Punched a hole in my hull

Last Dollar

Last Dollar

Active Member
May 10, 2011
245
Huntington WV boating the Ohio River and lakes in
Boat Info
Sea Ray 225
Engines
5.0 Mercruiser
I've had several boats in my life. Two were Sea Rays. The current one is a 225 Weekender cuddy. I always thought these were one of the better brands with good construction. Last weekend while boating in Cave Run lake near Morehead Kentucky I ran over a submerged tree that had been in the water since the lake was formed in the early 70's. The top of the tree was gone just leaving a trunk 6 inches below the water level. It was not visible. The Kentucky Dept of Forestry does not properly maintain buoys and practically all of these hazards are unmarked.

This lake was not clear cut when the dam was being built and all of the shore line trees and some in large coves or tributary channels were left standing. I've been told this is to improve fish habitat. Most have rotted away above the water line but a few are still in view. When I ran over this submerged hazard it did not feel too violent and my first though was I had just bent a prop. Soon the boat began to fill with water and with the help of others I was able to get it back to the ramp and onto the trailer narrowly avoiding it sinking! The bilge pump would not keep up as soon the batteries were under water and the pump quit. I had a large bucket in the boat and with the help of my grandson we were able to throw buckets of water over the transom. They say always to carry a bailing device and this safety item is now etched in my brain. It saved my boat.

However now I am wondering about the thickness of Sea Ray hulls. I was running about 22 mph in 24 feet of water. Has anyone ever had this happen?
 
I'm not sure any hull on a small boat would be designed to withstand a 20 MPH impact of a stationary tree stump. I'd be expecting to have it rip the bottom out along with the drive. I'm surprised you made it back to the ramp at all. Count your lucky stars! Hope it is repairable.
Carpe Diem
 
Carpediem44DB said:
I'm not sure any hull on a small boat would be designed to withstand a 20 MPH impact of a stationary tree stump. I'd be expecting to have it rip the bottom out along with the drive. I'm surprised you made it back to the ramp at all. Count your lucky stars! Hope it is repairable.
Carpe Diem
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I agree!!!
 
We get a lot of debris in the water in our area when the rivers rise with spring snow melts. Have heard that a tarp is handy in a situation like this if you can get it around the bow and work it under the hull. They don't take up much space and can choke off the water coming in.
 
I kept a nerf football in the bilge for such an emergency.
 
I cant imagine boating in those conditions daily. On the Upper Chesapeake after a hurricane or major storm comes thru, all the trees and poles, etc wash down the Susquehanna River into the bay, and everyone knows don't take the boat out for about 3 days till all that debris washes down the bay or you risk something like this happening. Maybe get a pontoon boat, not sure if those aluminum tubes are stronger. I'm sure some of our offshore / ocean riding members have stories about containers floating from falling off ships.
 
I purchased my boat out of Lake Cumberland a year ago. I took the boat out on that lake one time before I moved it. It was like running in a mine field. There was so much random timber in the water that running on plane was impossible. I see postings regularly from those mid state reservoirs about prop/drive/boat damage from impacts with debris, rocks or timber. Fortunately, we don't have much of that here in the Great Lakes and the obstructions are mostly marked and charted.
 
I don't think floating debris would have punched through the hull. There would be some flexibility in the force. By this tree still rooted in the bottom of the lake 24 feet down there was only the upward movement of my hull. Through the decades of boating on rivers and lakes I have hit several things in the water. Once we hit a floating crosstie from a railroad track which was just floating along. There was no damage to my hull which at that time I was running an aluminum boat. The thud was severe but no damage.

I'm still upset over two contributing factors in this event. The Ky Dept of Forestry which has the responsibility for placing buoys in dangerous areas does nothing. All the original markers have disappeared through the years. Also the two girls ridding the jet ski which were coming right in my direction and not paying attention forced me to run a little further into the cove before making my turn. My insurance agent told me my claim was the second one this year they have gotten from clients using Cave Run Lake! On the other claim she mentioned the boat actually sank and it was totaled !!

The problem I'm having now is I cannot find anyone to repair the hull at a local level. Looks like I'm headed to Cincinnati or Columbus to get a proper repair. Anyone have a recommendation?
 
Last Dollar said:
I'm still upset over two contributing factors in this event. The Ky Dept of Forestry which has the responsibility for placing buoys in dangerous areas does nothing. All the original markers have disappeared through the years. Also the two girls ridding the jet ski which were coming right in my direction and not paying attention forced me to run a little further into the cove before making my turn.
Click to expand...
I see you throwing alot of blame around. There is only one person to blame and he's the Captain driving the boat. If you don't know the water and know there are hidden dangers, you should be at wake speed or just avoid boating there all together. I'm truly sorry this happened to you, but the habits of folks blaming others for not protecting them is getting very old.
 
Last Dollar, I hate to point fingers but I agree 100% with HawkX66. As I read your initial post I kept wondering the same things he mentioned:
-You knew the hazards of the lake
-You knew there were no buoys to mark a channel
-You mentioned a jet ski operator who was coming in your direction

As I see it, (a) you should not have been going faster than wake speed in those waters, (b) the jet ski operator didn't "force" you to do anything, you chose to veer in the direction you did,

You could/should have just slowed down or stopped if needed to avoid a collision and, most importantly, you failed to recognize that you and you alone are responsible for the safety of your boat and the occupants.

I'd bet if you stepped back from your anger and took an objective look at what happened you might agree.

Good luck getting the boat repaired. Take it somewhere reliable and have it done properly.
 
Last Dollar said:
I've had several boats in my life. Two were Sea Rays. The current one is a 225 Weekender cuddy. I always thought these were one of the better brands with good construction. Last weekend while boating in Cave Run lake near Morehead Kentucky I ran over a submerged tree that had been in the water since the lake was formed in the early 70's. The top of the tree was gone just leaving a trunk 6 inches below the water level. It was not visible. The Kentucky Dept of Forestry does not properly maintain buoys and practically all of these hazards are unmarked.

This lake was not clear cut when the dam was being built and all of the shore line trees and some in large coves or tributary channels were left standing. I've been told this is to improve fish habitat. Most have rotted away above the water line but a few are still in view. When I ran over this submerged hazard it did not feel too violent and my first though was I had just bent a prop. Soon the boat began to fill with water and with the help of others I was able to get it back to the ramp and onto the trailer narrowly avoiding it sinking! The bilge pump would not keep up as soon the batteries were under water and the pump quit. I had a large bucket in the boat and with the help of my grandson we were able to throw buckets of water over the transom. They say always to carry a bailing device and this safety item is now etched in my brain. It saved my boat.

However now I am wondering about the thickness of Sea Ray hulls. I was running about 22 mph in 24 feet of water. Has anyone ever had this happen?
Click to expand...
How about putting up some pics of the damage?
 
We get pretty bad conditions on the Ohio river after storms. I have seen whole tires and rims floating, propane tanks, and another member there has a picture of a TV floating down river. Not sure how but there is a picture...lol. Usually after a storm we don't go out for a few days
 
In 2013 we ran over an unparked steel pile. Turned out to be an abandoned b
El Capitan said:
If it wasn’t a Sea Ray you would have sunk in minutes. Your story is a testimonial for SR’s.
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That is what I was told in 2013 when we put a 4" by 12" hole below the water line. Hull was double hull in the area. Had a gouge 1/2" deep from end to end in boat. We anchored for the night and next day drove to a marina and got it fixed. Owner of the marina said if it was a ......... we would have sunk quickly. Cost 10K to get it fixed.
 
Gofirstclass said:
You knew the hazards of the lake
-You knew there were no buoys to mark a channel
-You mentioned a jet ski operator who was coming in your direction
Click to expand...

Don't jump to conclusions too quickly! After analyzing the events the next day after hitting the object then and only then did I realize there was no buoy marking the danger in this cove. I know enough not to cruise the shoreline where danger lurks everywhere. Some coves are more clear than others. This one is not marked but others have told me it was years ago. Also the jet ski appeared suddenly coming from behind three other boats anchored together. I had no time to react except to jerk the wheel and widen my turn. Keep in mind I was in 24 feet of water. Things happened very quickly.
 
That stinks, and I'm glad that you didn't sustain the worst kind of damage, with people and injuries involved.
My friends were drifting with the motor off last year in their '97 210 signature, and floating over a rock doing zero mph. It punched a 14 inch crack in the hull below water line, and the boat started to sink. They power beached it, duct taped the hole from the outside, bilge pumped it out, and got it on the trailer. The repair cost from a mobile gelcoat guy from Craigslist was under $200.
 
Last Dollar said:
I don't think floating debris would have punched through the hull. There would be some flexibility in the force. By this tree still rooted in the bottom of the lake 24 feet down there was only the upward movement of my hull. Through the decades of boating on rivers and lakes I have hit several things in the water.
Click to expand...

I felt the same way until I saw this thing floating in Pomonkey creek.

1B7A2D27-9F43-4B71-83C7-1E732FE8F68A.jpeg
 

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HawkX66 said:
I see you throwing alot of blame around. There is only one person to blame and he's the Captain driving the boat. If you don't know the water and know there are hidden dangers, you should be at wake speed or just avoid boating there all together. I'm truly sorry this happened to you, but the habits of folks blaming others for not protecting them is getting very old.
Click to expand...

You are correct it is the captain that is responsible for the consequences of their actions. We have a 21 foot jetboat and recently did a 450 mile river trip. We have carts both electronic and paper two winches on the boat lots of spare parts. 91 miles from the end of the trip we started to look for a place to spend the night. Went into a side channel and proceeded about a mile. The water depth was 12 feet and had been for most of the way. We had been going 4 knots. We saw place that looked good a few hundred yard away. Powered up and BAG we were in 4" of water on a sand bar. Went from 25 Knots to zero in 3 seconds. All was well we were 5 feet from deep water. With help of winches we turned boat 90 degrees to deep water. We could not move it further. Called for help got rescued next day, spent night on boat. It was my error for being in a hurry and going fast in unknown water. Now I know. I would never have run the SeaRay fast in unknown water. We broke the anchor cleat off the bow. No other damage. It is now fixed. Slow and steady in unknow waters has always been wise.
 
Northern, you piqued my interest with your comments. Was that 450 mile river trip up the Columbia and Snake Rivers, and was that grounding on Strawberry Island on the Snake River?
 
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