www.iFourWinns.com

Boating in Georgian Bay is certainly beautiful, but it can really bite you if you get confused. This is what you do not want to do in Georgian Bay!!!!
This Four Winns hit a shoal on Wednesday last week while up on plane after mistakenly navigating a marker on the wrong side in a shoal riddled area. Canadian Salvage had to install 5 gas powered water pumps with 3" dia. hoses to pump out the water to keep the boat from sinking while they towed it into a Marina in Midland. The one pod drive was torn right off the bottom of the boat and the other is in pretty rough shape. The boat took on enough water that the engines were submerged and the cabin flooded.
Luckily no one was hurt!

The owner must be a little shook up

One mangled drive Pod, sure this is a write-off

The other is missing completely!

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2004 Four Winns 298 Vista
"Last Minute"

Surprising that there is no visible fiberglass damage. I'm sure there is internal damage that will require substantial work to repair. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if they have to cut out the entire pod mount are and reglass all of it.

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Current Operational Boats:
'04-Four Winns 180 Freedom 150 HP Evinrude
'72-Chris Craft Commander 31 Sedan Twin-350Qs

I can't imagine the repair bill on that one. Gots to be at least 6 figures.

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1981 Columbia 8.7
2015 Yamaha FZR - 87mph - sold
2006 Yamaha GP1300R - sold
2003 Chaparral 215 SSI - sold
2009 Stingray 195CS - sold
2000 Four Winns H180 - sold
1976 O'day Daysailer II - sold
Rick's Four Winns H180 Mods/Upgrade Thread

Damn. Wonder if they were able to recover the pod. Blew out the main gasket so likely tore the fg mounting penetration. That sucks, can't sleep on all those nice new ray electronics! That's a 435. Thx for the pics

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V475
Chris Craft Catalina 23 w/ 300 G2
Previously-V338, 248 Vista, H210

The few times I go to Georgian Bay, I double check my GPS, and often reconfirm any turns near the various "Turning Rocks" with paper charts (like the entry to the Bay after lock 45). I feel bad for the skipper, but understand how it can happen. When boats compete against rocks, the winner is seldom the boat!!

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Ernie Follis
It'll Do II
Four Winns 348 (2005)

after the Pump out and tow at $20k *estimate* then 2 new Zeus pod at roughly $80k in drives. then 5-10k in pod sleeve repair. and lord knows the damage on the interior. i showed pics to my dad (marine Survey) he said that the owner needs to hope the insurance company goes ahead and totals the boat. If they had that many pumps and the water hit all the venire interior. The long run interior behind walls mold and upcoming material state change and warping will cause issues all over the place later down the road.. Best bet is a new solid hull replacement. It sucks but that is one of the huge negatives so many people have with the expensive Zeus technology, you have a 2'x1' in this case hole in the boat if anything happens...Yes you gain all of the joy stick form and function in the marina. The joy stick is GOLD purrs gold.. but knowing if i sheer a prop and or loos a shaft i only have a 2" hole that i can shove a shaft plug or a rag in and not instantly sink.. 15-30% gain in efficiency in propulsion and 15-30% faster sinking...

The situation sucks but it is a down fall to the drive design.. sucks, will cost a lot. hope owners insurance premiums are paid up and he gets a good survey.

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Not Penny's Boat

1993 190 Horizon 5.0L EFI
http://www.smwebhead.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11136
1977 14' CMF Skiff SOLD
2015 Emotion Stealth Angler 11

Those are Volvo IPS Pods not Zeus Pods. The IPS pods are forward facing thus no exhaust thru the hub.

Scary, I bet the boat gets totalled.
Yet another example of how outboards would be better (not cheaper though)...
The OB will kick up but not as likely have hull damage.
In fact even regular outdrives would have been better IF you knew in time that you had to trim way up. These pod drives, while they have obvious advantages in steering/docking, don't really seem safer (although they were advertised as such) than convention shaft drives.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

That would be ONE BIG outboard to push a V435 thru the water, lol....

Eh, if you use them as they are intended. 40+ long cruisers (esp with pods) aren't really meant for hanging out on the sandbar or beaching. They should be at anchor in nice deep water and a dinghy used to get around the shallows. Of course, it sounds like it was driver error in this case.

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1996 205 Sundowner DLX
5.0FL Volvo SX Cobra
Tow Veh: 2012 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X

I feel bad for the skipper too. I've boated on Southern Georgian Bay for the last 10 years and know most areas from the entry of the Trent system right up to Parry Sound 4 hours away really well. All you need though is a slight bit of distraction and it can go all wrong. I've had a very close call and just luck I also didn't clean a drive off. Cruising along one time doing 30 mph I was enjoying watching a float plane pass over top of me and land up ahead. Being so interested in that, I totally missed a slight course jog and a shoal marker! Once I clued in I realized I was already going over one side of the shoal, it couldn't have been more than 3' deep! I think the only reason I didn't hit was the fact the boat was riding higher up on plane, but I can't imagine I had more than a couple of inches to spare. So yes, it can definitely happen to anyone.

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2004 Four Winns 298 Vista
"Last Minute"

The thing with Georgian Bay is it can go from 100' to 2' in a very short distance in certain areas. Big boats do just fine as long as they don't screw up. It's well depth charted with traditional marked routes through the maze of the insane amounts of islands. In certain areas though, one navigational brain fart and your in serious trouble. Even on the outside routes well beyond the island chains, which is primarily very deep water, there are occasional shoals you can still run aground on if you get off course.

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2004 Four Winns 298 Vista
"Last Minute"

I think a pair of Yamaha 300 hp 4 strokes, would have the performance of the Volvo IPS, if not better, much less maintenance, and can be trimmed up in the shallows. One of the big selling features of the IPS pods was that compared to a traditional shaft drive, it will shear off without the boat taking on water. This apparently is not always the case.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Here ya go Lou!

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1996 205 Sundowner DLX
5.0FL Volvo SX Cobra
Tow Veh: 2012 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X

Nice, like I said they will not be cheaper but better in a few very important ways.
While they are not common at all on pocket cruisers, think of how much more room inside the boat at the stern you'd have...

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Gorgeous boat! It's a shame to think it may be totaled.

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2007 358 T-5.7GXi IB
Previous Boats
'08 H240, '08 V318, '04 268, '04 225