Home › Forums › Bass Cat Boats › Need help coming to terms with my stupidity!
Joey.
On Sun. Oct.10 in a club tourney on Truman during the takeoff I was getting up to speed well behind the boats that took off ahead of me. I was running about 60 mph and trimming up when I encountered a boat wake I turned slightly to the right and the boat hooked 90 degrees to the right violently and after slowing down and regaining control I looked over and my non boater was gone he had been thrown out of the boat at 60. Fortunately other than loosing his glasses and a slight cut above the nose he was OK. I dont know who was more scared him or me. For a week I racked my brain trying to figure what went wrong but could not. This weekend as luck would have it I was back at Truman for another tourney and after running around Fri. pre -fishing I was getting my confidence back driving a boat (I have had a bass boat for 22 years with no such problems). But on Sat. morning during takeoff I think I discovered my problem. I have never had a boat with a hydraulic jack plate before and on my previous boat my trim lever was on the right hand side of the steering wheel and on the Puma the jack plate lever is on the right and the trim is on the left and in the excitement of take off instead of trimming up the motor I was raising the jack plate and the bow came down and spray was coming out in front of the consoles and the boat was hard to control. When I realized this I lowered the jack plate and trimmed up the motor and every thing went back to normal so I now believe this is what I did the previous week. So what do you guys think could this have caused my accident? I will watch this closely from now on and not forget during tournament takeoffs. Larry BrumleyLast edited by carpmaster on October 19th, 2010, 7:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Im sure BCB will be along to Educate why and how it happened, but yes, you simply lost bite and went in a circle!!! Have fun and remember it was a EZ mistake….Your Signature …
Above everything else it seems no one was seriously injured. We are sure your partner is a bit banged up from his toss over the side. Still God was sitting on his shoulder that morning. We are very glad you figured it out! First always remember to trim down first when resting the boat back in the water. This puts the skeg back in the water. This is becoming more frequent on boats with hydraulic plates. We do not suggest them as being for everyone and continuously inform people to keep those motors down in the water. Even with manual jack plates we want those engines lower than some want to try them. This was a topic on here a couple of weeks ago in regard to another engine brand and combination. We have to keep the skegs wet, it is the rudder, and when you loose it you loose control. It is also becoming more frequent since the 250 engines have become the main stay. They just have that much more torque than a 225. We also have these excessively large torque tabs built in the newer gearcases with cambered skegs. These have a tremendous amount of effect on the hulls when they are in the water compensating for torque as they push one direction against the hull. When you loose that larger cambered skeg, the effect is reversed. Then there is a Hot Foot. When you back off suddenly you immediately change the skeg bite and loose the rudder. Often without trimming down, which should be the first move in slowing a boat, then back off. If you chop the throttle, your skeg instantly raises out of the water and your bite ratio changes drastically very quick. This is more effected by a Hamby or other bow protector as they work like a pin for the bow to pivot on. Overall this is a brief assessment of what can happen. The effects of those cambered Skegs and large cases, the bow protector, hot foot, hydraulic plates and more. Plus one has to realize that a Skeg is only about 5 to 7 inches long. If the nose drops 1 foot or so, the skeg comes up a good portion of that, thus if you are trimmed up and on the high end of the plate you can easily see how much of the skeg (rudder) you just elevated out of the water.From the hull perspective, the hull of a 20 BCB was the exact same from 1996 through till 2007 on all models, and the Advantage Elite in 2008. We have tweaked them more in the 2008 through 2011 model years. Those Pre 2000 hulls were also heavier in the bow than the All Fiberglass models. For those 12 (twelve) model years prior to 2008 the hull was identical. We never really had this occurring till the later of those years towards 2007 on those original hulls, and the common factors were more 250 engines, hydraulic plates, Hamby protectors, Hot Foots, and etc. So now you can understand the example of what and how. This started appearing more as we began the 250 Pro XS and then the 250VZ or other large case motors. Today those options and features many of you like we feel are a larger learning curve than the boat drivers are used to. It is not as simple as just drive it when you put hydraulic plates, hot foots, stalk pro trim and then . We continue to say, be careful out there! Larry, You can pretty easily switch those switches around if you prefer the opposing side control trim or hydraulic plates. That is your preference. BCBLast edited by Bass Cat Boats on October 20th, 2010, 3:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Ill bet he didnt give you gas money.C.O.D. Jr. III
I would pay for the cleaners!
Sounds to me like you have come to terms with it pretty well ! (Thats why some of us, self included, dont need hyd. plates)Put the hyd. plate in position and forget you have it. Glad nobody was seriously injured. D.Last edited by dbasketman on October 20th, 2010, 2:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I know im the last one on this board who needs to make any comments it seems like but (Ward/ Joey) the co-angler was very lucky and yes id be timid also the rest of the day and for awhile as a driver. Im not saying those comments are out of line above, not sure ,maybe ,maybe not and i know its on the tip of your tongue just like anybody else would think or say.Im not here to judge anybody cause im the last one one here that needs to do that but with what has happened at Ky Lake its not really fair for Carpmasters co-angler or Carpmaster at all.That accident will stay with alot of fishermen in the back of their minds each time they blast-off.Im just wandering could you look at David Young and Carpmasters co-angler and make those same comments.Whether we were fishing those same trnamnts or fishing that same day that those accidents happen , we have been on the water sometime in between and it does make you think about things we take for granted and not think of. I hate to see people get hurt or scared to get back to doing what they love the most and enjoy. Carpmaster im glad your non-boater was ok and you also and nobody was hurt. BCB thanks for the info on some boat schooling.
FTD I agree both are touchy subjects. My response was flippant for a reason and I dont recall mentioning the KY lake event. I dont have the data regarding the KY lake event from one of the drivers involved as I do here. Consoling the injured is what I do for a living but the other half to these situations involves critical thinking. In surgical training specialties we call it grand rounds. Its grand alright because you take a beating for your mistakes in amongst your peers. In the end we all agree to walk away an put it down as learning experience(FOR ALL OF US) because we all realize we can do it.Intention is hard to relfect in type and because I tried initially to be subtle and I missed my target. I apologize for that for sure- not making fun of a potentially lethal injury. However given your concern for my post let me make my intentions clear.First of all it can happen to any of us. NO QUESTION. Thats why we call them accidents. I have put a boat on top of a jetty while idling out of a place Id been a thousand times.But when you look at this situation another point came to mind that shouldnt be overlooked. Its not personal based on Larry who is obviously a hellluva nice guy to come on here and mea culpa the whole thing when most of us wouldnt dream of it.My intent was to relfect an issue that I have seen multiple times. Not knowing how to drive a boat safely and work the equipment and not push into areas where you dont have experience just to get somewhere first. That was my intention wrapped up in the expected touch of frustration that a fellow coangler would relfect if he knew of the anglers confusion regarding frequently utilized switches in this situation. Not to mention what to do with water over the nose and the difficulties in turning at 60 through a wake.Having all this stuff and not knowing how it works, how to recognize equipment failures, equipment inconsistencies, and how to deal with it has to be addressed. I am tired of taking off for a tournament and having fools around me with much smaller motors and boats they cant drive safely trying to run me down and pass me when in most cases I dont care. Go on! Ill see you at the lock anyway! We get clear of all the trashy water and then Ill pass you if I need to at all.I have been in the boat with guys that drive areas they know there are trees everywhere just to run someone down- no needI have been in the boat with guys that I later found out didnt have a single nut left on any motor mount screw- no needI have been in the boat when I thought I was gonna wear the trolling motor because the boater couldnt find a way to run 4 waves at 65- no needI have been in the boat while a guy in 17 skeeter repeatedly tried to run 4 waves sideways and took 4 over the entire port only to slow down enough to take one over the nose- no needIm tired of it. Slowing down when its tough is fine! Its an eight hour event! Your back will appreciate it.Just like hunters education course I think its gettin to the point where WE ALL(me included) need a boaters course.Nuts we need to check, levels we need to check, wires we need to check. When do I take my boat and have it looked at? Lotsa questions that this website does a far superior job of than anything else that is out there.At this point in our sport it aint “someones gonna get hurt if we dont….” folks already are getting hurt.To me this post brings up an issue FAR more important than how exactly this happened and I was trying to subtley mention that.Now not so much subtle.Last edited by clownshoes on October 20th, 2010, 5:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.C.O.D. Jr. III
Larry …sorry to hear about your mishap… hang in there and thanks for sharing this potential hazard. I am sure you will save many a lot of grief and help prevent these type of events. Keep it easy for a while to rest and recover from it all. You have a beautiful rig to enjoy!Good LuckP.S. it wasnt stupidity …it was an error. I would reverse the controls so instinctively you will react better next time.Last edited by falcooon1 on October 20th, 2010, 5:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Short and sweet. Sorry if I hurt your feelings or anyone elses. Not what Ward or I are trying to do. Sorry to Mr. Carpmaster also! My dad was running BCB before most knew what they were. I can say I have been around them my entire life. I have been driving a boat for over 25 years, and I too have had some real close calls. Thank God the way all of them turned out! LUCKY! It taught me a lesson, RESPECT for the boat and what she can really do. Once again, not trying to make anyone mad!
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