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VLXRonnie

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Has anyone notified the BOR or the state parks of a underwater hazard that are not marked with buoy's?

I had an unfortunate episode this past Saturday. First off let me say that I was teaching a buddy of mine's friend to wake board. He previously tried 3 separate times and was losing faith that he was going to be able to get up. Let just say that the third time he tried he was up and boarding. Probably atributed to the BU. Whoo Hoo! So while I looked in my mirror to check the rider, I quickly glance down to raise the volume on the stereo. Then suddenly the boat stops instantly. Bad sign #1. My buddy is tossed from the back corner of the boat and slams into the observers seat. The CFO who is sitting opposite of my buddy and slams into the back of my seat. Immediately the boat dies and everything is quiet. Meanwhile the rider bailed and was walking up to the boat with the board in one hand and the rope in the other. I thought that was bad sign # 2. Surprisingly I was calm and not even angry. All I could think of was that our day is ruined. We just started and he was the first rider. We were probably only on the lake 20 mins.

So my buddy and I get out and are standing in 1 1/2 ft of water. Bad sign #3. My ego is feeling quite bruised at this moment. Really a sucky feeling. After sulking for a few minutes we begin trying to pushing the boat to see if we could get it off the sand bar. Unfortunately the BU was in there good. After about 10 min's I finally swallow my pride and try and flag down a boat and ask for asistance. This boat towing a tube not more that 20 -30 feet from us. I am thinking that if we were towing someone and see someone walking all around their boat that gotta be a bad sign #4. His 1st try his boat was not powerfull enough to pull my boat out. I immediately start thinking this is gonna suck and probably be expensive! So while I am still thinking clearly and not full of anger from the situation, we finally try lifting the boat from the rear transom while the boat pulls from the front bow ring. Thankfully it works and we are pulled free of our sandy perch. Now that I am free I start diving under boat to try and asses the damage, clean all the mud off the rudder, skaggs, prop, and raw water intake strainer. After everything is clear I decide to start her up and see how bad it really is. That is ofcourse if she will even start at all. Feeling the prop under the water it did not fell all that bad. Believe me I have done worse. Surprisingly there was very little vibration and the Bu ran fine. That being said, just to be safe I called it a day and pull the boat out to get a visual of the damage. After we limp back to the ramp, pulled the Bu out there is no apparent damage to the hull, rudder, or skaggs. The only damage is a slight dog ear to the blades of the prop. It looks almost like it was engineered that way. I will however get under the boat Weds to remove the prop to get it fixed and take a much more detailed look. Hopefully everything turns out like my initial assessment. I will keep my fingers crossed and pray that the strut and shaft are not bent. I think the saving grace may have been it was just mud and not rocks or something else.

Like The Book DVD said you should slowly cruise the path to check the depth of the area you will be using. But honestly, how many of you do that? Granted the lake here in CA are dropping extremely fast but I have been to Berryessa numerous times. Ahh Well SH#$ happens and hopefully it wont cost a fortune. I guess we will know that the lake is really low when we start seeing the town start to be exposed from the low level. I havent personally saw the town but I have heard about it. Who knows ???

Anyways that's my recent encounter and I hope to get buoy's out to warn potential other victims. Hopefully everyone can learn from this and not do what I did. Maybe even give constructive criticism :unsure: .

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Has anyone notified the BOR or the state parks of a underwater hazard that are not marked with buoy's?

I had an unfortunate episode this past Saturday. First off let me say that I was teaching a buddy of mine's friend to wake board. He previously tried 3 separate times and was losing faith that he was going to be able to get up. Let just say that the third time he tried he was up and boarding. Probably atributed to the BU. Whoo Hoo! So while I looked in my mirror to check the rider, I quickly glance down to raise the volume on the stereo. Then suddenly the boat stops instantly. Bad sign #1. My buddy is tossed from the back corner of the boat and slams into the observers seat. The CFO who is sitting opposite of my buddy and slams into the back of my seat. Immediately the boat dies and everything is quiet. Meanwhile the rider bailed and was walking up to the boat with the board in one hand and the rope in the other. I thought that was bad sign # 2. Surprisingly I was calm and not even angry. All I could think of was that our day is ruined. We just started and he was the first rider. We were probably only on the lake 20 mins.

So my buddy and I get out and are standing in 1 1/2 ft of water. Bad sign #3. My ego is feeling quite bruised at this moment. Really a sucky feeling. After sulking for a few minutes we begin trying to pushing the boat to see if we could get it off the sand bar. Unfortunately the BU was in there good. After about 10 min's I finally swallow my pride and try and flag down a boat and ask for asistance. This boat towing a tube not more that 20 -30 feet from us. I am thinking that if we were towing someone and see someone walking all around their boat that gotta be a bad sign #4. His 1st try his boat was not powerfull enough to pull my boat out. I immediately start thinking this is gonna suck and probably be expensive! So while I am still thinking clearly and not full of anger from the situation, we finally try lifting the boat from the rear transom while the boat pulls from the front bow ring. Thankfully it works and we are pulled free of our sandy perch. Now that I am free I start diving under boat to try and asses the damage, clean all the mud off the rudder, skaggs, prop, and raw water intake strainer. After everything is clear I decide to start her up and see how bad it really is. That is ofcourse if she will even start at all. Feeling the prop under the water it did not fell all that bad. Believe me I have done worse. Surprisingly there was very little vibration and the Bu ran fine. That being said, just to be safe I called it a day and pull the boat out to get a visual of the damage. After we limp back to the ramp, pulled the Bu out there is no apparent damage to the hull, rudder, or skaggs. The only damage is a slight dog ear to the blades of the prop. It looks almost like it was engineered that way. I will however get under the boat Weds to remove the prop to get it fixed and take a much more detailed look. Hopefully everything turns out like my initial assessment. I will keep my fingers crossed and pray that the strut and shaft are not bent. I think the saving grace may have been it was just mud and not rocks or something else.

Like The Book DVD said you should slowly cruise the path to check the depth of the area you will be using. But honestly, how many of you do that? Granted the lake here in CA are dropping extremely fast but I have been to Berryessa numerous times. Ahh Well SH#$ happens and hopefully it wont cost a fortune. I guess we will know that the lake is really low when we start seeing the town start to be exposed from the low level. I havent personally saw the town but I have heard about it. Who knows ???

Anyways that's my recent encounter and I hope to get buoy's out to warn potential other victims. Hopefully everyone can learn from this and not do what I did. Maybe even give constructive criticism :unsure: .

Wow and good luck!

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Unfortunately with the shortage of lake water we have you just have no other option but to survey the area where you plan on riding, other than that I don't know what else can be done. Informing the Sheriff about the hazard certainly is the best so others avoid it. If accidents keep happening they may close the lake such as they did w/ Folsom. Hope nothing else is affected.

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Like The Book DVD said you should slowly cruise the path to check the depth of the area you will be using. But honestly, how many of you do that? Granted the lake here in CA are dropping extremely fast but I have been to Berryessa numerous times. Ahh Well SH#$ happens and hopefully it wont cost a fortune. I guess we will know that the lake is really low when we start seeing the town start to be exposed from the low level. I havent personally saw the town but I have heard about it. Who knows ???
What Lake?

;)

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Like The Book DVD said you should slowly cruise the path to check the depth of the area you will be using. But honestly, how many of you do that? Granted the lake here in CA are dropping extremely fast but I have been to Berryessa numerous times. Ahh Well SH#$ happens and hopefully it wont cost a fortune. I guess we will know that the lake is really low when we start seeing the town start to be exposed from the low level. I havent personally saw the town but I have heard about it. Who knows ???
What Lake?

;)

Ah- well that explains it...

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wow that sucks!!! Fortunately it sounds like under $100 prop repair versus a couple of grand!

I always check out the depth when I go to a lake that I don't know. OR, because the Arizona lakes go up and down a lot, I will do the same for a lake that I'm at all the time. Lake Roosevelt, AZ is notorious for dropping and rising after the winters or summers. We normally cruise back in the cove that we like to ride at and find out the depth before riding.

I might be a bit more cautious than the normal since I always had to deal with reef in Hawaii. Very scary!!!

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Could have been worst...it could have happened to me. (just kidding... Tease.gif ) Seriuosly, it could have been worst if you had your wedge down.

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I'd be shocked if nothing else was bent at all but maybe you got lucky. To stick a boat that hard I would think might bend the rudder or strut backward a little, even if it was soft ground. May not be overly obvious just looking at it, but probably wouldn't hurt to have a pro look at it.

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Where on Berryessa did this happen? I plan to go up this weekend and curious if it's where I usually run.

Boy if you can run where you usually go, it must be ever shallower than where Ronnie went... :)

Edited by 1FootDan
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]I think the saving grace may have been it was just mud and not rocks or something else.

I'm keeping my figures crossed for you, but can say a Bu can take a hit like this with out having a problem some times. One thing your going to want to do is pull your impeller and inspect if for sand, mud to make sure it was not taken out. Also keep and eye on the temps for a little bit just in case the thermostat has sand stuck in or blocking it.

JM2c

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Well the first prognosis is the Prop is the only thing that I can see damaged. There are a few 2" scratches on the forward most keel but thats it. The shaft, strut, rudder, and skaggs show no signs of damage. I still want to take it to the dealer and have them check it out. But from my first prognosis in am a little more optimistic and even quite relieved. I will say that the Bu took one hell-of-a-hit and with the minimal damage so far is pretty sweet. Saving grace i think was that it was a new rider and I was not going very fast. Because of the new rider, I had no ballast or wedge. Knock on wood (knock...knock) we will see what the dealer says.

Edited by VLXRonnie
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Well the first prognosis is the Prop is the only thing that I can see damaged. There are a few 2" scratches on the forward most keel but thats it. The shaft, strut, rudder, and skaggs show no signs of damage. I still want to take it to the dealer and have them check it out. But from my first prognosis in am a little more optimistic and even quite relieved. I will say that the Bu took one hell-of-a-hit and with the minimal damage so far is pretty sweet. Saving grace i think was that it was a new rider and I was not going very fast. Because of the new rider, I had no ballast or wedge. Knock on wood (knock...knock) we will see what the dealer says.

Glad no one was hurt! Sounds like it may turn out to be ok! Good Luck.

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Can you tell us where you were on Berryessa?

I've made a point to stay more in the middle of the lake than I normally do this year, I have a pretty good idea of where things are when the lake is at it's normal level range, but being so low has got me a bit spooked. I saw some islands on our last trip that I didn't know existed.

I had a close call on Shasta a few years ago, I had picked up my sister at the dock after a late night arrival and was taking her back to the houseboat in the dark. I had my running lights on and a full moon, but that was about it. I was in what I thought was the middle of the channel going about 30mph watching my depth meter and all of the sudden it went from 100' to 75' to 30' to 10' to 5'.........eek. A late night power turn was in order. Threw my sister all over the inside of the boat, but averted a major disaster. Turns out there was a sort of underwater peninsula jutting out 100' or so into the lake. Since then, I keep a wary eye on the depth meter in unfamiliar waters, and now even Berryessa is unfamiliar to me.

Glad to hear that you may have gotten away relatively unscathed, Berryessa does have some of the most forgiving powdery mud.

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Take a good look around the strut for stress cracks. The few weve got in the shop over the last few weeks looked good but fractured a lot of the structure. Hopefully you got lucky!!

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Can you tell us where you were on Berryessa?

I've made a point to stay more in the middle of the lake than I normally do this year, I have a pretty good idea of where things are when the lake is at it's normal level range, but being so low has got me a bit spooked. I saw some islands on our last trip that I didn't know existed.

I had a close call on Shasta a few years ago, I had picked up my sister at the dock after a late night arrival and was taking her back to the houseboat in the dark. I had my running lights on and a full moon, but that was about it. I was in what I thought was the middle of the channel going about 30mph watching my depth meter and all of the sudden it went from 100' to 75' to 30' to 10' to 5'.........eek. A late night power turn was in order. Threw my sister all over the inside of the boat, but averted a major disaster. Turns out there was a sort of underwater peninsula jutting out 100' or so into the lake. Since then, I keep a wary eye on the depth meter in unfamiliar waters, and now even Berryessa is unfamiliar to me.

Glad to hear that you may have gotten away relatively unscathed, Berryessa does have some of the most forgiving powdery mud.

That happened too me during the day on the southern end of the sac arm. One minute I was at 200' then hit about 10' and then saw the small faded metal marker bouy. Overted a major problem as I was at WOT at that time in the beloved classic.

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WOW!!! I sure hope he did not RUN aground that far... I hope for his sake it broke down and was left while the lake dropped.

How would you get that out???? I've never seen anything like a crane on Berry. There is a recovery craft (couple winches on a "U" shaped barge Ive seen @ Steele park. It maybe could lift the stern and drag it back in...

Good luck...

P

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Found this on PN. This also happened on Berryessa. Supposedly from last weekend.

beached.jpg

Wow, does anyone know how this happend?

It could possibly be a chine lock issue or maybe excessive alcohol consumption.

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