I did it this time.....30 foot submerged tree

[Chisco]

Thankful you are ok....Santee Cooper is my home lake. I run the leash. Lucky the motor didn't come back in the boat with you.

To each their own, but you are probably 10000 times or more likely to be thrown out the boat in this instance than motor coming on board. Thankfully, he is ok. Always wear a life jacket when up on plane.

[louievito]

Thank you for the replies. It was lake moomaw in va. One of the cleanest lakes I fish....up river sees some floaters, but down lake in the middle minus no crazy weather it's usually pretty clean...I've been operating a boat for many, many years. Always careful. I guess the minor chop from a large number of boats that went out 15 minutes before me and the sun coming up made it hard to see the already mostly submerged tree. I saw the two little knots in the picture and had just begun to turn but it was too late. I was at 5k rpms so I would say upper 50's on speed. The impact did not even break the tree. I'm pretty sure the motor did its job as it was off when the 360 stopped and all kinds of alarms on my garmin hooked to nema. Couldn't have happened at a worse time as I am moving to Smith mountain lake the end of April. I am tickled pink that I was just sore and nothing major, but being boatless is pure devastation. It's all I do all year Long.
Depending on insurance, I may look at new boat or slightly used. Mechanic said easy 12k job just with midsection and lower unit. Who knows if anything broke in the motor itself . I was the second boat to hit it. Makes me feel a little better knowing it was almost impossible to see.

[rangered]

Well looks like you’re getting a new motor as parts not available let’s hope. Glad
your Ok everything else can be fixed or replaced. Good luck

[BassinPaPaw]

Glad you’re ok first and foremost. Motor can be replaced. You cannot.

[tcesni]

Thank you for the replies. It was lake moomaw in va. One of the cleanest lakes I fish....up river sees some floaters, but down lake in the middle minus no crazy weather it's usually pretty clean...I've been operating a boat for many, many years. Always careful. I guess the minor chop from a large number of boats that went out 15 minutes before me and the sun coming up made it hard to see the already mostly submerged tree. I saw the two little knots in the picture and had just begun to turn but it was too late. I was at 5k rpms so I would say upper 50's on speed. The impact did not even break the tree. I'm pretty sure the motor did its job as it was off when the 360 stopped and all kinds of alarms on my garmin hooked to nema. Couldn't have happened at a worse time as I am moving to Smith mountain lake the end of April. I am tickled pink that I was just sore and nothing major, but being boatless is pure devastation. It's all I do all year Long.
Depending on insurance, I may look at new boat or slightly used. Mechanic said easy 12k job just with midsection and lower unit. Who knows if anything broke in the motor itself . I was the second boat to hit it. Makes me feel a little better knowing it was almost impossible to see.

The sun can be blinding this time of year. SML has a lot more debris than Moomaw but I’m sure you already know that. Good that you weren’t seriously injured.

[OkieLure]

[vafishing]

Thank you for the replies. It was lake moomaw in va. One of the cleanest lakes I fish....up river sees some floaters, but down lake in the middle minus no crazy weather it's usually pretty clean...I've been operating a boat for many, many years. Always careful. I guess the minor chop from a large number of boats that went out 15 minutes before me and the sun coming up made it hard to see the already mostly submerged tree. I saw the two little knots in the picture and had just begun to turn but it was too late. I was at 5k rpms so I would say upper 50's on speed. The impact did not even break the tree. I'm pretty sure the motor did its job as it was off when the 360 stopped and all kinds of alarms on my garmin hooked to nema. Couldn't have happened at a worse time as I am moving to Smith mountain lake the end of April. I am tickled pink that I was just sore and nothing major, but being boatless is pure devastation. It's all I do all year Long.
Depending on insurance, I may look at new boat or slightly used. Mechanic said easy 12k job just with midsection and lower unit. Who knows if anything broke in the motor itself . I was the second boat to hit it. Makes me feel a little better knowing it was almost impossible to see.

Possible glass damage too if those spider cracks weren't there before. Gel doesn't just Spider typically, Gelcoat spiders when the fibreglass below it flexes. The glass may be ok as it can flex some and rebound but worth having someone check it out.

[billnorman1]

Apparently you don't think you can recover your L/U. I turned a boat over once and a local Scuba guy welcomed the chance to show off his stuff, went down and recovered my gear and refused payment.

It's not likely to go anywhere.

[PsuHntr]

Apparently you don't think you can recover your L/U. I turned a boat over once and a local Scuba guy welcomed the chance to show off his stuff, went down and recovered my gear and refused payment.

It's not likely to go anywhere.

not that it couldn't possibly be done but that lake is incredibly deep in most spots

[billnorman1]

Well if you can see a fish fart on FFS maybe, just maybe somebody experienced could locate it. Than again, maybe not.

[DucksnBobs]

lol best part of this post.... I tried to fish back to the ramp but was too shook up. You sir are tougher than me.

I WOULD OF NEEDED NEW DRAWERS, a real stiff sip of something alcoholic and possibly a smoke (I havent smoked in over 10 years, but if I did a 360 in a boat at speed, good chance i would of needed one) before I even thought about fishing. Really glad you are ok, as you could possibly not even be fortunate enough to be making this post.

I hit a log last year, had that instant sinking feeling milliseconds before I hit it thinking "this is going to be really bad". Same situation, barely saw it and by the time I saw it, too late. I was overly lucky though as that log must of been 98% rotten because as soon as I hit it, the biggest amount of wood chunks just blew up behind my boat. I barely even felt the impact. What was once a log, was now just a bunch of 2-5 inch blocks floating in the water.

[blkfalc4]

Possible option: https://www.bbcboards.net/showthread.php?t=1258050

[WVBullet]

That would make me sick. Glad you’re ok.

[StumpDonkey]

Yikes! Glad you're ok.

[louievito]

Apparently you don't think you can recover your L/U. I turned a boat over once and a local Scuba guy welcomed the chance to show off his stuff, went down and recovered my gear and refused payment.

It's not likely to go anywhere.

I can't even imagine the damage to the LU given the damage to what remained. It Is probably in pieces at the bottom. I guess the prop would be salvageable but I was over 120 feet of water.

[Rider99XX]

I can't even imagine the damage to the LU given the damage to what remained. It Is probably in pieces at the bottom. I guess the prop would be salvageable but I was over 120 feet of water.

Strong magnet on a long rope

[Triton19x2]

Glad you are OK...as others have said things can be replaced. I had a very near miss last year and was extremely lucky with this submerged tree 1 inch below the surface in the middle of the channel on the Coosa

submerged tree.jpgIMG_2006.jpg

[louievito]

Wow! Sure is a near miss. My trim must have just perfect height to t bone the tree and rip off what I did. The midsection is toast as well

[Boondock]

Wonder if insurance will help you out

I have been close to hit a few with chop on the water.

[Dawnpatrol]

OMG! I'm glad you weren't hurt. That sucks that you forgot to add the new motor to you insurance!