Will insurance cover this one??

Diver1111 · 01-23-2008, 04:06 PM

John Birdsall's comment reminded me of a dive I got called to 2 years ago about 9pm one Sunday night. Seems a guy in South Hampton managed to drive a brand new Durango down a dry straight street, turn right 40 degrees to the right off the road, drive between two oak trees, drive another 50 feet or so across some guy's lawn to the Pow Wow River, where he deftly avoided a huge boulder on the embankment and drove into the river. 200 feet downstream I dove and chained it up through the front rim and they towed it back in-upright the whole time on the river bed. Windows tight, doors shut. I didn't need to break any glass nor enter the car. On the embankment the P.D. opened the door to find only one key in the ignition. When they asked the driver why there were no other keys on the ring, no floormats, books, papers, sunglasses, owners' manuals, drink containers, CD player, DVD player, radio or other such items, he stated..."The diver must have taken them". The South Hampton Police Officer who was in my boat the entire time that night found that....amusing.

Floating this SUV and getting it to shore will be a fat fee for sure.

topwater · 01-23-2008, 07:44 PM

Like they always say " YOU CAN'T FIX STUPID "

dpg · 01-24-2008, 11:44 AM

Think the police would give me his phone number? I have this lot for sale...

Weirs guy · 01-24-2008, 12:11 PM

Todays LaDailySuno has a great shot of whats left of his new Exploder. What a mess!

Grady223 · 01-24-2008, 01:21 PM

And where can I get it?

Gray Ghost · 01-24-2008, 01:51 PM

Picture of SUV link
ftp://www.laconiadailysun.com/Laconiapdf/2008/1/24L.pdf

Gray Ghost · 01-24-2008, 02:07 PM

Try again

The previous link didn't work, use this link and then select 24L.pdf

ftp://www.laconiadailysun.com/Laconiapdf/2008/1/

SIKSUKR · 01-24-2008, 02:08 PM

Is there a winter captain bonehead award?It would have to go to this guy.

MIKE PANDELENA speaks with Gilford Police officers after having narrowly escaped from his 2007 Eddy Bower Edition Ford Explore as broke through the ice and sunk to the bottom of Lake Winnipesaukee. Pandelena said he drove the 400 foot distance onto the ice in order to check whether or not it was safe for fishing.
What?

hilltopper · 01-24-2008, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gray Ghost

Try again

The previous link didn't work, use this link and then select 24L.pdf

ftp://www.laconiadailysun.com/Laconiapdf/2008/1/

Apparently you need a password to view this site?

Skip · 01-24-2008, 02:49 PM

Here you go....

Name: suv.JPG
Views: 2257
Size: 65.9 KB

christo1 · 01-24-2008, 05:41 PM

This may be a dumb question but where did all the damage come from?

wifi · 01-24-2008, 06:08 PM

Actually, I think Mr Pandelena should have a float switch, that automatically lowers the windows once the water level reaches a certain point... No more close calls

riverat · 01-24-2008, 06:35 PM

Pictures say it all!

DRH · 01-24-2008, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by riverat

Pictures say it all!

Excellent photos, Riverat!

Grant · 01-24-2008, 08:25 PM

Outstanding photos -- and the article explains the extensive damage. Towing it from the sinking point (thin ice) to the raising point (thicker ice) no doubt required dragging the vehicle over a BUNCH of rocks (anyone who has dove Winnipesaukee can attest to the, uh, presence of said rocks...). I suppose we can all agree on the upside -- no one was injured or killed, and the vehicle was retrieved relatively quickly.

Be careful out there, folks.

And...why not walk?

Grant · 01-24-2008, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christo1

This may be a dumb question but where did all the damage come from?

Could be a combination of factors -- going through the ice, landing on rocks on the bottom, being lifted from those rocks, being hauled out of the ice...regardless, it certainly took a beating!

This'nThat · 01-24-2008, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christo1

This may be a dumb question but where did all the damage come from?

The Winnipesaukee sea monster? Little fishes with attitudes (and tiny sledgehammers)? Water pressure at the deep Winnipesaukee depths? Hail during the thunder-snow? Just some options.

Grant · 01-24-2008, 07:17 PM

I don't see any lift bags. How was it brought to the surface? How deep there?

fatlazyless · 01-24-2008, 07:39 PM

Mass. man's SUV fished out of Big Lake

By Adam Drapcho
The Laconia Daily Sun

GILFORD - It took Gulbicki and Bertocchi towing companies two days to extricate a 2007 Ford Explorer from Saunders Bay, but they did so late yesterday afternoon. The SUV broke through the ice Monday afternoon, at about 1:15 p.m. It's owner, Michael Pandelina, of Andover, Mass., had driven the 4,700-lb vehicle onto the ice, he said Monday, to check the ice condition in preparation of a fishing trip he planned for the coming weekend.

He said he heard the ice cracking and stopped, and then the front end of the vehicle began to sink. Pandelina narrowly escaped through the driver's side window before his vehicle completely submerged, sinking some 35 feet before reaching the lake bottom.

Charles Gulbicki, of Gulbicki Towing, said the ice was about two-inches thick where Pandelina's vehicle went through, and so it was unsafe for the recovery crew to attempt to pull it up there. After a diver attached a cable to the Explorer, workers for the wrecker company used chain saws to cut a path in the ice to shore, where a tow truck with a winch dragged the vehicle about 250 feet.

Once closer to shore, beams were positioned under the Explorer, and it was dragged up the planks and onto the ice, then up onto the truck's bed. By the end of he journey, every body panel of the vehicle was crumpled and most windows were smashed.

Gulbicki said it was a two-day-long effort to remove the vehicle, and he was quite relieved when the truck was finally secured on his tow truck.

If Pandelina had not arrainged to have his vehicle removed from the waters of Lake Winnipesaukee, he could be facing a fine of $500 per day that he left it there under the state's water protection laws.

Laconia Daily Sun
........................
........................
Got to wonder how this incident gets reported on his insurance, how many points, and what it does to his future Massachusetts insurance bills?
.........

Just thought of this one...hey Buddy Boy...iffin a woman passenger in the backseat didn't make it out, he could be running for the US Senate from Massachusetts! .....budda-bing!...ugh...shame on me!

Before all you "Live Free or Die-ers" start bangn' on Senator Ted Kennedy (age 37 at the time) for his July 18, 1969 midnight drive off of Chappaquidik Bridge on Martha's Vinyard, resulting in the drowning death of Mary Jo Kopechne, age 28....did you all know that NEW HAMPSHIRE has a similar skeleton rattln' around in its' historical closet.

H Styles Bridges, 1898-1961, NH Governor and US Senator, and most powerfull senator for NH in the 20th century. It has long been rumored that he was involved in the 1936, hit & run death of 36 year old Della Call, when she was struck and killed by a large black vehicle that hit her after dark, by the side of the road, and then took off. He went on serve in the US Senate until 1961, and served as the minority leader. He was also involved in blackmailing a Wyoming US Senator who later committed suicide. (source wikipedia)

So, NH is not exactly an all boy scouts and Senator John E Sununu, nice-guys-come-in-first, type of a place, either!

wifi · 01-24-2008, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

....what it does to his future Massachusetts insurance bills?

and will Mass require an intelligence test to get insurance ?

secondcurve · 01-24-2008, 08:10 PM

Now that Mike knows the ice isn't safe, how will he get his fishing gear out there this weekend?

sa meredith · 01-24-2008, 02:08 PM

This is probably a foolish question, but I guess I am not really sure. In the spring, do they recover this vehicle?

Old Hubbard Rd · 01-25-2008, 04:59 AM

Are you sure this guy did not run into a couple fairly large fishing holes? Damb that ice looks think enough.

trfour · 01-25-2008, 07:38 AM

Coming off the showroom floor, and coming off the bottom of the Lake are two different animals!

SIKSUKR · 01-25-2008, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Hubbard Rd

Are you sure this guy did not run into a couple fairly large fishing holes? Damb that ice looks think enough.

Your looking at the ice near shore.The towing company said the ice was only 2 inches where the truck went through.That's just enough to support people.

Weirs guy · 01-25-2008, 12:10 PM

Thanks Skip and riverrat, great shots.

Too bad he didn't wait till derby weekend to check the ice, Gulbicki and Bertocchi could have tagged it at night and won!

SteveA · 01-25-2008, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Weirs guy

Too bad he didn't wait till derby weekend to check the ice, Gulbicki and Bertocchi could have tagged it at night and won!

Only if, it was a Dope fishing contest instead of a Fish fishing contest.

Winnigirl · 01-25-2008, 02:12 PM

I know this happened in Saunders Bay, but does anyone know where he entered the ice from? It looks like by Yacht Club Vista to me.

SIKSUKR · 01-25-2008, 02:57 PM

I believe it was at Silver Sands

secondcurve · 01-25-2008, 07:23 PM

Does anyone know what part of the lake Mike is fishing tomorrow? I'd like to buy him a beer.

Resident 2B · 01-25-2008, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by secondcurve

Does anyone know what part of the lake Mike is fishing tomorrow? I'd like to buy him a beer.

I think Mike has picked up a second job on the weekends to help pay for a new ride.

R2B

hockeypuck · 01-26-2008, 06:33 AM

Mike will be bottom fishing off Silver Sands in his SUV (Submerged Underwater Vehicle).

Coolbreeze · 01-26-2008, 08:34 AM

I wonder if there were any fish in the car. A recent geico commercial I saw resembled the same type of recovery except when they opened the doors fish fell out along with the water. Pretty funny stuff.
I bet that guy won't show his face at the next derby!

01-23-2008, 04:06 PM	#1
Diver1111 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Exeter NH Posts: 607 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1,033 Times in 228 Posts	Cars and water John Birdsall's comment reminded me of a dive I got called to 2 years ago about 9pm one Sunday night. Seems a guy in South Hampton managed to drive a brand new Durango down a dry straight street, turn right 40 degrees to the right off the road, drive between two oak trees, drive another 50 feet or so across some guy's lawn to the Pow Wow River, where he deftly avoided a huge boulder on the embankment and drove into the river. 200 feet downstream I dove and chained it up through the front rim and they towed it back in-upright the whole time on the river bed. Windows tight, doors shut. I didn't need to break any glass nor enter the car. On the embankment the P.D. opened the door to find only one key in the ignition. When they asked the driver why there were no other keys on the ring, no floormats, books, papers, sunglasses, owners' manuals, drink containers, CD player, DVD player, radio or other such items, he stated..."The diver must have taken them". The South Hampton Police Officer who was in my boat the entire time that night found that....amusing. Floating this SUV and getting it to shore will be a fat fee for sure.

01-24-2008, 12:11 PM	#4
Weirs guy Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Weirs Beach, NH Posts: 1,067 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Todays LaDailySuno has a great shot of whats left of his new Exploder. What a mess! __________________ Is it bikeweek yet? Now?

01-24-2008, 01:21 PM	#5
Grady223 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: New Hope, PA & Barndoor Island Posts: 465 Thanks: 93 Thanked 24 Times in 18 Posts	What is the LaDailySuno? And where can I get it?

01-24-2008, 02:08 PM	#8
SIKSUKR Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 5,075 Thanks: 215 Thanked 903 Times in 509 Posts	Quote of the year Is there a winter captain bonehead award?It would have to go to this guy. MIKE PANDELENA speaks with Gilford Police officers after having narrowly escaped from his 2007 Eddy Bower Edition Ford Explore as broke through the ice and sunk to the bottom of Lake Winnipesaukee. Pandelena said he drove the 400 foot distance onto the ice in order to check whether or not it was safe for fishing. What? __________________ SIKSUKR

01-24-2008, 02:49 PM	#10
Skip Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Dover, NH Posts: 1,615 Thanks: 256 Thanked 514 Times in 182 Posts	SUV picture Here you go....

01-23-2008, 07:44 PM	#2
topwater Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 302 Thanks: 85 Thanked 116 Times in 48 Posts	Like they always say " YOU CAN'T FIX STUPID "

01-24-2008, 11:44 AM	#3
dpg Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 2,619 Thanks: 157 Thanked 235 Times in 172 Posts	Think the police would give me his phone number? I have this lot for sale...

01-24-2008, 01:51 PM	#6
Gray Ghost Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 11 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 1 Post	Picture of SUV link ftp://www.laconiadailysun.com/Laconiapdf/2008/1/24L.pdf

01-24-2008, 02:07 PM	#7
Gray Ghost Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 11 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 1 Post	Try again The previous link didn't work, use this link and then select 24L.pdf ftp://www.laconiadailysun.com/Laconiapdf/2008/1/

01-24-2008, 05:41 PM	#11
christo1 Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 45 Thanks: 142 Thanked 14 Times in 11 Posts	This may be a dumb question but where did all the damage come from?

01-24-2008, 06:08 PM	#12
wifi Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Lakes Region Posts: 1,321 Thanks: 282 Thanked 287 Times in 169 Posts	New Safety item Actually, I think Mr Pandelena should have a float switch, that automatically lowers the windows once the water level reaches a certain point... No more close calls

01-24-2008, 06:35 PM	#13
riverat Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Alton, NH Posts: 722 Thanks: 337 Thanked 280 Times in 123 Posts	Pictures say it all! __________________ Waking up in the morning is the greatest, everything after that is a bonus

01-24-2008, 08:25 PM	#15
Grant Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Pennsyltuckey, Tuftonboro, Moultonborough Posts: 1,505 Thanks: 385 Thanked 232 Times in 126 Posts	Outstanding photos -- and the article explains the extensive damage. Towing it from the sinking point (thin ice) to the raising point (thicker ice) no doubt required dragging the vehicle over a BUNCH of rocks (anyone who has dove Winnipesaukee can attest to the, uh, presence of said rocks...). I suppose we can all agree on the upside -- no one was injured or killed, and the vehicle was retrieved relatively quickly. Be careful out there, folks. And...why not walk? __________________ "When I die, please don't let my wife sell my dive gear for what I told her I paid for it."

01-24-2008, 07:17 PM	#18
Grant Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Pennsyltuckey, Tuftonboro, Moultonborough Posts: 1,505 Thanks: 385 Thanked 232 Times in 126 Posts	I don't see any lift bags. How was it brought to the surface? How deep there? __________________ "When I die, please don't let my wife sell my dive gear for what I told her I paid for it."

01-24-2008, 07:39 PM	#19
fatlazyless Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,937 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 307 Thanked 1,056 Times in 769 Posts	LaDaSun, Thurs Jan 24 Mass. man's SUV fished out of Big Lake By Adam Drapcho The Laconia Daily Sun GILFORD - It took Gulbicki and Bertocchi towing companies two days to extricate a 2007 Ford Explorer from Saunders Bay, but they did so late yesterday afternoon. The SUV broke through the ice Monday afternoon, at about 1:15 p.m. It's owner, Michael Pandelina, of Andover, Mass., had driven the 4,700-lb vehicle onto the ice, he said Monday, to check the ice condition in preparation of a fishing trip he planned for the coming weekend. He said he heard the ice cracking and stopped, and then the front end of the vehicle began to sink. Pandelina narrowly escaped through the driver's side window before his vehicle completely submerged, sinking some 35 feet before reaching the lake bottom. Charles Gulbicki, of Gulbicki Towing, said the ice was about two-inches thick where Pandelina's vehicle went through, and so it was unsafe for the recovery crew to attempt to pull it up there. After a diver attached a cable to the Explorer, workers for the wrecker company used chain saws to cut a path in the ice to shore, where a tow truck with a winch dragged the vehicle about 250 feet. Once closer to shore, beams were positioned under the Explorer, and it was dragged up the planks and onto the ice, then up onto the truck's bed. By the end of he journey, every body panel of the vehicle was crumpled and most windows were smashed. Gulbicki said it was a two-day-long effort to remove the vehicle, and he was quite relieved when the truck was finally secured on his tow truck. If Pandelina had not arrainged to have his vehicle removed from the waters of Lake Winnipesaukee, he could be facing a fine of $500 per day that he left it there under the state's water protection laws. Laconia Daily Sun ........................ ........................ Got to wonder how this incident gets reported on his insurance, how many points, and what it does to his future Massachusetts insurance bills? ......... Just thought of this one...hey Buddy Boy...iffin a woman passenger in the backseat didn't make it out, he could be running for the US Senate from Massachusetts! .....budda-bing!...ugh...shame on me! Before all you "Live Free or Die-ers" start bangn' on Senator Ted Kennedy (age 37 at the time) for his July 18, 1969 midnight drive off of Chappaquidik Bridge on Martha's Vinyard, resulting in the drowning death of Mary Jo Kopechne, age 28....did you all know that NEW HAMPSHIRE has a similar skeleton rattln' around in its' historical closet. H Styles Bridges, 1898-1961, NH Governor and US Senator, and most powerfull senator for NH in the 20th century. It has long been rumored that he was involved in the 1936, hit & run death of 36 year old Della Call, when she was struck and killed by a large black vehicle that hit her after dark, by the side of the road, and then took off. He went on serve in the US Senate until 1961, and served as the minority leader. He was also involved in blackmailing a Wyoming US Senator who later committed suicide. (source wikipedia) So, NH is not exactly an all boy scouts and Senator John E Sununu, nice-guys-come-in-first, type of a place, either! __________________ .... Banned for life from local thrift store! Last edited by fatlazyless; 01-25-2008 at 12:15 PM.

01-24-2008, 08:10 PM	#21
secondcurve Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 2,128 Thanks: 1,352 Thanked 564 Times in 291 Posts	Now that Mike knows the ice isn't safe, how will he get his fishing gear out there this weekend?

01-24-2008, 02:08 PM	#22
sa meredith Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 986 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 32 Thanked 352 Times in 137 Posts	A Question???? This is probably a foolish question, but I guess I am not really sure. In the spring, do they recover this vehicle?

01-25-2008, 04:59 AM	#23
Old Hubbard Rd Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 462 Thanks: 141 Thanked 54 Times in 33 Posts	Ice thinkness Are you sure this guy did not run into a couple fairly large fishing holes? Damb that ice looks think enough.

01-25-2008, 07:38 AM	#24
trfour Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: The Lakes, Central NH. and Dallas/Fort Worth TX. Posts: 3,694 Blog Entries: 3 Thanks: 3,069 Thanked 472 Times in 236 Posts	Let me Say.. Coming off the showroom floor, and coming off the bottom of the Lake are two different animals! __________________ *trfour* Always Remember, The Best Safety Device In The Boat, or on a PWC Snowmobile etc., Is YOU! Safe sledding tips and much more; http://www.snowmobile.org/snowmobiling-safety.html

01-25-2008, 12:10 PM	#26
Weirs guy Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Weirs Beach, NH Posts: 1,067 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Thanks Skip and riverrat, great shots. Too bad he didn't wait till derby weekend to check the ice, Gulbicki and Bertocchi could have tagged it at night and won! __________________ Is it bikeweek yet? Now?

01-25-2008, 02:12 PM	#28
Winnigirl Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 67 Thanks: 271 Thanked 14 Times in 7 Posts	I know this happened in Saunders Bay, but does anyone know where he entered the ice from? It looks like by Yacht Club Vista to me.

01-25-2008, 02:57 PM	#29
SIKSUKR Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 5,075 Thanks: 215 Thanked 903 Times in 509 Posts	I believe it was at Silver Sands __________________ SIKSUKR

01-25-2008, 07:23 PM	#30
secondcurve Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 2,128 Thanks: 1,352 Thanked 564 Times in 291 Posts	Does anyone know what part of the lake Mike is fishing tomorrow? I'd like to buy him a beer.

01-26-2008, 06:33 AM	#32
hockeypuck Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Southern CT Posts: 169 Thanks: 19 Thanked 4 Times in 3 Posts	Mike will be bottom fishing off Silver Sands in his SUV (Submerged Underwater Vehicle).

01-26-2008, 08:34 AM	#33
Coolbreeze Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 332 Thanks: 0 Thanked 51 Times in 26 Posts	I wonder if there were any fish in the car. A recent geico commercial I saw resembled the same type of recovery except when they opened the doors fish fell out along with the water. Pretty funny stuff. I bet that guy won't show his face at the next derby!