freaky boat accident.....

[nuadixion]

...really dont know what to $#@!~ happened.....calm seas, good visibility, going back on 21 foot Trophy powered by 225hp at crusing speed 26 knots...nicely planing .... then something hits the hull but not to serious....then engine goes flying up and OFF the boat!!......totally torn off the boat...all cables hanging loose... the metal bracket holding the motor to the boat torn off in half......what ta %$$#@ was that!!! We all standing there looking around .... NOTHING...absolutely nothing in the water !?

Put the kicker in and carried on.....in total shock.....
I am glad nobody got hurt (except my wallet) but what the hell was that about!?... A whale?
Any thoughts?

[Mtn Man]

submarine!

[pnbrock]

ruskies !!!!sumarines are everywhere beware,.

[doubleeagle]

Where did this happen

[Whonnock Boy]

Whale?????

[Poguebilt]

Deadhead..... seen lots floating 1-2 feet under water....

[sky-gunner]

Deadhead is a definite possibility, especially if you we're near any log towing areas. Any marks on the hull?

[ActionJackson017]

Yeah, check the hull and see what kind of marks you have on it. What depth of water were you in?

[nuadixion]

Howe Sound ... not near log towing areas....but there are floaters.....deep water....very well known route....travel on it frequently....no marks on the hull ....
I thought of dead head....but hull impact would push it down..no?

[Sofa King]

pics or it didn't happen.
jk.

i'd say deadhead.
i hit a stump floating beneath the surface.
but i had my motor unlocked and was cruising fairly slow.
it still shot my motor up and scared the shite outta me.
i can only imagine the damage had the motor been locked.

[guest]

Suspended dead head, not all break the surface, or when they do it can be only temporarily.

good to hear your ok ....... nice new motor coming your way with insurance ??

CT

[howa1500]

Definitely a dead head!

[freonguy]

Too bad about the accident -

With the high tides this time of year, there are all kinds of dead heads - think of a 18'' - 24 '' stick 60 feet long hanging vertical a couple feet below the surface and the motor hits it dead on - one thing is going to give and it isn't the dead head.

I live in Gibsons, there is crap everywhere - especially now. Had a workmate who ripped the transom right off his 20 foot boat 10 years ago - deadhead.

Good luck with whoever your insurance agent is - hope that part goes smoothly.

Freonguy

[Iron Glove]

Hitting deadheads and assorted semi floating debris is the number one cause of boat insurance claims in BC. I write cheques for these types of claims on a regular basis.
Likely, as others have said it was a deadhead.
Should be a pretty straight forward insurance claim depending on who you are insured with. Hope you have replacement cost ( i.e. "new for old" ) for repairs and not Actual Cash Value.
PM me if you have any problems with your claim.

[nuadixion]

Would not Deadhead be pushed down by the hull impact? I was not very deep - planing ....26 kt....prop mostly 1 foot below surface?

[Allen50]

sea monster,,, send pic,,sounds bad,, glad noone got hirt or had to swim,,,

[Ozone]

Do your props not sit lower than your hull?

[IronNoggin]

Would not Deadhead be pushed down by the hull impact? I was not very deep - planing ....26 kt....prop mostly 1 foot below surface?

Not if the deadhead was submerged just enough to clear the hull yet still impact the leg...

Buddy had it happen in the Alberni Inlet a couple years back. Removed the entire leg (inboard) - they managed to make it to shore (impacted hard enough to ground the rig) before she sank. Damn Lucky!

Cheers,
Nog

[doubleeagle]

As stated I've seen them just inches under the surface. Scares the crap out of you. Alberni Inlet you got to keep your eyes open all the time

[nuadixion]

Do your props not sit lower than your hull?
With engine trimed up for planing speed the prop in not that low......the hull hit something first....i thought that impact would have pushed the object down ...no?

[nuadixion]

As for insurance - I am stupid enough not to have it....have had the boat for ages (dry moored marina storage) and did not seem I needed it...

[mikeboehm]

it happened to my and my grandfather in the port alberni inlet 1992ish. we were going at cruising and all off a sudden the 50 horse johnson came up and flew. it broke the locks and wrecked it. in our case we hit an underwater cable from a commercial fishing boat to the shore. it was not marked in any way. the past paqrt was the coast gaurd saw this happen. they got a massive fine abnd they had to buy us a brand new motor. brand new johnson 70 horse oil injected 2 stroke. it was the scariest thing ive seen on the water. i was 13 years old

[proguide66]

Did the same in my Grady , new 225 yammy. ( same area) , the guy at the yammy dealership said they get NUMEROUS weekly cases from there and the Fraser , showed me two boats with legs tore right off from the same week. Thoe two areas are LOADED with shit , lots of under surface dead heads....feel for ya , that impact/fright isnt one to be re lived too soon !!

[cdnshooter13]

Tons of crap floating around out there right now(big tides), we took at least 4 or 5 logs in the wheel in a two week trip. Howe sound was probly the worst of it, definately not the place I'd be going over 20 knots in a plastic boat.

[longstonec]

I hit a humpback at about 30knots. tore off trim tab and smashed up engine but not that badly.

I also hit a sunken ( neutral buoyancy just below the surface) stump and that nearly took the engine off. snapped the hydraulic trim ram off and threw the cowling off.

long story short you hit a samsquamch in a submarine.

[One Shot]

DEAD HEAD just under the surface of the water. Lots of them around including Howe Sound. Howe sound has the highest density of floatsom in the area outside of the lower reaches of the Fraser. It comes down the Squamish and does not seem to flush out of the sound or beach well. It happened to our leg 3 years ago, $10k to repair. Thank goodness for insurance. Hit something last Oct/11 but no mark on the hull and fortunately no damage.

[longstonec]

With engine trimed up for planing speed the prop in not that low......the hull hit something first....i thought that impact would have pushed the object down ...no?


if your prop is above the bottom of the boat you won't go very fast. it will just cavitate.

[604redneck]

It quite possibly could have been a whale or a dead head, when i used to commercial fish we would hear about a whale getting killed by a boat once or twice a year and dead heads are hit quite often by boaters so really either is possible. That or a russian submarine lol.

[huntcoop]

As for insurance - I am stupid enough not to have it....have had the boat for ages (dry moored marina storage) and did not seem I needed it...

Bummer about the motor, tough lesson to learn, bet the new one will be insured.

[tim3500]

Maybe the next unit will have a jet drive

[YAMMY-CA]

Likely a whale-sounds like a typical Trophy with a rotted transom otherwise motor would not have been torn off

[Iron Glove]

Likely a whale-sounds like a typical Trophy with a rotted transom otherwise motor would not have been torn off

The bracket broke and from what he said, it appears that the transom remained reasonably intact or he likely would've sunk so I don't know if you can attribute it to a rotted transom.
We see this a lot on claims where the leg gets torn right off.

[Ajsawden]

The hull bumping the deadhead would NOT have pushed the log down. As previously mentioned, it was probably sitting vertically in the water, upwards of 60 feet long. Regardless of the diameter of the log, it would be extremely heavy. The inertia forces associated with a log being totally submerged in water would make it hitting equivalent to hitting a reef.

This incident really gets me thinkin. I often find dead heads floating a few inches above the water and mark them with any means i have available. It's scary to think what lurks just below the surface even in areas we are familiar with. I'm glad everyone was ok. Its too bad things area really broken but it's one of those problems easily fixed by throwing money at it.

[Coyote]

Worked down the Alberni canal years ago and saw this many times. No you won't push the log down, the boat will ride up over it. We eliminated the problem for the most part by having a skeg installed in front of the motor on the bottom of the hull. Don;t leave home without it.

'yote

[nuadixion]

The hull bumping the deadhead would NOT have pushed the log down. As previously mentioned, it was probably sitting vertically in the water, upwards of 60 feet long. Regardless of the diameter of the log, it would be extremely heavy. The inertia forces associated with a log being totally submerged in water would make it hitting equivalent to hitting a reef.

This incident really gets me thinkin. I often find dead heads floating a few inches above the water and mark them with any means i have available. It's scary to think what lurks just below the surface even in areas we are familiar with. I'm glad everyone was ok. Its too bad things area really broken but it's one of those problems easily fixed by throwing money at it.

I think you are on the money. My kids like the "Samsquach in the Submarine" theory best :)

And yes - the next engine will be insured :)

Thank you all for your input.

Stay safe out there.
Samsquach is lurking.....

Merry christmas to all.

[huntcoop]

What's the price tag on that faux pas?

[nuadixion]

What's the price tag on that faux pas?
motor replacement roughly - $7-8k
:(

[NovemberBravo]

I was with my dad on our ski boat in a lake and hit a log with someone behind the boat. Scared me to death but probably not as much as having the engine fly off :). Hope you get your new engine without filling your wallet with tears :-D.
Have a good one
NB

[nuadixion]

After close examination it was determined the motor was TWISTED off.....meaning something hit the motor sideways...like a torpedo......
Boat was going at 26 knots.....how big and fast the object must be to cause a side twist of that magnitude? I am still shocked.....

[cdnshooter13]

After close examination it was determined the motor was TWISTED off.....meaning something hit the motor sideways...like a torpedo......
Boat was going at 26 knots.....how big and fast the object must be to cause a side twist of that magnitude? I am still shocked.....

A torpedo?? In howe sound eh?? Lolol! Mmmmkay. It was a deadhead, shit gets effed up fast when ur going 26knots and the motor could very easily looked like it twisted off who knows which way the log was orientated when u hit it. As i mentioned in my earlier post there was alot of shit floating around the sound early december due to the tides and doing 26knots may be a little fast for the conditions, we took a bunch of wood in the wheel that trip. Years ago a rivtow tug was lost off sechelt no mayday and all hands lost they figure that it may have been a stray torpedo from whisky gulf that hit them but there never was a definate answer.

[nuadixion]

well..... there are signs of prop hitting the bottom of port side of the hull...notch in the hull and both of the drain through-hull fittings are clean cut off......I know there were a lot of stuff floating around....I am on these waters on weekly basis but never let my guard down. I cant imagine it simply hitting a deadhead. The force from the impact at that speed would be directed at the front of the engine not the side.....

[SUAFOYT]

Ouch. That's gotta hurt. Hate to think what a new replacement will set you back.

[cdnshooter13]

In your original post u said "something hit the hull but not too serious, then the motor goes flying off!!" So you think whatever took your motor off came from your beam and gently tapped on the side of your hull and then hit you with enough force from the side to tear your engine off?? U hit a sinker with ur keel which wasn't too violent cause you were planing and it takes very little force to move them vertically but it wasn't far enough down to clear your leg thus ripping ur motor off. Or it was a torpedo fired from a samsquanch captained submarine;)

[BlacktailStalker]

Your 3500lb boat isn't going to push down a 20,000lb water logged, 4' at the butt fir or cedar. Could have clipped a busted off branch stem on the side that missed the hull. Either way you're lucky.

[Scotty-B]

I'd put money on a dead head. I've been recovering guys stuck in your predicament for the last 12 years since I started with the Coast Guard. We get as many SAR calls relating to this sort of incident as any. A log with neutral buoyancy would not move worth a damn if you tried to jam it out of the way doing 26 knots.

Even on this 210 foot boat with an ice strengthened hull, when we hit a 15 foot log at 12 knots, you feel it throughout the vessel. Typically, we try to avoid them all together, but in six meter seas under an eight foot chop in 70 kph winds, it is hard to see them till the last second. By then it is too late. Narrow channels don't allow for much wiggle room either.

[nuadixion]

...yea...but would not the motor go on the least resistance and swing upwards.....it went 90 degrees sideways....cutting off drain fittings and making marks at the bottom of the hull.
the sea was calm.....plaining...not much draft.....? I know, deadhead seems most likely ......

[Scotty-B]

The log could have been floating on an angle under the surface deflecting the outboard during a side type impact. Once one of the mounts fractures, that much torque would allow the engine to shove its self sideways and even spin itself off the mounts. I've seen the results of the engine flipping right upside down as it spun on the remaining transom bolts before snapping off completely.

Regardless, glad everyone was ok.

[nuadixion]

The log could have been floating on an angle under the surface deflecting the outboard during a side type impact. Once one of the mounts fractures, that much torque would allow the engine to shove its self sideways and even spin itself off the mounts. I've seen the results of the engine flipping right upside down as it spun on the remaining transom bolts before snapping off completely.

Regardless, glad everyone was ok.

For the future...how would you avoid/prevent this sort of thing from happening?
thanks

[Scotty-B]

For the future...how would you avoid/prevent this sort of thing from happening?
thanks

Always be ready for anything. We never take a hand off the throttles and we have learned instinctively to power back to nothing immediately. These things do happen. Running around in a pleasure cruiser is quite a bit different than the high intensity type stuff that we run our boats in, so you are not going to be working the throttles the same way. This will make reaction time a little slower for you, but if you are going to be hauling ass, it is always a good idea to keep one hand on the sticks where you can react as fast as possible. The damage can be done in the blink of an eye, but at least you will know that you were doing your part to minimize the pain.

[Onesock]

slow down!

[Mike_R]

Pictures? Any damage to the prop? Which way was the bottom of the leg thrown? If it was towards the Starboard (right) side of the boat, it was likely a blade of the prop catching on something. Is hitting a rock a possibility?

Mike

[835]

Deadhead..... seen lots floating 1-2 feet under water....

Yep, Gets my vote.
unless you blasted over a reef.

Big logs can be nutral buoyancy and "Float" just under the surface. I was trolling in 300' of water.... Deepest line was 150 ish and we went over something that took both sides out. Nice and evenly. im sure it was a log

[835]

Always be ready for anything. We never take a hand off the throttles and we have learned instinctively to power back to nothing immediately. These things do happen. Running around in a pleasure cruiser is quite a bit different than the high intensity type stuff that we run our boats in, so you are not going to be working the throttles the same way. This will make reaction time a little slower for you, but if you are going to be hauling ass, it is always a good idea to keep one hand on the sticks where you can react as fast as possible. The damage can be done in the blink of an eye, but at least you will know that you were doing your part to minimize the pain.


Yep, thats about it. You were in one of the situations that scares the hell out of me. I have spent my life on the water and that is the one thing that really gets me. The only thing you can do is make sure you got one hand on the wheel and one on the gas at all times and make sure you are wearing a life jacket at all times.

[nuadixion]

Yep, thats about it. You were in one of the situations that scares the hell out of me. I have spent my life on the water and that is the one thing that really gets me. The only thing you can do is make sure you got one hand on the wheel and one on the gas at all times and make sure you are wearing a life jacket at all times.
Yes it is not funny...but it is ....I always keep my hand on the wheel and other on the throttle ...... I am not trying to go fast, but optimal speed/RPM combo...it seems to be around 26 knots.....
And Again ......the impact was not Significant at All......next time I will take photos to show how the metal plate is torn off. Trim and tilt are still there.
Lately I started examining the logs/trees washed out on the beach....some of them Do have Serious roots sticking out....it would be Very Hard to jump over them......
Now the life jackets idea does not sound so paranoid.

[835]

Serious, I have thought about what you did a thousand times on the water..... its the "What if" situation..... Well you got to live it.
Dad does a tone of Winter fishing.. He has a floater suit that is built to fish in..... I think its called "Must move" its a Mustang product. Any way it'll make ya float around a bit....

[Opinionated Ol Phart]

I hit a salmon shark off Bamfield years ago. Motor kick clear of the water.... though I had only a bent prop until I realized the swivel bracket was badly cracked. Insurance paid for it luckily. The shark was about 7-8ft and didnt survive the encounter