Hit Log on Essex River

T

tcontic

Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2007
RO Number
28985
Messages
227
My friend, with a 2008 26' Rinker, just called, yesterday evening he hit a submerged log on the Essex river while on plane.

Drive pull away from transom, started taking on water also engine oil is leaking into the bilge. Boat was hauled, it's currently on blocks in a boat yard not sure which one.

He wants to take the boat to the dealer he purchased it from last year in Lindenhurst, NY for repair.

Can anyone suggest an over land transport company?

Thanks
Tom
 
He should contact his insurance company to see if they will pay for the transport. There are plenty of reputable repair shops on the CT river, I had my transmission replaced by Essex Boat Works - they did a professional job.
 
I don't understand how hitting a submerged object and damaging the outdrive and transom would cause Engine Oil to leak. Someone enlighten me?
 
All Island Marine is a great transporter. 631-589-3030 speak to Donna.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Doral 310

All Island Marine is a great transporter. 631-589-3030 speak to Donna.

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That's the mystery, oil level was no longer reading on the dip stick and oil was in the bilge.

Could the main seal have been damaged? Between the drive and transom is about 1/4 gap. Impact could have shoved it back further I guess.

Tom
 
Holy Cow! This is making me sick a thousand miles away. Hopefully damage isn't even worse than it looks. Gotta vote with Hogan on this one, call Insurance First.
Please let us know what develops. I am so sorry...
 
I just realized you wrote that he hit the object on the "Essex River". I assumed you meant the CT river, near Essex, if I am wrong, disregard my recommendation, other than calling his insurance carrier immediately.

If it is the Essex River, where is that?
 
Sorry meant to say the CT river in Essex. Dealer is sending a trailer to pick up the boat in the morning.
 
If it was The Connecticut River by Essex, which marina? Glad to help out - I can stop by and check in if you need. Understand about the dealer thing - however there is a good Rinker guy here. Insurance might wish to have it serviced locally instead of transporting it. Just let me know.
 
Thank you for the offer but the boat will be transported tomorrow morning, my buddy feels more comfortable having the repair done by his dealer. Still dont understand where the oil is coming from, guess we'll know when the damage is fully assessed.
 
did your buddy check with his insurance company about moving the boat?
 
He's waiting for confirmation of coverage from the insurance company, either way he'd rather have it services by the dealer he purchased from
 
Sorry to hear but not surprising. I`m about 10 miles north of there, I probably saw the culprit go by. The logs have been plentiful all summer with all the wonderful rain. On the 4th of July weekend I had a log stuck between one anchor lie and the bow, it was 30 inches in diameter and about 25 ft long. The way the current was rushing over it I`m amazed the two anchors held....I towed it off with the 14` 1964 Starcraft, (affectionatly named the "Minnow") and tied it to shore, if the water level ever goes down it will dry our and become about two weeks worth of firewood!
 
So how do you avoid these logs? They seem to hover at or just below the surface making them difficult to spot.
Another friend last year destroyed his props on a log, same river same general location.
 
One person you can thank for logs in the river is the Old Lyme Dock Co. Its a regular practice for them to shove logs off their beach sometimes with a crane, to send them out into the sound, BUT most end up floating back and forth between Saybrook & Essex.

Deadheads are the logs that drift in the vertical position about 2" below the surface.
 
Avoiding them involves a sharp lookout, being cautious especially in times of high water and ummmm.... a certain amount of good luck. I don`t consider them any more of a pita than the lobster pot bouys out in the sound. I have always wondered what happens to all of them down at the sound, I never seem to see any out there, does salt water sink them? As far as pushing them back out, I believe in letting nature take its course, most of the ones that land on my beach eventually wash away or the spring high water pushes them up to the base of the bank where I consider them erosion control. The huge one I pulled off my boat I tied off because releasing a monster that size on a busy boating weekend would be downright dangerous.
 
Hitting a submerged log can do a lot more damage then a bouy on a lobster pot, worse case is a fouled prop. With a log damage can be substantial.
 
I never see logs in the Sound either, however one time I saw a submerged metal ship container - yikes! That would wipe out any boat.

No lobster pots in the CT River, but plenty of logs - especially this year. We've been lucky so far, and over the years - think there is an art but not a science to avoid them - who knows. We do have the outdrive specifically insured separately for such peril.
 
quote:
Originally posted by tcontic

Hitting a submerged log can do a lot more damage then a bouy on a lobster pot, worse case is a fouled prop. With a log damage can be substantial.

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Point taken, I should have phrased it " I don`t consider AVOIDING them any more of a pita than the lobster pot bouys in the sound.
 
Interesting ~ yesterday on the Connecticut River, I herd 2x someone answering a radio check "Loud and clear from the Essex River."
 
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