Accident Report on my STV Euro

[NPK2003]

Last Saturday, my 23 yr. old son took out my Euro at my lake cottage in Three Lakes (Eagle River) without permission. Lori and I had returned to attend a graduation party in Milwaukee. We came home late evening to get a phone call from my brother saying that my son took the boat out and hit a 14' aluminuim fishing boat on Laurel Lake. Net results are as follows:

1. Thankfully, No Injuries. 14 year old driver of fishing boat was thrown out of boat, but OK. One scratch about 4" long and a bumped ankle. Perimedics checked him out at scene and he was OK to go home. My son shaken, but no injuries.

2. Collission occured after my son turned the Euro in the channel, going around 3 pontoon boats and 2 fishing boats in a broard 180 sweep. He was waving back at some pontoon boaters, then looked ahead and saw the fishing boat about 30' ahead. Tried to avoid it but to late, and caught the bow at 90 degrees.

3. Collision occured about 30-35 mph, with boat turned hard to port and motor killed. Top edging (gunwhale?) of alum fishing boat came off and logged into and onto Euro. Front of fishing boat then folded up like beer can. Boats were towed back to respective docks, no sinking occured.

4. I met today with the father of the fishing boat driver to express my concern. He is a fellow "chain" resident and we and worked things out, being thankfull no one was injured.

This whole incident has my family very upset. I have always promoted safety in operation of performance boats and driven accordingly. It is too early to know what the "perceptions" of other neighbors on the lakes will be. The only good news is no one was injured, the rest just sucks!

Here are a couple of pics of the Euro as it sits in my driveway back at home today. Not too bad, no internal damage or damage to main area of lower hull.

[NPK2003]

Another picture.

[Scream And Fly]

Nick,

I'm terribly sorry about the news. Accidents happen, and you handled it in a professional manner. Thankfully, nobody was injured though.

Greg:(

[NPK2003]

I really don't want to talk about the incident much more. I'm pretty down and won't have the boat back for BTTW or the Rumble. I'm still working on the quartermaster, but it's no runabout to drive around in all day.

Hope things work out somehow.

Nick K

[mikesufka]

Uncle Nick

Sorry to hear about it. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

Mike Sufka

[Bulletboy]

It will work out thankgod nobody was hurt

[SleeveA]

Nick, your one of the greatest guy's I have ever met, I know your doing every thing you can at this point.

Let me know if I can help in anyway.

[Ron V]

Sorry to hear that Nick. Glad nobody was hurt. One thing I'd comment on is that even if you're keeping a good lookout, those small aluminum boats can be tough to see because of their color on the water. I've had some instances where I didn't see small rowboats quite as soon as I would have liked, because of the dull color. Good thing to keep in mind when you're in one too.

[Mach2]

...at BTTW if you like. I was running the chain July 4th week-end and although the incident occured with a local, I can attest to the idoits that were out with no regard for others. Laurel can be very narrow in points and anytime there are 3 pontoon boats in the area it is a crowd. Thank God your son and the other party are OK. Boats can be fixed, lives can't.

I run the 20' Concord and although not fast by any means, can still run 60+ with 4 adults on board. Just ask Matt and Michelle who rode with me 2 years ago when their motor gave out.

Just an open invitation.:cool:

[Jeff "Yammer"]

I read something about this on another thread and it was a bit rude. I thought about posting but ... waited.
I hope that you feel better about this accident Nick and I just want you to know that you are one of the nicest guys anyone could ever want to meet. Your kind heartedness is easily seen. I hope it all works out for you.
**** happens but I bet your son won't do that again .:(

Jeff

[Balzy]

Thanks for laying the story out here. It takes a hell of a guy to do that. No excuses, just the facts thats happened. This is good, no rumors this way. Nicky, you da man !!!!!!!!

Now, lets move on. Bruce can fix that Euro up like new again.

This ain't gonna stop any of your participation in BTTW. We have plenty of boats to ride in. Tell ya what Nick, I can ride shotgun with someone in the front of the pack and you take my HST. You are welcome to use it pal. Hell, I've used the Euro plenty. :D :D LOL It's all yours !!!!!!!!! BTTW ain't all about boating. It's the camaraderie and wouldn't be the same without you guys here. Anyway, I just got another one of those outdoor fireplace deals that Lori won in the auction last year and I need somebody to bid against on it. I did my best to beat her out last year but in the end she wanted too much.

Nick and Lori, you guys know you can call anytime for anything. Janet and I are here for you guys. Let us know what we can do to help.


Mike and Janet.

[Wildcat731]

wow if i ever took my dads boat out without asking (not that i'm allowed to drive it anyways) and got in an accident I would be heading for the border because he would probably murder me when I got home.

[WILDMAN]

Now I remember why I'm glad I never had kids!

[Trikki1010]

Unfortunately, it's a part of the learning process.

Hopefully a lesson was learned

Fortunately, noone was hurt and your son has a great father;)

Fiberglass can be fixed, flesh can't

[chris_lacey]

My son has never crashed the boat, just bown engine after engine. Snowmobiles, now thats a different story.

[JRider]

Glad it happened at a relatively low speed and no one was hurt. I know it sucks to have down time in a boat...my boat is broke also. Hope it gets fixed soon.

Jeb

[Hydrovector]

Sorry to see what happened. Thank god know one was hurt. I know how it feels to have a boat messed up. Mikey's right Bruce can fix it.

[AnthonySS]

NICK…your class act and knowing the type of adversity you have been thru…you can lick this too. Victory is close…claim it!

Also very cool of you to talk to the parties involved. I am sure your son is very sorry and won’t have this happen, ever again. GLAD no one was injured

Looking forward to meeting you in about week and like Balzy said…its all about camaraderie….so lets live up to that.

Blessings

[HAZMATT]

That boat was my first 100mph pass with my wife.And i couldnt have been happier,If you need any help with anything let me know.
That concord does have a nice ride too.

[halveb]

Nick,

You came to my rescue last year on the poker run when my hull was leaking too much to run and I would be more than happy to do the same for you this year, just let me know.

What a guy he even let me drive the Euro (although I am always very nervous driving other people's boats and cars, etc.) it was a blast. Cruising down the river got to watch Balzy try and minimize his skeg real close (hope that doesn't happen again:eek: )

If I could get the jetboat motor figured out I would let you run it for the day but I don't think anyone would ever let you hear the end of running a squirt boat. :D

Cheer up buddy it will get better with time.

[NPK2003]

Your replies have cheered me up a bit and it means alot. I WILL NOT miss BTTW for anything. It is all about getting together and bonding like Anthony says.

I'm up to my rear end with alligators at work (taking time off does that to ya), but I am going to find time to see what can be done to get the Euro fixed quickly. If nothing else, I'll drag the quartermaster to BTTW finished or not.

Thanks again and see lot of you soon.

Nick

[Balzy]

you are bringing the Quartermaster for me so you can drive my HST ????????? LOL :eek: :D :eek: ;) :eek: :cool:

[ProComp]

So sorry to hear. Nobody likes to see a boat looking like that.

Wish I was closer as you could use mine in a heartbeat. Looks like you've got some other nice options but I'm sure you'd rather borrow an STV versus a checkered HST! :eek:

(Sorry Mike, just thought I might get a chuckle out of Nick at your expense. You can get even with a 2AM phone call!)

Hope everyone has a fun/safe time at BTTW. Wish I could of made it.

Brad

[JRider]

Originally posted by NPK2003

I'm up to my rear end with alligators at work (taking time off does that to ya), but I am going to find time to see what can be done to get the Euro fixed quickly.


Its called DUCT TAPE :D

[Jay Smith]

Just glad nobody was hurt. Reminds me of a time when my son Jayme (17 at the time ) was in our shop , which our 2000 square ft home sits atop , him and his "girlfriend" were down stairs doing who knows what I was working graveyards and happenend to be on the phone when I hear his 11 second street Camaro's motor come to life over the phone , I heard a crash and my wife said she had to go she thought he ran through the shop. Got home at 5:00 am and the Camaro was sticking halfway through the rear 16' shop door just feet away from 2 customers Race motors on stands and inches from one of the 9 support beams holding up this 3 bedroom house from crashing down on him in the shop below ! I asked him what the hell happened and he told me it started IN GEAR . But by the look of the two tire burn marks on the floor I knew that was BULL. We got over it and the repair bill $375.00 came out of his birthday money he had been saving and he learned a valuable lesson. I am a believier at a VERY young age make your kids responsible both moraly and financely for thier mistakes , this is by some standards very strict but he has grown into a responable man that we are very proud of !


BTW: Even to this day ( 5 years later ) when I asked him what happened down there that night he just looks at me , smiles and winks ! LOL............

[nelsoncat]

Nick,
Sorry to hear about the crash. When it rains it pours!!!! You are welcome to ride in my STV. It will probably be its first true outing for me as the 4th of July test proved to be a motoroverheater. Where the hell was North American On Plane Towing when you need them; I had to get towed by my brother in his Starcraft bowrider I/O You know that sinking feeling you get when you realize that the plan to go out and kick some ass was not meant to be. Hope it all works out and we'll see you next week!!!!!!!!

Craig

[blkmtrfan]

Originally posted by Jay Smith
I am a believier at a VERY young age make your kids responsible both moraly and financely for thier mistakes , this is by some standards very strict but he has grown into a responable man that we are very proud of !

I totally agree, and if more of us did, this country would be great again ;)

[NPK2003]

I agree with Jay! This damage is a little more than $375.00, so he'll be paying me back in installment payments. Might take a year!

He is remorsefull and even the police said he was very cooperative and took responsibility. From the police, I took it as a positive comment.

Still trying to get boat fixed ASAP. Upper and lower pieces are attached to rub rail, so may not be all that bad to repair. Structually, the hull is fine. Never pierced the bulkhead or scratched the foam floation. Roark built a strong boat.

DUCT TAPE: Nahh. I have some red and some white plastic floor tape! That stuff really sticks. Might just do it.

Balzy, may still bring quartermaster for prop testing. I'm worried about the NOISE!! Sounds (pun intended) like a citation waiting to happen with that 12" center.

[stokernick]

Nick I`m glad no one was hurt and your son took responsibility for his actions.I was a little confused about what you did cuz you weren`t the blame.God speed getting it fixed and happy boating!!!!

[kielbasa]

so that's what happened, I was camping at Harborside across the street on Big Stone Lake and I was wondering what happened.....good thing nobody was hurt!!!....I had an unfortunate experience on that lake the day after. I went bailing off the innertube at around 40 mph and went underwater. So there I am waiting for the lifevest to bring me up, and it felt like I was just stuck in some kind of a vortex underneath. Well, my desire to breathe was too great and I ended up sucking water. I was fully aware of what was happening, so I quit sucking. Seemed like another 30 seconds went by, and I had to breathe again, so I drank some more. By now I'm thinking this is the end, adios world, and drank some more water. All of a sudden I began seeing light, and popped out of the water. My brother was drving the boat looking for me asking what the hell I'm doing underwater for so long. I have no idea what in the hell happened, felt like somebody was just keeping me under, and needless to say I now know what it feels like to drown, BAD!!!! Maybe time to wear two lifejackets!!!

[halveb]

Kielbasa, sounds like perhaps you need a new life jacket. I see by your response that you must be a cheeselander (or at least play in our backyard). I kinda figured with your screen name that you were from the area.

I just responded to you post about looking for a boat and maybe an HST as I know of one for sale in the Appleton area. The guys name is WOGI and I think it was listed in the for sale board here.

Nick glad to hear you'll probably be able to tape it up :eek: in time for BTTW. Just give it to Thumper and let him fabricate something for you at work (you do like John Deere green don't you. :D )