Breaking News – Today Woody Boater was at the Greenwood Lake Antique & Classic Boat Show in New York State. One minute we saw this late 60′s Greavette like this (above)… The next minute we looked up and saw this! It all seemed to happen in just a few seconds. In the time it took to get the camera out, it was all over!
More to follow as information comes in on this tragic event. Thankfully everyone was safe, not the same outcome for the Greavette unfortunately… It appears that an Ace Hardware Bucket would not have helped this time.
Stay tuned to Woody Boater for more…
Sometimes you need a REALLY big bucket. Did the boat go down, or were they able to tow it to shore?
It is amazing that his Yellow, interior, was already formed into a floation-pod, with fins?
This guy must have been a Jet-Pilot, in an earlier life?
It appears that boat has an outdrive… It will be interesting to find out if the failure was there, the exhaust fittings/hose or perhaps – the plug…
It happened in a second. One minute it was low and then the shot… The boat went completely down. The owner was sitting on the yellow seat. Looked very relaxing despite the event. He was totally surprised.. Very sad. We were on black witch. And driving by.. Insane and fun Saturday with a dramatic ending.
What a shame. What happened to the dog? I would say it was more than the plug, more like the outdrive boot or a gaping hole somewhere. Wow!
Why isn’t there a dog afloat?
This guy found the time to get old, and put the white cap on?
What is this…, FOX “news”?
OK, the photo with the dog is a file photo, I remember seeing it before. Right???
The cover shot (with the dog) is a stock photo from the Greenwood Boat Show web site. Dog is OK
Texx, thanks. I was beginning to think I was dreaming.
The dog was not in the boat at the time of this truely unfortunate event. The owner is a pilot as well (good guess). Last report I heard the owner was upset but doing fine. The boat however was taking a short nap on the bottom of the lake at minus 45′. I have not heard if the boat has been surfaced yet, if it has not i’m sure it will be in the morning. It’s true nice guys finish last..Jim & Barbara truely did not deserve this situation.
45 feet is an easy dive. One of the advantages of a man made pond. If that happened in lake Tahoe you have something like a 1500 foot recovery depth which is not gunna happen.
Maybe a flotation bladder should be added to the list of wood boat safety gear? …at least you can tow her to shore.
http://www.turtlepac.com/products/underwater-lift-bags-a-yacht-floatation.html
Cool idea, might be more practical on a cruiser?
I have been thinking about adding molded blocks of urethane foam. You don’t want to pour it right on the wood since it will bind, trap water, and probably cause rot and swelling issues. If I do it, I will line each cavity with spacers and heavy plastic sheeting, and make underside blocks that don’t sit on the wood. The problem I have is finding room for enough foam in a small boat with a big engine. There is little point in having almost enough flotation.
An auto inflating air bag would solve the space problem but I would be worried about it inflating reliably when you need it and never when you don’t.
I have a bag that I store my life jackets in. The type you get from Boat US. I keep it in the bow compartment of my U-22. It’s out of the way and sort of trapped there. I’m guessing it would keep the bow floating in an emergency.
It’s amazing what people will do to try and unseat and outdo me to get my Hartwell award.
:):):)AHHHHH AHHHHHHH
When we arrived on scene we saw what looked like a couple small pieces of the bottom floating on the water. Other than that we had no clew what happened. It did happen real fast. We called 911 and the response by the police boat and then the fire rescue boat was a quick response. When I saw that the operator was ok we went and picked up some of the stuff that was floating and I asked a pontoon boat to pick up the pieces of seating that was floating around.
I had 4 people on board with me and I would like to thank all for their help and to complement everyone for staying calm and to say that it was Don who was the one who spotted it first.
I feel his pain. when my boat sunk at the dock in 6′ of water we used the dock and my glass boat to wench it up along with a 350 gpm pump.
Two Canadian boats sinking this early in the season? Coincidence or are the Century guys behind this? HA.
Canadian lakes tend to be more solid. Their boats don’t seem to handle the warmer, more liquid lakes we have down here.
So, what happened to the world famous woodyboater followup story? We haven’t had any new stories all day, I might have to ask for a full refund on my subscription if Monday morning’s story is not a whopper WITH cheese!
No “leaks” about Matt’s new boat! Hope it wasnt a Greavette!
As of about noon today, I don’t think that the sunken boat was raised. We stayed on after the show and were out on the lake this morning. We did see a few boats in the area along with divers in the water, so the recovery was in progress.
And yes, Matt was there with his new (to him) boat, which is a magnificent find, and I’m not gonna spill the beans.
Jeff
Guess it will be refloated, repaired and put back in use?
Hey maybe Matt bought a wood submarine and torpedoded the Greavette as a story distraction. Just sayin?
OK I saw the new boat and even touched the boat. I got to wave at the woody boater as I crossed his bow, yet I missed the sinking of the Gravette. My condolenceses to the onwer of the sunken craft. My congradulations to the new boat that I too will not give up. I was happy also to be the only lapstrake there for the short time I was there except for the 1966 Bager. I parked two slips over from the Gravette. Hope your ride home was uneventful and there are no scratches on that beautiful bright work. It’s future is so bright I had to wear shades.
First a minor correction to the title of this blog… The Greavette did not sink at the show. It sank after the show on it’s trip back to the owners dock.
The vessel was located by divers today and towed to a local marina around noon today. Straps were carefully placed around the hull since this model of boat does not have lifting rings. The boat was slowly winched during which time pumps were also utilized to remove the water from inside the boat. I am happy to report that the vessel is high and dry and will hopefully someday soon grace the beautiful waters of Greenwood Lake once again.
As for the remaining question of what happened… It seems that there was a failure of a section of the plywood bottom back towards the stern of the boat.
Thank you to all the people that participated today in the recovery of this classic boat!
Phil – Thanks for providing the updates on this story, we appreciate it.
I was just talking with this guy. I seen him over at Cadillac Boat Shop when he was picking up his boat after a full blown restoration. I asked him how long did it take? He told me ever since Cadillac Boat Shop started advertising on Woody Boater they have been “swamped” with work so it took the full 8hrs.
What?
And another thing…. Matt, what boat did you get?
Come on times up.
geez,
now i know how the little children feel on christmas morning…
I was there when they pulled this boat out of the water yesterday. Basically, the bottom came out of this boat. She looked like a real 10 above the water line. Below the water line was a different story. The Interstate battery and bilge bump broke through the bottom of the boat. There was a 4 footish long, 2 footish wide whole in the bottom of this boat. I’m not a wooden boat expert. But, even what didn’t break, didn’t look real good to me. I wasn’t at the lake on Saturday. So when I saw the dive team, I feared the worst. Glad to hear no one got hurt, just a bruised pride.
Tom
Good morning Woody Boater? It is morning ya know! I’m standing by my computer (ok, I’m sitting) waiting for the story about this old, new or is it new, old or maybe new, new, old (whatever) boat that you picked up over the weekend in NY. I’m on my second cup of Woody Boater java and need to go pee real bad.
Waiting……………………………………………………
It wasn’t as easy for the divers as one would think. They could’nt see their hands in front of their faces. It took multiple tries to locate the vessel. It was only after repeated sonar runs and a direct drop over the stricken vessel that they were able to “bump” into it. A solid effort by all!
Wait till he gets the bill for this. When my boat burned and sunk in 4′ of water it cost Hagerty 7k. Think about that when your buying insurance.
As the owner of the Graevette,
Special thanks to the rescue crew and lift crew at Willow Point Marina.
My thanks to all who expressed such caring about the boat and occupant. In response to the blogs, I am ex military and yes a pilot with a jet license but it had nothing to do with my sitting on the rear seat of my boat. It was bright yellow and I had a rope on the boat so I could obtain a precise GPS coord.
My heartfelt thanks and special appreciation of the considerable effort of JR Helberg, Phil Widmer, Keith Garley and the entire Scott family.
The boat will survive but I have to wash a lot of dishes to repair it.
Warm regards,
Jim Moore
Thanks Jim – We were glad to see that you were safe. Keep us posted on her repairs and re-launch in the future.
No need to wash dishes, just get some duct tape.
Jim you looked as cool as a cucumber out there sitting in your yellow chair. Your calmness saved the day. It went down so fast that we could only watch from Black Witch. Let us all know whats next..
Thankfully everyone is safe, but I am curious as to what happen. I’ve only heard of one similar circumstance, where a century going across the lake had a bottom plank come loose from the front, causing the boat to go down inmediatly. Please keep us informed as to what happen.
Jim, I am sorry to hear about the loss and recovery of your boat. Good luck with her restoration, in the mean time there is alway flying.
Steve
I must say that Woody Boater is a great website and all of you have been most kind.
1. The boat is out of the water, there was no damage to the engine and it is already running.
2. We are removing engine and outdrive (it is brand new) and will then move boat up to a friend’s house who owned a primarily wooden boat boat yard in England and who now is a cabinet maker here in Orange County. We will turn it upside down and begin repairs. He took many pics and will give me an estimate.
3. It is the considered opinion of a dear friend and very knowledgeable wooden boater that the unsecured battery (dumbass that I am never considered the problem.) pounded a hole in the bottom as it bounced merrily along.
Who knows the truth?
Jim