Large rock rips off skeg

[rndn]

A few years ago I was snorkeling in Lake Ontario off of Hamlin Beach State Park near a place called Devil's Nose. Surrounded by 12 feet of water is a living room sized rock that depending on water level could be 1-14 inches below the water surface. You can always see the scrapes across the rock and if you spend the day will more than likely see someone hit this rock. It's only about 50 feet offshore and is the remains of a very large natural point that has been eroded over the years.
On this particular trip I noticed a white piece of metal shaped like a triangle with a very rough edge on one side. I swam down and found an OMC (white color) skeg. It had been ripped right off of the lower unit. Not enough to get into the gear case but just about the entire skeg. I threw the thing in the boat and then in my truck to show some guys at work. It ended up staying in the truck for a few weeks.
There was a welding shop that I passed every day on my way to and way back from work and one day noticed a boat there with two guys looking at a white outdrive. I stopped to look and sure enough it was missing a complete skeg. I reached into the glove box and brought out the skeg I had found and sure enough it fit like a glove. I gave it to the guy and they had planned on welding it back onto the outdrive. The boat owner told me that he will never go back to Lake Ontario for that reason.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Large rock rips off skeg

Sounds to me like the State Park people should mark that rock, somehow. I hate hazards like that. Every time I go to a new lake, I worry about some unmarked rock messing up my day. I do study the topographic map of the lake beforehand, but I've still busted a shear pin or two.

 

[beerfilter]

Re: Large rock rips off skeg

I agree , that rock needs to be marked .
50' offshore , I am sure it catches a lot of unsuspecting boaters .
FYI , a topo map will not show those transom busters , too small even at the scale of this particular rock .

I boated for several years on Percy Priest , and , there are a literal crapload of similar "surprises" scattered all over that lake .
There are a couple big fins of bedrock that rise out of 40'+ water to come within a foot of the surface , out in the middle of the lake .
Most don't know about them , the knowledge of thier existence comes at a high price to some .

The good thing is that they are magnets for smallmouth and several other species .

Logs are the big hazzard where I currently fish , pointed downstream with thier sharpened tips waiting for an unsuspecting boater .
With floods that regularly run 20 -30 ' over normal levels , they change quickly and often .
Every trip is a scouting trip , you cannot get complacent , or , you end up with a trashed LU , or , a punched hull .

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Large rock rips off skeg

Right now, the Mississippi here in Minnesota is just bristling with almost submerged logs. They're a huge hazard in the spring for recreational boaters. You can't put a bouy on them, but rocks that are a known hazard in a state park should be bouyed. What the heck do we pay taxes and boat registration fees for, anyhow.

When I launch on an unfamiliar lake, I try to ask about hazards if there are other boaters around. That's saved my butt a couple of times. Plus, a guy's always got to be careful near launch sites. It's a real bummer when your day ends right after you pull away from the dock, and there always seem to be some sort of hazards near the launch.

Besides, those hazard bouys would be great indicators for fishermen like me. I love structure.

 

[rndn]

Re: Large rock rips off skeg

When you snorkel off of this rock it's like being in a national Geographic film, swarming with fish. While swimming I have seen walleye, lm and sm bass. bluegill, perch, trout, and rock bass. There used to be a marker but the ice takes it off and it never gets replaced. While it's true it should be marked, it's also off a very pronounced pint and boaters should realize to take caution. I saw one guy hit it and before he went to it he actually went in between my boat and the shore. I told him there was a big rock in his path and he told me he had been boating there for years and knew very well what he was doing. I then sat back down, grabbed a beer and watched him hit the rock as he was just putting the boat on plane. I sat there watching him and then watched him wait for an hour for his buddy to come out and tow him in. I can't understand why he never asked me for a tow, hah hah.

 

[Bart Sr.]

Re: Large rock rips off skeg

Your "TOW" would have come with too much "CROW".

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Large rock rips off skeg

Yup. I'm amazed at how many folks react to being warned about something by flipping you the bird or telling you to mind your own business. If someone warns me of something, I always pay attention to them. Why would they give me a useless warning?

The worst thing is that they don't learn from all of this. I have a neighbor who has broken more props than anyone I know. He fishes the river a lot, and knows only two speeds, troll and wide open. Rocks like him. Half-sunken logs love him. Wing dams? Ah, heck, they want to marry him, it seems.

I don't loan him any power tools, either. He has a back yard full of broken ones. Uff da!

 

[mikey.himself]

Re: Large rock rips off skeg

hamilton beach? where is this darn thing i dont want any surprises.........

 

[big dreamer racing]

Re: Large rock rips off skeg

Apparently at our main lake some lakefront homeowners have put some BIG rocks just past "their area" to rip up people's boats, luckily while we were tubing someone warned us about it. Natural rock placement is bad enough but purposely placing damaging objects is just plain ignorant.

 

[rndn]

Re: Large rock rips off skeg

hamilton beach? where is this darn thing i dont want any surprises.........

It's Hamlin Beach off of Hamlin Beach State park in New York. It's about 25 miles west of Rochester.

 

[v1_0]

Re: Large rock rips off skeg

purposely placing damaging objects is just plain ignorant.

Wouldn't it be criminal? Say, along the lines of boobytrapping.. If proven, of course.