Shallow Spot on Allegheny River

[NewtoArea]

I was riding up to the first lock on the allegheny river tonight and heard a rumble. i was about half way between the dam, six mile island, and the lock chamber. i think i hit the bottom with the outdrive. the depth gauge said 7-10 ft then when i heard the noise it said 2.5. a second later it was 7-10 feet again. Does anyone know if there shoal there? Sucks bad made me feel like an idiot.

[contessaowner85]

i saw a big stump/log barely sticking up in the river right in front of the island. it wasn't moving at all indicating to me that it was big and dragging on the floor of the river. i wonder if that is what you ran into.

[NewtoArea]

It may have been a stump. there was a grinding sound on the outdrive like it was the bottom. the props were not damaged, but did get some ruff burrs on them. the keel on the outdrive has a rough spot on it like if you left the outdrive down getting the boat back on the trailer.

What i don't understand is there was a person that went right through there under way when i was in the water looking at the prop and outdrive. that really made me mad. i know i was pulling more draft than him at an idle, but that means they have done that before and have had no issues or they would have not been going so fast.

Thanks for the help.

i saw a big stump/log barely sticking up in the river right in front of the island. it wasn't moving at all indicating to me that it was big and dragging on the floor of the river. i wonder if that is what you ran into.

[bobzeepgh]

That stump was stuck about 50' upstream of the island about 2 weeks ago.
I have not seen the stump since then.
There is a shallow area near the edge of the island caddy corner to the lock.

[Traillblazer]

check out google maps or bing maps and look at the satelite images. you can learn alot about different waterways by looking at it from above. shallow areas and shoals are easy to spot

[galleyslave]

check out google maps or bing maps and look at the satelite images. you can learn alot about different waterways by looking at it from above. shallow areas and shoals are easy to spot

That may be true for the time period when the photo was taken, but the only "constant" on a river is "change".

The folks at the Army Corp of Engineers do a fabulous job of keeping the "marked navigation channels" open and well marked. It is YOUR responsibility as a "navigator" to stay within those channels. If you deviate from the marked channel, be prepared to go slow and have a bow person lookout positioned for shallow water and obstacles.