Something to consider if you operate or ride in a bow rider

[countryboy26047]

I've been going back and forth with myself about posting this, but finally decided to just go ahead and bring this up.. I would consider this to be a safety topic, one that is most likely rarely thought of. I'll start by saying, the following story & pics are the reason why one of my #1 rules on my boat is, if I'm going 15mph or faster, no one is allowed to sit up front. This story pertains to an accident my brother was involved in this year with his bowrider.

My brother had brought his boat down to the river where me, my dad and grandfather was fishing about 10 minutes from the launch. I get a text from him (brother) saying he just parked his jeep, and was getting in his boat and was going to meet up with us. Well, a few minutes after I got that, I get a phone call from him, and I can hear in his voice sheer panic...which, anyone that knows me and that particular brother knows that we very rarely ever panic, and even when we do, we don't show it.... Well, long story short, he had pulled away from the dock, and started down the middle of the river, eventually getting into WOT, approx. 45mph. Now keep in mind, we are a family of boaters, and he has had a dock on this river for the last 4yrs., so this had nothing to do with not knowing the waters. Anyhow, as he was cruising along, he was partially standing up/sitting on the top/back of his seat, when all of the sudden his boat literally stopped so fast that the tip of his bow dove under the water. When this happened, he was thrown forward, putting his hand threw the windshield and slicing his hand wide open. He had no idea what had happened, he just got the boat restarted, and limped it back to the launch, where just by pure luck, his wife and father in-law had shown up to go for a ride (he had no idea they were coming down). They rushed him to the hospital, where he ended up with I believe around 10 stitches in his hand.

The main moral of this story, as I said about one of my major rules, if he had someone sitting up front in the bow area, which typically he does, there is a very good chance they would have been thrown from the boat and possibly run over. Heck for that matter, my brother is lucky HE wasn't thrown out the front. After me and my dad got my bro's boat out of the river and onto his trailer, we found out what had stopped him... actually it was quite unbelievable...

Pic #1: The remnants of his windshield... can't quite see all the blood all over the cockpit in this pic..



Pic #2: The culprit... This chunk of board is what caused him to nose dive, it was embedded on his lower unit around 2-3" deep... As I said, we have all navigated this river 100's if not 1000's of times in this same area, we know to watch for occasional debris floating.... he never seen this, apparently it was just under the surface. And no, it wasn't a large board/branch that busted off when he hit it, both ends were extremely weathered, and could tell it had been this size for some time.



Again, I may just be paranoid now, however I must admit that I, nor my brother, dad or grandfather, had ever truly thought of this happening... As far as his boat is concerned, he actually lucked out that the "only" damage was the windshield.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Something to consider if you operate or ride in a bow rider

Sounds like that scared the crap out of him! I know it probably seemed dramatic, but in reality he probably didn't stop as quick as he thought. There is NO way to brace yourself from slowing down at 45mph instantly, that is like jumping off a 60 foot building and trying to stop yourself by doing a pushup... not gonna happen! (the calculated velocity from 60 feet up is 44.2 mph) Also, it would have completely ripped the lower unit off... Cool pic though, that isn't something you see every day!!

Although accident stats prove it out, riding in the front isn't as dangerous as it sounds. If he had people in front, its very likely they wouldn't have been hurt in that incident. In the cockpit, you are FAR more likely to smash your head into the windshield, which is often fatal. If you stop suddenly enough that you go over the front, at worst you usually end up with some scrapes and bruises, possibly a broken rib.

 

[countryboy26047]

Re: Something to consider if you operate or ride in a bow rider

I was going off of what he stated about the nose-dive... Well, that and when I got in his boat there was, rough guess, about 5-10gallons of water in it. Honestly we were surprised that it didn't rip the outdrive off..although he said after it happened and he regained his bearings, the outdrive was trimmed all the way up (not tilted, just trimmed as high as it will go before it actually tilts...which am unsure how that happened with as strong as hydraulics are.. As for bracing himself, I don't believe that's how he put his hand through the windshield. I have noticed before, every time I've rode with him, when he stands up, for some reason he puts his left hand on the top of the windshield frame..

As for the sitting up front part.. I've never read up on the statistics, just seemed to me the kind of g force that must have caused would have thrown them out. Not arguing with you about it at all, just sharing my thoughts on it. Another lucky thing...well not so much luck as it is just being smart, he always makes use of his kill-switch, which is probably why it shut down.

I guess that's one big advantage I have with having a merc outboard... With the way the locking mechanism works, when going forward, the motor is unlocked.... Had it been my boat, granted it may have damaged my lower unit and still would have knocked me off balance, it may not have been as bad since the motor has a lot more give..... That is just an OBSERVATION.... NOT saying i wanna find out lol

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Something to consider if you operate or ride in a bow rider

It's definitely something to be aware of, but I would also trend to agree that it would take quite a hit to throw a seated adult out of the bow. If someone had been standing in the bow, it would be a different story. They are nicknamed bow riders for a reason. Either way, glad the outcome wasn't worse than that.

 

[90stingray]

Re: Something to consider if you operate or ride in a bow rider

the outdrive was trimmed all the way up (not tilted, just trimmed as high as it will go before it actually tilts...which am unsure how that happened with as strong as hydraulics are

That is a safety feature built into the drive ... it helps soften the blow.

 

[countryboy26047]

Re: Something to consider if you operate or ride in a bow rider

That is a safety feature built into the drive ... it helps soften the blow.

Ahh ok, I honestly wasnt aware I/O's had that.... Now that you say it though, i guess it wouldn't make sense if they didn't

 

[countryboy26047]

Re: Something to consider if you operate or ride in a bow rider

I also want to add that, while I (or anyone else for that matter) don't like being "proved wrong" persay, but this is one time when opposite opinions/stats is a good thing..makes me a little more comfortable with passengers in the bow while undeway.

 

[Ned L]

Re: Something to consider if you operate or ride in a bow rider

Oh I can see that hitting a hunk of wood like that can be like slamming your foot on the brake in a car & it could send people flying over the stem (certainly make the stem dive & dump in a bunch of water). I think it is a good thing you have shared this. I hope your brother's hand is ok.

 

[countryboy26047]

Re: Something to consider if you operate or ride in a bow rider

Oh I can see that hitting a hunk of wood like that can be like slamming your foot on the brake in a car & it could send people flying over the stem (certainly make the stem dive & dump in a bunch of water). I think it is a good thing you have shared this. I hope your brother's hand is ok.

Thanks Ned... Yeah, he's ok other than the occasional "ghost pain"... well, that and the stuff that was wrong with him before this LOL!

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: Something to consider if you operate or ride in a bow rider

That is a safety feature built into the drive ... it helps soften the blow.

From The Mercury/Mercruiser Operation, Maintenance & Warranty Manual.

Impact with Underwater Hazards.
The most important thing you can do to help reduce injury or impact damage from striking a floating or underwater object is control the boat speed. Under these conditions, Boat speed should be kept to a maximun of 15 to 25 mph.

[FONT=cd9800328d99969f09951420#343700]Drive Unit Impact Protection[/FONT]
[FONT=cd9800378d99bea409951420#343700]The Power Trim hydraulic system is designed to provide impact protection for drive unit. If a submerged object is struck while boat is moving forward, the hydraulic system will cushion kick-up of drive unit as it clears the object,reducing damage to unit. After drive unit has cleared object, the hydraulic system allows drive unit to return to original operating position, preventing loss of steering control and engine over speed.[/FONT]

 

[countryboy26047]

Re: Something to consider if you operate or ride in a bow rider

Drive Unit Impact Protection
The Power Trim hydraulic system is designed to provide impact protection for drive unit. If a submerged object is struck while boat is moving forward, the hydraulic system will cushion kick-up of drive unit as it clears the object,reducing damage to unit. After drive unit has cleared object, the hydraulic system allows drive unit to return to original operating position, preventing loss of steering control and engine over speed.

After reading this part, even though he said it was trimmed up (did not drop back down), I'm thinking maybe something is wrong with this feature on his?? Then again, I can't remember if his is a mercruiser or not...

As for the speed factor, the Ohio river, at least from pittsburgh to wellsburg where I've boated a lot, you can see at least one piece of debris floating every single time you go out. Hence the reason why I rarely run past 20-25mph and even when I do it's only for a couple minutes.. For the most part, we have learned where to really watch out for this, with the occasional chunk in a spot normally not prone to debris. There's also days when we go down to the launch, unload the boat, go about 100', then turn around and put it right back on the trailer. I kid you not, I have actually seen entire telephone poles float by, once even had an entire approx. 12'x16' dock go floating by, which the bad part of that was, the top of the dock was just barely breaking the surface.

 

[KFS]

Re: Something to consider if you operate or ride in a bow rider

I appreciate you sharing the story - although I'm sorry it happened at all.

We can argue whether a "seated adult" would be safe all day long but I am the parent of two "seated children" and I know my daughter at 13 weighs slightly more than a puff of air. It wouldn't take much. She usually is on the tube behind the boat (mama fears don't always make sense) but I appreciate anything that makes us think about safety. Thanks for sharing your story.

I do fear submerged objects. A very experienced boater friend -- very cautious and meticulous too - was out with his two young daughters on a Great Lake when his boat hit a submerged log (?) I'm not privy to boat details to do this story justice but one moment he was going along with the girls and the next thing he said it was like an explosion - tore the <insert important mechanical parts and motory thing here> clean off and caused enough actual physical damage that it was as if the back end of the boat had been hit. We are talking Huge Physical Damage. Fortunately he IS an experienced boater and as I understand it had the girls (7 and 11) in the front of the boat (screaming) while he did whatever one is supposed to do. He said it took just seconds to realize he was not going to save the boat. Life jackets aside who really WANTS to dump out into the secluded swells of Lake Erie with two young children? No one. Fortunately two boats in the area saw his distress signals and came to the rescue. Like he said: all ended well and made a great story but in the moment when the boat was sinking, the girls were crying, and he had to hand his children over to strangers in a boat (without hesitation) while a second boat came around to attempt to save his (and they did through some maneuver that makes sense to all of you but I don't understand) he wasn't thinking about great future anecdotes.

I can't live my life in fear but when we are out - even in an inland lake -I think it pays to consider stories like these because caution and reactions are important.

I love boating but it is not lost on me that on any given trip my entire WORLD is in that boat.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Something to consider if you operate or ride in a bow rider

a couple of points to add to the lesson learned:

When a boat is on a plane and the engine suddenly stops in gear, it is as if you have hit something, and people get thrown around.

People underestimate what a sudden stop at relatively low speed will do. I hit a hard sand bank (underwater) at a fast idle and it threw me hard into one windshield (broke it) and my friend a big guy all the way to the bow.

We have a false sense of security b/c our cars are designed so we ahve some protection, or safe landing, if we stop suddenly. Boats do not and I know of many very serious injuries, especially to the head/face, from them. Recently some ocean inlets have had dangerous shaoling and experienced boaters have had serious injuries hitting bottom.

Be careful, be aware, stay seated.

 

[countryboy26047]

Re: Something to consider if you operate or ride in a bow rider

I appreciate you sharing the story - although I'm sorry it happened at all.

We can argue whether a "seated adult" would be safe all day long but I am the parent of two "seated children" and I know my daughter at 13 weighs slightly more than a puff of air. It wouldn't take much. She usually is on the tube behind the boat (mama fears don't always make sense) but I appreciate anything that makes us think about safety. Thanks for sharing your story.

I do fear submerged objects. A very experienced boater friend -- very cautious and meticulous too - was out with his two young daughters on a Great Lake when his boat hit a submerged log (?) I'm not privy to boat details to do this story justice but one moment he was going along with the girls and the next thing he said it was like an explosion - tore the <insert important mechanical parts and motory thing here> clean off and caused enough actual physical damage that it was as if the back end of the boat had been hit. We are talking Huge Physical Damage. Fortunately he IS an experienced boater and as I understand it had the girls (7 and 11) in the front of the boat (screaming) while he did whatever one is supposed to do. He said it took just seconds to realize he was not going to save the boat. Life jackets aside who really WANTS to dump out into the secluded swells of Lake Erie with two young children? No one. Fortunately two boats in the area saw his distress signals and came to the rescue. Like he said: all ended well and made a great story but in the moment when the boat was sinking, the girls were crying, and he had to hand his children over to strangers in a boat (without hesitation) while a second boat came around to attempt to save his (and they did through some maneuver that makes sense to all of you but I don't understand) he wasn't thinking about great future anecdotes.

I can't live my life in fear but when we are out - even in an inland lake -I think it pays to consider stories like these because caution and reactions are important.

I love boating but it is not lost on me that on any given trip my entire WORLD is in that boat.

Well KFS, even if my statement of riding on the bow has different opinions (which I can understand and respect anyone's), it is good to see that the story brings up the thought of safety in general.. As for the different "fears" (not just with boating, with ANYTHING), there is a saying of-sorts in the fire service: "You must always have a slight fear of the fire, this slight fear makes you respect what the fire can do to you, and forces you to have a conscious mindset of safety for yourself, as well as others, above all else" I think that line not only applies to the fire service, but to pretty much anything you do in this life. You must always have the slight fear of what MAY happen while boating, if you lose that fear, you begin losing the safety-mindset.

 

[countryboy26047]

Re: Something to consider if you operate or ride in a bow rider

a couple of points to add to the lesson learned:

When a boat is on a plane and the engine suddenly stops in gear, it is as if you have hit something, and people get thrown around.

People underestimate what a sudden stop at relatively low speed will do. I hit a hard sand bank (underwater) at a fast idle and it threw me hard into one windshield (broke it) and my friend a big guy all the way to the bow.

We have a false sense of security b/c our cars are designed so we ahve some protection, or safe landing, if we stop suddenly. Boats do not and I know of many very serious injuries, especially to the head/face, from them. Recently some ocean inlets have had dangerous shaoling and experienced boaters have had serious injuries hitting bottom.

Be careful, be aware, stay seated.

Very well put, and good addition to my little story.. Also, this made me think of the way I was trying to describe to a friend of mine how it could have thrown him forward.. what made this so easy, was the fact we was in my boat when I was trying to describe it... So, I came to a slow stop... then picked it up to maybe 5mph, then just threw her in neutral... I warned him before I did it to hold on... once he seen how quick it'll stop just by cutting the throttle, and from only 5mph, he completely understood the forces applied.

 

[KFS]

Re: Something to consider if you operate or ride in a bow rider

You must always have the slight fear of what MAY happen while boating, if you lose that fear, you begin losing the safety-mindset.

Amen.

 

[Ned L]

Re: Something to consider if you operate or ride in a bow rider

Something to keep in mind about this situation (and is verified by the pictures), this was 'worse' than just hitting an object. The hunk of wood impailed itself on the lower unit, so it was not like just hitting something, it was like hitting something that held on & wouldn't let go (that chunk of wood underwater would have a LOT of braking power. This would probably have been more like a fighter jet landing on the flight deck of a carrier & hooking onto that arresting cable.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Something to consider if you operate or ride in a bow rider

First off, glad everyone is ok.

the probability of being able to hit a piece of wood squarely and get it impaled on the outdrive is astronomical. 50 million people would hit that and it would simply move out of the way and not stick.

your brother should buy a lottery ticket.

 

[DBreskin]

Re: Something to consider if you operate or ride in a bow rider

I can easily believe the bow got buried and scooped water. I see people do this intentionally in jet boats by putting the boat into reverse while at speed. You can see an example of it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZvVn7eFZrc
Hitting that log put the brakes on in the same way.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Something to consider if you operate or ride in a bow rider

First off, glad everyone is ok.

the probability of being able to hit a piece of wood squarely and get it impaled on the outdrive is astronomical. 50 million people would hit that and it would simply move out of the way and not stick.

your brother should buy a lottery ticket.

I bet he hit one end of the plank and the other end buried into the bottom, causing the sudden stop (and they often float with one end dragging bottom). But I agree it's a million to one shot. Considering the shape of the hull and the water deflecting both ways, it's highly unusual for floating stuff to hit the center of the transom and then the motor.