Local Propellor Strike Fatality

[prairie tuber]

This ocurred yesterday on Lake of the Woods, which is a huge and popular resort lake located near where I live. While this did not happen on a RIB, it could have just as easily - it always amazes me when I see boat ad photos showing people sitting/laying on raised bow seats/decks while the boat is on plane.

http://winnipegsun.com/News/Canada/2...9/4455474.html

[Tomas]

Yea, that's too damn bad. I've seen some of those Bass type boats they have up North and they have very little in the way of gunnels. They use big motors as well. Even when I have folk seated on the tubes on the SeaRider, their center of gravity is well inside the boat, not that it would be impossible to toss someone.

[jyasaki]

Not to lay blame, but a bass boat?

Condolences to all involved; That sucks no matter what it was.

Be safe;

jky

[prairie tuber]

The boats used by most of the lodges in this area are not quite as extreme as many of the high performance tournament bass boats you might see on the fishing shows. They're typically 16' - 20' aluminum boats similar to the one in the picture. Almost all will have a pedestal swivel seat on an elevated bow deck, but that seat is only meant to be used for casting from while the boat is at rest.

This lake as well as almost all of the other rivers and lakes in this area are loaded with reefs just below the suface. Hitting a reef even at a low-moderate speed would likely toss someone seated on that bow seat in front of the boat.