While Bringing boat home to slip the operator ran aground near Crystal Bay. The lake was recently lowered by approximately 2 feet and markers had been removed from lake. Immediately after the grounding, the operator was able to drive the boat back to its slip at Crystal Bay. The operator thought the prop had just been bent. The next day when he took the vessel out, he found that all of the sudden, the boat went from moving fine to a sudden stop. The vessel had to be towed by a passing boat. The grounding had cracked the lower gear drive and caused the oil level to drop so that the gears in the upper drive were not being lubricated. Without lubrication the teeth on the gears burned and the boat stopped.
Danbury                       