Ugh..300DA vs underwater log

YeOldeStonecat

YeOldeStonecat

Active Member
Jun 10, 2018
332
Waterford, CT, boat in Deep River, CT
Boat Info
'97 300 DA "Me-Shell"
Engines
Twin 5.7 V-Drive
Saturday, at the mouth of the CT river 'tween lighthouse and RR bridge, doing about ~21-23kts..."WHUMP/THUD".......

I come off plane, slow, neutral, ears listening to the engines for odd noises..all good. Shift each into forward and reverse checking for noises..all good, responds fine. Manual ON for bilge pump...nuttin' coming out.

After a minute or so start creeping back north...normal, no bad vibes. Try getting up on plane..she responds fine and gets up. But I notice I have to have my wheel about 90* to the left to maintain straight. :( Still can't notice any bad vibes.

Get back to dock...pull hatches to peek under. No stress cracks or leaks or signs of anything bad visually in the engine bilge, like by the roots of the shaft struts, or rudders, or those downward exhaust snorkels of this model boat.

Took her out yesterday for a short run to Lord Island in East Haddam...hung there for the day with the family. On the ride back to DRM we were behind a ~28' Formula...we're both doing low 20's...I see a log shoot up from his wake, I see him come right off plane and pull off to the side...by the time we passed he was raising his I/O's to look.

...waiting for the yard to call me back to see if she can get hauled and inspected this morning and see what the damage is.
 
My underwater log experience in my previous 300 was a $30k insurance claim. Snapped shaft, bent props, rudders, struts, glass damage and had the tranny pulled for inspection (it was all good). Best wishes with yours...
 
Having to turn 90 degrees to go straight makes me suspicious of rudder damage. I'd get her pulled asap and investigate for peace of mind of nothing else.
 
Yeah called the marina office first thing this morning...they were going to try to sneak in a short haul for me today....as they were busy already. Possibly leave it up on blocks if work needed. Haven't heard back from them yet.
 
Good news today from the yard, they hauled her...Bill the head mechanic guy said nothing really damaged. Props good, rudders good, under hull exhaust ports good, only damage he found was slight....wood embedded into the cutlass bearing. He was able to get the wood out. Said to use her for the rest of the season and replace the cutlass bearings this fall. Which, based on the survey last summer...I planned on it this coming winter anyways.
 
I’m guessing the force of the impact from the log on the rudders might have deflected them ,if you have hydraulic steering there is no center on your wheel So to straighten out the rudders you had to turn the wheel 90 over This might be a reasonable explanation , anyway looks like you dodged a bullet
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
Good news today from the yard, they hauled her...Bill the head mechanic guy said nothing really damaged. Props good, rudders good, under hull exhaust ports good, only damage he found was slight....wood embedded into the cutlass bearing. He was able to get the wood out. Said to use her for the rest of the season and replace the cutlass bearings this fall. Which, based on the survey last summer...I planned on it this coming winter anyways.
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Sounds like great news. I ran aground recently and fretted every minute until I ran her through the ranges. Initially she made some noise in reverse but that cleared quickly. I am glad it was just sand. Things like logs under the water are pretty scary.

-Kevin
 
My wheel is upside down going straight:rolleyes:. I'll have to look to see how to fix that in the fall. I use a rudder indicator anyway so it doesn't bother me too much.
 
mnm99 said:
My wheel is upside down going straight:rolleyes:. I'll have to look to see how to fix that in the fall. I use a rudder indicator anyway so it doesn't bother me too much.
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Get a non-directional wheel - I guess the OCD kicks and it drives me nuts too.

-Kevin
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
Good news today from the yard, ......
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That's great news!
A scary place for that to happen, it seems like everyone has to run at full-throttle and race each other to the bridge.
What's the rush people, we're boating, not commuting to work??

Glad everything worked out. Will you be on the river this weekend? Thinking about Hamburg Cove or maybe Essex Saturday,...
 
Adefelice said:
Thinking about Hamburg Cove or maybe Essex Saturday,...
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Our new favorite place on the river is inside of Lord Island....along East Haddam. The pass between Lord Island and Chapman Pond. Hamburg Cove has turned into a mall parking lot during XMas shopping season...dang packed!

Where do you hang in Essex?

Depending on the weather, may go do Truman Beach across the sound. If not, likely Lord Island.
 
I know Lord's island, we call it "no gas" and very popular with folks at the marina since we are just south of there.
You'll find most of us there on our dinghy or smaller CC boats during low tied.
I've seen bigger boats overnight but can't bring myself to take the big boat there. Plus we are only there for a few hours.

We like Nott Island across from Essex mainly for the breeze and the constant boat parade. Always something cool to see. However, I wouldn't recommend swimming unless you're close to shore. The current is always ripping so tie a line off the back or your transom with a fender or throwable.
If you want a more peaceful setting you can tuck in behind the south end of Nott where few people know to go.

I've never checked out Truman, looks like a nice short run across the sound.
 
Yeah Trumans a nice quick rip across...basically exit the CT River and just head about 1230 or so...barely to the right..head straight across. There's a cool giant framed tee-pee tower of driftwood someone built there...I usually drop anchor straight off of that. Beach of smooth rocks...not so much sand. But nice water to swim in for a sound side beach. And an empty stretch as far as homes if you end up in front of a pond there....low key place.
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
Our new favorite place on the river is inside of Lord Island....along East Haddam. The pass between Lord Island and Chapman Pond. Hamburg Cove has turned into a mall parking lot during XMas shopping season...dang packed!

Where do you hang in Essex?

Depending on the weather, may go do Truman Beach across the sound. If not, likely Lord Island.
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I'm at saybrook marina right now. Just slept here my first night. Holy cow ..what's up with the rollers..lol. only time the boats not moving is slack tide. The whole marina looks like it's on a roller coaster all day.
 
If u have auto pilot . Turn it on . Align ur wheel , then turn off auto pilot .



mnm99 said:
My wheel is upside down going straight:rolleyes:. I'll have to look to see how to fix that in the fall. I use a rudder indicator anyway so it doesn't bother me too much.
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mnm99 said:
..what's up with the rollers..lol.
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I've experienced the same thing there. Great place, pool, bar, and restaurant but man the constant up and down is a bit much. When we had our smaller but they put us in a slip close to the tiki bar,...it seems like the motion was a lot less. Last time we were there they put us in the slips opposite of the gas dock. Rock-n-Roll!!
 
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