aero320
07-05-2014, 11:02 AM
I was out early on JPP on July 4th hybrid fishing and had a good day. Will post info and video of trip later. About 11:00 am, I headed back to the boat ramp at Stewarts Creek. I had been fishing the lower end of the lake all morning.
Just after I passed under Hobson Pike bridge, I noticed a boat to my left running almost parallel to my path and a good distance away. The boat was a Bass Tracker and appeared to have a driver and a passenger. It was fairly windy and I was cruising down the lake at about 35 MPH. In what seemed like a few seconds, I saw the driver of the other boat lunge across his boat to grab a life jacket that was about to blow out of his boat. He let go of the steering wheel and when he did this and the boat made a sharp turn at fairly high speed and the passenger was thrown out of the boat. The driver tried to get control of the boat and the next thing I knew, he was headed to me, still at a fairly fast speed and was going to T-bone my boat. The driver of the other boat finally got control of his boat then realized that we were going to collide. He tried to veer the boat to the right. I slammed the throttle to wide open and basically outran the collision. The other boat passed right behind me no further than 10 feet behind my boat.
I turned the boat around and went back to see if everyone was OK. Fortunately the passenger was wearing a life jacket and was thrown clear of the boat. The outcome of this could have been tragic. When this whole thing started, I was a safe distance from the other boat. I was running about 35 mph and the other boat was probably going at the same speed or even a little faster. When the other boat went out of control and headed for my boat, that safe distance evaporated very quickly!
Just after I passed under Hobson Pike bridge, I noticed a boat to my left running almost parallel to my path and a good distance away. The boat was a Bass Tracker and appeared to have a driver and a passenger. It was fairly windy and I was cruising down the lake at about 35 MPH. In what seemed like a few seconds, I saw the driver of the other boat lunge across his boat to grab a life jacket that was about to blow out of his boat. He let go of the steering wheel and when he did this and the boat made a sharp turn at fairly high speed and the passenger was thrown out of the boat. The driver tried to get control of the boat and the next thing I knew, he was headed to me, still at a fairly fast speed and was going to T-bone my boat. The driver of the other boat finally got control of his boat then realized that we were going to collide. He tried to veer the boat to the right. I slammed the throttle to wide open and basically outran the collision. The other boat passed right behind me no further than 10 feet behind my boat.
I turned the boat around and went back to see if everyone was OK. Fortunately the passenger was wearing a life jacket and was thrown clear of the boat. The outcome of this could have been tragic. When this whole thing started, I was a safe distance from the other boat. I was running about 35 mph and the other boat was probably going at the same speed or even a little faster. When the other boat went out of control and headed for my boat, that safe distance evaporated very quickly!