Hit and run on Keuka Lake
Letters to the Editor

Early Sunday morning July 29th at 3:15a.m. a boat rammed into our Wave Runner and its lift, damaging both, and the boat proceeded to drag across our 12' wide permanent dock, leaving big holes in it. The dock was also gouged, punctured and scraped in two lines from one side to the other. The boat drove off. No one came to the house in the morning to confess. It was a hit and run without conscience and we are left with a mess.

It appears the boat was traveling just north of the Yacht Club hugging the shoreline when it plowed into the middle of our well -lit dock about 20 feet from the end of the dock. The impact was in about three feet of water.

The crash caused our dogs to bark and this woke us up. When we looked outside we only saw a boat hovering at the end of our dock and we feared they might be stealing something, so we turned on the lights, but had no idea until morning they had just slammed into and crossed over the dock, setting adrift a large Wave Runner and leaving a collapsed boat lift and damaged dock behind.

When the boat pulled away from our dock, it was moving slowly north on Keuka Lake's west shore towards the Lakeside Restaurant. Where it was actually headed is anybody's guess.

If you have any information on people who were injured that morning, or if you have seen a damaged fiberglass boat with white and green or teal colors, we hope you will contact the State Troopers in Bath at 776-2136. Keep in mind that it is unlikely the story you will hear from the boaters is a truthful explanation of the damages and injuries.

We wish an honest person had hit our boat and dock, but since this seems not to be the case, hopefully there is an honest Keuka lake dweller whose conscience will shed light on the facts of this hit and run incident. We hope you are the one who will aid in this investigation. We also hope this never happens to you.

Dorothy and Gary Emmick Hammondsport