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  1. #1
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    The cost of running in the Upper Bay?

    A friend of a friend bought a house on the Northeast River 2 years ago. In that time he has lost two lower units and managed to put a $2500 gouge in the hull of his Skeeter.

    I have never met him so I don’t know how cautious he is. In general does stuff happen like this on a regular basis?
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  2. Member
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    #2
    Shouldn't.

  3. Member 96MrBass's Avatar
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    #3
    There is tons of shallow water and quite a few poorly marked channels if marked at all in most cases. You can find yourself in some serious situations really quick when exploring lol.
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  4. Member n2bassn's Avatar
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    Jul 2004
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    #4
    I have fished the upper bay since 1976 and never had any problems like mentioned above. 99% of damage to my boats gel has been from the docks at launch ramps. Never had a problem on the flats other than getting stuck a few times and the bottom has been mostly sand. There are hazards above the last bridge in the Susquehanna portion of the upper bay.

  5. Scraps
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    Apr 2007
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    #5
    I'm not going to say it, but no.
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  6. Member
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    Dec 2012
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    #6
    After living on it for 2 years he should be familiar enough to navigate it with no issues. Some areas can get skinny in low tide situations but non the less still shouldn’t be ripping lower units off every year
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  7. Scraps
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    #7
    Things I worry about are the floaters, or the "submersibles" that you can hit in the spring.
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  8. Member
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    #8
    I know that one lower unit was lost on the big rock at the north end of Garrett Island. I don’t know the story of the second one.

    The gouge was done recently supposedly on a submerged tire and rim. I find that hard to believe.

    I am waiting to hear what his insurance company does.
    Last edited by zelmo; 09-19-2018 at 05:12 PM.
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  9. Member 96MrBass's Avatar
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    #9
    Could you please ask him to stop moving my structure. Jk!
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  10. Upper Chesapeake Bay Club Moderator RiverRatMD's Avatar
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    Aug 2011
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    Upper bay Maryland
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    #10
    I've been fishing and boating on the bay since '89 and I started in a 16" aluminum with a 40 h.p. I hit a couple of things with that boat as I was learning the upper bay but never destroyed anything. I hit a piling near the Island in Swan and I hit a rockpile in the Bush. But that old aluminum just bounced off and kept rolling. There were not as many bass fishermen on the bay back then. Today, guys are getting big, beautiful fiberglass boats for their first boat....they see guys flying all over the place on the upper bay... so they do the same thing. And for some, i have seen a bit of destruction because of it. Props and lower units especially.

    Some places you just got to be careful when running on a low tide. Places are filling in more and more in many places. A great example is the "boneyard" at the mouth of the canal that leads to the quarry pit on the Gunpowder. For years I would just rip right through there....these days I certainly would NOT. That area has wiped out a bunch of lower units and props in the last 5 or 6 years alone. And of course now with the 6 mph zone, that really takes the area out of the equation for many guys...but that's another story

    I am amazed at some of the areas new guys to the upper bay will wander into and rip around without a clue...many times you find them high and dry on a flat if they are lucky.....the unlucky ones are being towed in without a lower or a mangled prop....BUT, If you take your time and learn the upper bay slowly and methodically you will have very few problems. Most guys these days after a little experience are just fine.
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  11. Member
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    Apr 2012
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    #11
    There are no shortage of things including rocks to hit in the Upper bay.
    I bought the Chesapeake Bay Marine map. It's huge and supposed to be waterproof. It's about as waterproof as my cell phone but that's another story. $49 well spent, but I bought three at yard sales for less that $5.00.

    https://www.walmart.com/ip/GMCO-Char...8aArYCEALw_wcB

    If you're going to run any body of water you need a plan, and that book is the best way to get one. Your GPS shows you where you are and how deep the area you are in SHOULD be if you bought the local map card. If you're going any where on a large body of water you can follow channel markers if there are dangerous depths, but we don't fish there anyhow.
    A chartbook will let you plan what routes to take and you can monitor your progress on your GPS sounder.
    Just don't get it wet, the pages stick together, kinda like your old Playboys did.