On Saturday, June 8th, 2013 at around 15:35 Operator was operating his boat on Tim''s Ford Lake near Leatherwood Island.  As Operator drove his boat around the southwest side of Leatherwood Island the lower unit struck something submerged under the water.  Operator and the passengers said that they never saw what they hit either before or after the impact.  The operator and witnesses said that the engine started to smoke almost immediately after the impact and they also noticed that they were taking on water.  They shut off the engine and put on their PFD''s, and phoned for help.  Officers arrived on scene about 15 minutes after it happened and towed the vessel to Lakeview Marina where we conducted the investigation.  We examined the motor once on shore and saw that the inside of the motor cover appeared to have some burn marks on it and most of the plastic parts and hoses on the motor had melted.  We also saw that the transom had cracked on both sides of the motor right next to the motor mount.  The rear compartments had flooded and had to be drained once on shore.
WINCHESTER