Disaster Adverted

[RedDog]

Donzi Deb and I took another couple out on the lake for a cruise to a new on the water restaurant. On the way home, running about 45 – 50 we hit what turned out to be a submerged log. The girls were thrown into the rear of the front seats, the bow submarined slightly, and then the boat spun hard to the starboard. When stopped I raised the drive and a 4 foot long log about 6 inches in diameter floated out. It was a really violent crash but NO damage found.

[MOP]

You must be blessed that is a WOW you are lucky!

[onesubdrvr]

Obviously most important, I'm glad to hear everyone is OK,
Second, glad to hear the boat is OK.

That's one thing everyone needs to watch out for, and debris can be SO hard to see!!!

Wayne

[ITTLFLI]

WOW! I am glad you and your crew are ok.

[ChromeGorilla]

Glad you and your family OK. The Donzi can be replaced but not the people in the boat. You must have just barely kissed it to avoid major damage. Imagine if it was a little shallower?!?!?! Could have been ugly. I saw a 18' Larson hit a telephone pole at 30 mph, that was about 2' underwater boat stopped almost instantly and tore the drive off. Scary stuff.

[Magicallbill]

I second veryone's post that you&the rig are OK.
I have posted this before,so I'll make it brief;Please be careful on Cumberland at AOTH.The lake will be in high spring pool,and I have tagged many a log down there at that time of year.
The main areas where they seem to collect are.
1.)Just outside the idle zone heading SE out of Jamestown into the bay.
2.)The stretch between the Jamestown/State Dock idle zone and the State Park Launch Ramp.
3.)Heading toward Connelly Bottoms from Jamestown.

The main lake heading toward the dam,Beaver Creek and Grider Hill is usually log-free.
My intention is not to over-dramatize,but to caution;I am a long-time Cumberland guy,and Murphy's Law has followed me mighty closely down there before.
Enjoy;Spring Is Here...
Magical Bill

[RedDog]

Thanks everyone. As soon as I figured out the drive was still there and we weren't sinking, I thought another call to Mad Poodle was in order for a replacement Turbo I. This was only the second time I had run this prop and fortunately it was unscathed...

[gcarter]

I second veryone's post that you&the rig are OK.
I have posted this before,so I'll make it brief;Please be careful on Cumberland at AOTH.The lake will be in high spring pool,and I have tagged many a log down there at that time of year.
The main areas where they seem to collect are.
1.)Just outside the idle zone heading SE out of Jamestown into the bay.
2.)The stretch between the Jamestown/State Dock idle zone and the State Park Launch Ramp.
3.)Heading toward Connelly Bottoms from Jamestown.

The main lake heading toward the dam,Beaver Creek and Grider Hill is usually log-free.
My intention is not to over-dramatize,but to caution;I am a long-time Cumberland guy,and Murphy's Law has followed me mighty closely down there before.
Enjoy;Spring Is Here...
Magical Bill
This is good info!
Thanks!
Red Dog, glad you and everything is OK

[MOP]

RedDog thought came to mind that I have run into a few times, trim the drive up and inspect the gimles lower pivot. My kid cracked his last year hitting a 6X6 off shore.

Phiil

[Lenny]

I have never seen sooo much wood in the water as I did at Cumberland. That is certainly something to watch for. Seems to be towards the "lunch area on Saturday, Lees Ford " than towards the Falls and Dam.

[Rootsy]

yeah wood and obsolete sterndrives don't match well... :smash:

JR

[Magicallbill]

Sure wish you guys would do AOTH in the fall.
Lake is low,cliff-viewing is great;No logs
Rates at Jamestown are lower after labor Day
Weather is much more stable in Sept.than in May.

I know, it's all set the way it is&I understand, I have asked Scott Boldt before about a fall run to Cumberland;I promise it's really neat at that time of year,I'm up if anyone wants to,
Jerry Eisele,
Scott,
Rootsy,
G.Carter,
MOP,
anyone??

Magical B....

[boldts]

OK everyone. Here is the lake information for Cumberland. While I'm listening to everyones view points and I fully understand your concerns, take a look at the current lake statistics. We've been unuasually dry this Spring and thus the lower lake level this year than previous years.

Lake Cumberland general statistics found at: http://lakecumberland.com/directory/lakestats.shtml

Current lake level is 720.76 feet (+0.02 in 24 hours)

The normal summer pool is around 723 feet above mean sea level.
The tree line is about 725 feet.
The maximum pool is 760 feet (top of dam floodgates)
The top of Wolf Creek Dam is 773 feet.

Don't get me wrong, that of course does not mean there is no danger. You'll find that on any lake this time of year. I do not have anything against moving this gathering to the end of the summer. As a matter of fact, I have been restling with the idea for a number of years. I spoken to a number of the attendees and I'm just not getting an over-whelming response that they would like to see the gathering done at another time of the year.

First issue is the name. Horses don't Awake in September for the first time of the year. I scheduled this gathering as late in May as possible to help with the debri issue. Once Memorial Day hits, no more reduced rates and the largest most accessable resort to the actual lake will not schedule any special events. My goal when picking the dates for AOTH was to keep them away from the Dustoff dates which happens on Father's Day. AOTH is and always has been the very first every Donzi model gathering held for the summer. That point will never change and is very important to me. I will never turn a Donzi owner away because they own the wrong model of Donzi.

Now then moving it to after Labor Day. Yep, rates go down again, but that is also when the Poker Run is scheduled on Cumberland. No rooms available and one jam packed lake with boats ranging up to as large as 50' offshore racers. Kids again are an issue as they begin school again. I just haven't been able to work around this fact. In May, kids are taking finals and graduating. In September, they start school again. Then there is the issue of how many boats that would like to attend might have season ending engine failures or drive failures. Would it hurt the attendance numbers? Maybe, and that is what a Donzi gathering is all about. Friends seeing friends again or for the first time. In May, those folks who live up North have had all winter to do their upgrades or replace broken parts. That is one of the most exciting things about the gathering being in May. Seeing for the first time someone's new shortie added to their drive or that new 525 they just put in their boat.

Anyway, yes, I'm listening to everyone including you Bill. Maybe in the near future, we can do like the Lake George club and schedule 2 gatherings a year. I'd love to see it, but would I like to be responsable for setting up 2 gatherings? There is an awfull lot of behind the scenes work that goes into these things and I commend anyone doing a gathering in their area of the country. I'd be happy to work with anyone here in the Midwest who would like to put together a late summer gathering. Really wouldn't even care if it were on a different lake than Cumberland. Keep the ideas coming gentlemen. That's how Donzi becomes an even bigger name in the public eye. We're doing our part by holding these gatherings.

Everyone have a safe trip to the lake and by all means, use common sense while running on the lake. Take the time to scout out an area before you do a full speed blast through that stretch of lake.

[Magicallbill]

Hey Scott,
All good and valid points..
I was not aware of the Poker Run in Sept. I have been on the lake many times in late-summer-early-fall and it has been quiet&tranquil. Maybe I missed the Poker Run,then again I forgot to mention that I'm down there on Sun-Mon-Tuesdays,as i perform on weekends.
Since you'll be in close touch with everyone at AOTH,maybe ask them about a fall run.
I was looking at how to get to the 1000 iIslands,and when I zeroed in on it, I saw "Boldts Castle"on one of the islands.

I didn't know you had two residences.....

Maybe we should have the fall run there.....

Magical Bill

[boldts]

Bill, no problem at all. I was at work and probably got a little deeper into that post than I wanted. Yep, Boldt Castle up in 1000 isles. I've always wanted to see it. I guess some guy started building it for his wife or queen what-ever be the case, she died I think and the castle never was finished. Owned by Canada or some gov't establishment now I think. I don't know the eact date for the PR either, but I'm pretty sure it is right after the holiday cause they too are trying to catch warm weather still. Nothing says we have to go down on a weekend either. Rooms would be even cheaper. Only question would be would people have vacation left after summer? Something we can work on for sure. I know a certain MI person who loves Cumberland and is willing to go as often as possible. :biggrin:

[Formula Jr]

Humm, we are missing the larger question here?
That being, why didn't RedDogs drive give way and tilt up?
Why did it snag and drag this log with such force at 50 mph that it submerged the bow and threw everone forward? And kept in the down position?

[MOP]

The relief valves in the rams rams cannot handle the volume of oil that is needed to allow full kick up but do soften the blow, my first concern would be a fracture in the casting by the lower pivot. That needs a good looking over, My kid hit a 3+ foot long 6X6 last season and cracked his. I would be under there with a magifying glass especialy on an Alpha.

Phil

[RedDog]

No fractures apparent on a visual examination.

It seems the log snagged and likely that the trim tabs prevented it from flipping up and out.The longer Victory Marine tabs I'm running may have compounded the problem