On November 21, 2015 I took my Nitro Z6 out for the last time. Not by choice, but because I would experience a very bad accident. I’m not sure I should call it an accident as there was nothing I did wrong to cause an accident. So let’s call it…. an unfortunate event.
Im short, the hull of my Nitro Z6 delaminated. What this means is the strips of fiberglass on the bottom of the boat stripped away from the boat itself. This left what is essentially holes as large as 4 foot on the bottom of the boat.
How I made it back to the boat landing is a miracle. I had to keep the boats bilge pump on and idle back 7 miles to the boat ramp. Water poured through the bottom of the boat filling up the bilge area. I could go on and on about the details of the event. But a picture is worth 1000 words. The following images show just how bad the damage was.
So what caused this? Well, I’m not 100% sure but it appears to be a manufacturing defect. Tracker Marine has stepped up to the plate and the boat has been sent back to the factory for repair/replacement. I am currently waiting to hear back from Tracker Marine with good news I hope.
This was likely one of the last times I was going to take the boat out ever as I had real serious plans to upgrade to a larger/faster boat at the beginning of 2016. However, these were not the circumstances in which I was hoping to upgrade my boat. Now I am without a boat and it’s not feasible for me to purchase another one until this issue is resolved.
Oh, but ironically, I won the tournament I was fishing when this incident happened! 🙂
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