My Boat is out of commission for the next week or two :(

This is the lake that I kept my 21' Monaco on - I was at the Dolphin Harbor Marina. This is one of the reasons I am looking for a larger Sundancer to move out to Lake Michigan. In the spring it would rise from the rains and flood and either be closed or no wake... Oh and after 2 props a year no matter what I did - I figured it was time to move...

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I didn't mean to come off like an A**hole. The call to the water is a strong one. You'd have to make me push the boat through the mud to get me to stop boating. Best wishes on your repairs.




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Not at all! Lake St. Clair is one of those things that most people who are not from the area would understand. It's a huge lake, but very shallow. As Scott mentioned, it's a giant puddle. One of the interesting things is how many large boats are on the lake. I have seen 80' boats and bigger. Hell, there are 60' sail boats everywhere. My boat is actually what I would call the 'minimum size' for this lake. Things can get very rough out there, and the guys in their small runabouts take a beating.

You just have to know where to go. When I wrecked, I was in unfamiliar waters. That's a no-no (being at speed anyhow). Now I know better.

Anyhow, parts have been ordered and should be in by tomorrow. Maybe I'll be back in business next week. Just enough time to enjoy the last month or so of boating :)



Big Island Lifer said:
I didn't mean to come off like an A**hole. The call to the water is a strong one. You'd have to make me push the boat through the mud to get me to stop boating. Best wishes on your repairs.




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We think we are in 'the deep' when the depth finder goes over 10'....LOL I almost never see 30' unless I cross the main shipping channel. The good news is that our lake is very sandy with very few rocks. I just happened upon one of the worst unmarked areas on the lake.

Nehalennia said:
I'd be in constant butt puckered mode in that depth. I couldn't run 18 knots in 6' of water at anytime. I get nervous in anything less than 30' around here.....and that's with a great plotter.
Sorry to hear of the wreck, that sucks.
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Just a quick update. My insurance company (Markel) mailed my check out. They are covering everything (including towing) with $0 deductable. The bad news is that my bellows were leaking, so I am in for about $1000 of repairs that are unrelated to the damage (bellows, u-joints, gimble bearing). At least my boat will be in tip-top shape for the rest of the season. I hope to have her back for this weekend.

Markel was great to work with. They expedited my claim and did everything that they could to help me.
 
Glad to see an insurance company come through so fast we just had the Sea Ray dealer pick up our boat last night to repair either a coupling or u-joint hope its not the drive gears should have it back Monday. Don't see how you can run in such shallow water if I get into 30' around here I'm looking for a way out.
 
Tim,

Very sorry to hear about your accident. Fortunately no one was hurt. Material objects are easily repaired or replaced. That's why we have insurance. I often boat on the Potomac River and there are many creeks that are under 10 ft. If you want smooth water for watersports, you really have to boat in these areas.

Good luck,
Jeff
 
Thanks Jeff. I got the boat back last week. She purrs like a kitten now! I actually noticed how smooth the new outdrive is compared to the old one (bad U-joints and gimble bearing).

I agree with what you said. No one was hurt, and it was not a total loss (sinking the boat). Now I just need to put on my snorkel gear and see if I can find my 2 Bravo III props that are sitting at the bottom of the lake and I will be all set...LOL

Our lake is shallow as I mentioned. I almost never see more than 10'.

BUSTMUP said:
Tim,

Very sorry to hear about your accident. Fortunately no one was hurt. Material objects are easily repaired or replaced. That's why we have insurance. I often boat on the Potomac River and there are many creeks that are under 10 ft. If you want smooth water for watersports, you really have to boat in these areas.

Good luck,
Jeff
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Lake St. Clair is a beautiful body of water and it's size does inspire confidence that you must be in deep water.....wrong.

We traveled up there for a week this past July. I had only been up there once prior and therefor consider the entire area new to me. Even with careful chart plotting and constant monitoring of the depth finder, it's not easy for a newbie to be comfortable on that lake. Big as it is, I couldn't get comfortable with the depth sounder never getting over 10 feet. While I hope to get back there soon, it makes me appreciate being able to boat on Lake Erie with it's depths, even though it is the shallowest of the Great Lakes.

Glad to see you are back on the water.
 
Well the good news is that it has a sandy bottom. It's very common to churn up sand while going into the shallows. There are very few hazards, so 99% of the time you should be safe. I was unlucky enough to find that 1%....LIVE AND LEARN. One of the other hazards is a sunken bardge in one of the channels. I don't venture into that area much, but when I do I make sure to check my charts. There is also Sand Island. When the water is high, there is about 1-1 1/2 feet of water covering it. Some years it is exposed. That is close to Gull Island. There is a large rock in Poor Mans Bay (in front of Mac & Ray's) that is marked well. Whatever I hit is not marked. I checked my charts and there is nothing about a hazard in that area.

It feels great to be back on the water....thanks :)
 
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