Who had a close call Flipping there Boat?

[TCook]

I was browsing another site earlier today and read a thread about close calls with guys flipping their boat. I thought it would be an interesting read to hear from the michigan boaters who had almost flipped or crashed their boat on our huge waters. So who out there almost crashed and what were the series of events that caused the situation.

T

[thedude]

never almost flipped my boat, but i've definitley aired it out a few times.  BigJC was there one time...
its so dang light that if i'm not fishing w/ a partner i have to fill the livewells just to keep it in the water.

[Eric]

I have never come close to that.  I think I am too big of a sissy (or maybe too smart), and like my stuff too well, to have put myself in that position.  I can't tell you the number of times I was crossing the river to go to Erie and turned back because I didn't want to beat me, my partner, or my stuff up.  I have been to tournaments where it has happened, though.

[fish hound]

I had a prop loose its bite on Hardy two years ago and spin me out, scared the s@#$ out of me.  Slow sweeping turn, by myself, 71mph, and all i can figure is I hit something big enough to blow the water away from my prop but not big enough to hurt anything.  one minute you're running fine , the next you hear the rev limiter hit, the boat turns 90 degrees to the original line, and then it hooks and slams you into the side of the boat.  Scary as H#$%.  I sat there for about five minutes checking stuff out and thanking God nobody was with me, and went on fishing.  Never want it to happen again.

[Cy]

I was out on White Lake by myself last year.  I hit a large boat wake too fast and launched the boat in the air, somewhat unexpectedly.  At least I didn't expect to come out of the water as much as I did and at the angle I did.  When the boat landed, I landed in the passenger seat and the boat was going hard without a driver.  I managed to climb back into the drivers seat and power down.  Needless to say I was scared and shaking once it was over.  The lesson I learned was to wear my life jacket and kill switch especially when I am alone on the water.

When I first bought my boat I spent a lot of time on bassboatcentral.com.  The most common statement about running and driving bass boats was the need for seat time.  The more you drive your boat, the more comfortable you become and the more learn what it can and can't do.  More importantly you learn what you should and shouldn't do. 

Cy

[Dan]

I have never had a close call like that, but I know an angler that we fish with who was on Duck Lake at Interlochen in late November and had two drift socks out the back of the boat and in a moment of absent mindedness got behind the wheel with the socks still out and started up and engage the motor. The result the boat flipped over dumping the angler and his nephew in the cold water. With the wind blowing the boat drifted away fairly fast and neither had a life jacket on. His nephew was really struggling, but he managed to push him to the boat but they couldn't really get up on it. His nephew had a hold of something and ended up have to grab his uncle who start to loose muscle control and was struggling. For unknown reason just as the two were facing real trouble a cushion and life jacket popped out from under the boat and they were able to use them to stay afloat till help finally came. The uncle said he really thought he was going to die. Scary moment to say the least.

Hey Cy,
I have finished an hour long DVD using iMovie of our Florida Toho trip to the Federation Nation National Championship. Do you want to see it? We can meet or I'll send you a copy. It turned out pretty good.

[Waterfoul]

My fisning boat doesn't go fast enough to get into too much trouble... heck I even have a hard time getting it to slide!!  BUT:

I used to have a 24 Baja Outlaw that I raced from time to time.  Fast boat... modded big block chevy, performance drive, big long trim tabs, etc... it ran nice in anything up to about 3-4 foot on Lake Michigan.  Where I used to work we had a boat club.  Once a month we'd run from Holland to Saugatuck for dinner at Coral Gables.  One such time I was running flat out with 4 passengers plus myself.  We were doing an honest 62mph or so with a guy in a hopped up Powerquest running right next to me on the port side... too close really but every time I turned away he matched my turn.  Just as I was about to simply let him go past me the power steering belt broke on my boat and we made an abrupt right turn... spun out in the length of my boat!!  Everyone on the boat but me ended up on the floor under the front passenger seat.  I managed to keep hold of the wheel... bent the throttle lever a bit, but managed to pull it back far enough to not blow up the motor while spinning around.  If that guy had been running on my starboard side I'm pretty sure nobody would have been left to tell the story.  5000 lbs of boat made quite a splash too.... everyone anywhere near us thought for sure we went over.  To my amazement and relieve no one was hurt, not even a scratch.  Also to my amazement I didn't tear off a trim tab or damage the drive.

Ever try to get a single engine boat on plane with big block that had 500+ lbs of torque and no power steering??!!  Took two of us to hold the wheel just to get on plane so we could get into port.  Bought a belt in Saugatuck and ran home after dinner without issue.

[TritonTR20]

I'll never have a boat without a "Hot foot". Its good to have both hands on the wheel when you are doing 65+..Weather its a rouge boat wake or rough water they are worth the price.

[fish hound]

I'll never have a boat without a "Hot foot". Its good to have both hands on the wheel when you are doing 65+..Weather its a rouge boat wake or rough water they are worth the price.

I agree 100%.  They should be standard equipment.

[1javelin]

TCook and I were on Muskegon last year, and anyone that was out there can remember this.  We were straight across from the launch, by the weed flat everyone fishes, and were planing back in to drift it again when I looked down on my side and there, not 2 feet from the boat at about 50mph or so, was that awful cement block or whatever it was that had no markers on it.  I about s#!^ myself when I saw that thing, luckily fly past us.  I didn't see it at all this year, so I assume it got removed, but man was I ever looking!!!

1Jav

[fishon1219]

I was fishing the NBAA Super One on One this past season on St.Clair. Had my PFD and Kill switch hooked up and everyhting was running good. Flat calm on the lake and I have it trimmed out and running top speed. I was heading from Harly down to the Delphine with Dartag running about 200yards ahead of me. Running in 9 ft of water and all of a sudden my boat takes a sharp starboard turn throwing me out of the drivers seat and almost out of the boat on the port side. I was hanging on for all I had to keep from falling over. The tether pulled the kill switch almost instantly and killed power to the motor. I went back through the area and looked for anything at all I could have hit, but never saw anything.

Moral of this story. Had I not had the tether attached I would have been swimming and my boat would have been idling away from me.

Always were your PFD and kill switch attached even on short runs Always, Always, Always. YOu just never know what can happen.

[Dan]

I'll second that. I was running wide open on St. Clair a few years ago and went by a floating heavy wooden picnic table that was floating with the top barely visible. Missed it by just a few feet. I have to admit that I have not always tethered the kill switch, but I am very good about wearing the PFD. After reading these, I am going to make sure that the kill switch is always tethered. I worked as an observer down at the B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Championship, and they gave all the volunteers a Mustang SOS PFD. So now I have suspenders to wear when its hot. They are really comfortable.

[MBell]

I've never come close to flipping my boat, it's all how you drive it.  I've come close in other peoples boats though.  Boat wakes on calm days have been my closest calls.  I prefer a little chop on busy lakes like St. Clair, on calm days those wakes will travel for miles.  I also found a  giant picnic table in St. Clair last spring. Who knows how something that big ends up in the lake.
-Matt

[csfishslayer]

Last year I was out and did not know the boat I just bought had a stress crack across the back half of the bottom got going about 40 or so mph and hit a boat wake and ripped the whole bottom driver side off  man what fun that was boat started going down but a good pump and quick action got me back to the ramp just in time. that boat was so full of water it I almost didn't make it . so beware when buying them used boats you never know.

[TritonTR20]

I flipped mine 2.5 times aboiut 15 years ago, but it was still attached to the truck! Nothing like being upside down in the middle of the road 4hrs from home. Totaled the truck and boat. Does that count?