating the boat like a madman, completely out of control and that they had thought many times that I was going to run up the beach and kill them all. He also said that I had been seen passed out several times lying over the motor and that he had a breathalyzer truck on the way and that they were also equipped to draw blood which he intended to send to the labs to see what I was "on".

The only thing that kept me from collapsing with disbelief was that I knew the three TWRA rangers that handled this area of the lake. They knew me and knew my boating and racing history. I felt some form of hope.

The drug truck arrived before the TWRA and I happily blew a 0.000 for them. I told him I was NOT refusing the blood test, but insisted that we wait until the TWRA arrived to witness the procedure, which they agreed upon.

TWRA arrived about an hour after this debacle began. I did, in fact, know the officer/ranger. He listened calmly to the policeman, asked me my version (which I relayed as above) and then told the policeman that there was no need for a blood test. He then told the policeman that he was sorry that he had been troubled by this call since he found no cause for any charges to be brought against me. The policeman was infuriated, facing losing his collar of public enemy #1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Reluctantly he uncuffed me. He did give me a parking ticket because I had parked my truck and trailer across four spaces (the spaces were perpendicular to the ramp I was using and the parking lot was virtually empty on this Wednesday afternoon).

Point is, reports of "dangerous or reckless operation" are subjective and can be wildly exaggerated by those not familiar with high performance.

******************************
KOOK -

I am incredibly relieved to hear that you are undamaged. Your friend is in my prayers and I hope desperately that he recovers completely.

Mike

Glad your OK ( more or less ) and we wish a full and speedy recovery to your friend.

My prayers and thoughts are with you two. You were right in my back yard there in Northeast.

? Did the drive kick up and bend your swim platform up in the middle like the pictures show?

That scares me where the IMCO bolt together upper drive unit broke. Did the drive come apart on reentry and the lower turned and that caused the boat to turn so violently?

Speedy recovery for you both.

Glad you are ok. Keep us informed on your friends recovery.

Kook glad your ok , hope the best turns out! Our thoughts are with you and everyone involved

Damn I hate to hear this KooK. Hope you and your friend have a speedy recovery.

I can only say as everyone else has said. I hope you and your friend get through this o.k.

Kook,
I am sorry to hear about your accident. It can happen to anyone driving any kind of boat. I hope you and your friend have a speedy recovery. I will keep you and him in my prayers.
Dan

kook - thoughts and prayers bro! Keep your chin up, it will get better...

Kook..........Very sorry to hear about the accident, and its good to hear your are well. Hopefully your friend will recover soon. Take care buddy.........


Bob

kook-
Sorry to hear about your accident- good to hear you're OK- best wishes to your friend for a speedy recovery!

Jim

kook---

Glad to hear you're okay and so sorry to hear of your friend. I will hold him up in prayer for his recovery and I will be praying for you as well for what you are going through. And when I say I'm praying for you and your friend I MEAN IT! God bless you and your friend.

Mark/KAAMA

Kook, Our thoughts are with you and you're buddy. A speedy recovery to all involved. :) R'Addiction & Mrs. R'Addiction

Kook...

Just heard the awful news... Glad your doing ok, and my thoughts & prayers are with your buddy! Get well soon!

Woodsy:D

Kook

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Good luck to you and hope for a speedy recovery for your friend !

Bo

Kook
 

We wish your friend a speedy recovery.
Dave

kook,

glad to hear you are ok, and a speedy recovery to your friend.

kook,
Thanks for taking the time to clear things up amidst everything you are going through. I wish only Godspeed to your friend and you for a full and speedy recovery. I know this has got to be tough. I wish some people could be more sensitive to certain situations.

Damn! Haven't had the time to be on the board much lately and just saw the thread.

I agree with the others, it could happen to any of us that enjoy the thrill of high performance ________. You can fill in the blank with whatever fits your story: boats, bikes, planes, snowmobiles, cars, trucks, rock climbing, bicycles, and on & on.

Glad to hear your okay and I wish the best for your freind. :)

Kook, (Mark)

All of us at Sunsation extend our sincere prayers and wishes for you and your friend’s speedy recovery. You've always been straight up, responsible and pay attention to details, so please feel right in your heart about your accident and what happened to your friend, accidents are just that, no one plans them or intends to hurt anyone. The fact that you push the envelope with your boat and remain alcohol free speaks volume about your character and many should pay attention to that. Again, we're all sorry to hear about what happened and will keep you both in our thoughts and prayers

Sincerely,

David Hare
Chief Operating Officer
Sunsation Powerboats