Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

I got a call today saying the "Dragonheart" 32 Sunsation hit a Big roller at Ugly Johns Poker Run Sat, rolled and sank! Supposely no one seriously hurt, :D Just wondering what happened. My friend from TX built the boat and sold it to new owner last winter. Glad no one was hurt.

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

A drive broke and through the boat sideways banged the people up a little and then after an hour or so the bilge pump could not keep up with the water comming in the drive and the boat became an expensive fishing lure.

dont they have huge catfish in grand lake? wouldn't that suck to have a rope hooked to your boat that just sunk and you are towing it back to a dock and when you bring the boat up there is a huge catfish trying to eat it.

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

Glad to hear noone was seriously injured. Sorry to hear about the unfortunate incident. :(

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

That's a shame. Thank goodness they all walked away. That was a pretty unique boat.

I keep a spare 1000GPH bilge pump in the boat; with a discharge hose and banana clips for emergencies. I pray that I never have to use it.

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

So the boat went down? Sank?

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

That makes me want to go get one now.

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

Twin pumps is the way. I think they are 1000 GPH or 1500 in our rig...

I broke a drive baffle once and the pumps were more than enough for the river coming in.

Forgetting plugs doesn't even phase those pumps also.

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

One time, a 3.5 gallon plastic bucket was the difference between keeping a boat afloat, or sitting on the bottom. Keep in mind bilge pumps are rated for pumping the water on a level. Bring in the fact it has to raise the water, the farther it has to lift the water, the less it will pump. Not only that, they won't pump an ounce once the batteries go dead. :(

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

It might even be a 1500GPH. They also make 2000GPH units. I keep it in a small box that is easily grabbed out of a cabin compartment and I can toss it over to another boat if needed.

It also comes in handy if your basement sump pump at home goes out. Just hook it up to a jump box or car battery and it will get you through a power outage during a rain storm. It won't pump up 10 feet to ground level, but it will pump up far enough to dump into a large bucket or trash can.

My boat came with two pumps in the bilge as well as one in front of the step.

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

Also, if you have sea strainers and a cutoff valve; you can flip the cutoff valve to shut off water from coming in through the drive, and remove the lid of the sea strainer and let your motor pump water out.

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That is great to know. Thanks Sydwayz.

I had a buddy that told me years ago that he would have lost his boat for the exact same reason, but they stuffed a life vest in the hole and it blocked the water enough that the pump kept it floating.

I have always remembered that and have a live vest just for that purpose.

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

That is a really good idea that I never would have thought about. I wonder how many gallons an hour a 525 can suck?

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Wow I never thought about that. That's pure genious.......McGyver style.

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

Damn shame, that's a great looking boat. Good thing no one was hurt, that's the most important.

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

Sidewayz take that pump and toss it in the trash. As Cuda stated the actually GPH is much less after you put a hose on that thing and then have to lift the water. The longer the hose the less it pumps. I have 2 1500's in my boat with seperate floats, plus 1 that is over 3000. The neatest trick that I was shown was to pull off the water pump hose going from the transom assembly and to the motor. Drop that into the bilge and start up the motor. Keep an eye on the water level and start and stop the engine as needed. Those things pump MAD amounts of water.

Something seems wrong about this story however. If he was floating for a hour (even if we say 1/2 hour) They were not able to get assistance? Could not get the boat back to shore on the other motor?

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

SO true, Glad no one was hurt

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I have tested it and it works. The discharge hose is long, but it can be cut short in a jiffy if needed. Its also smooth bore and not flex hose which helps water flow. I don't expect it save a boat on its own, but its definately worth while to help the factory installed bilge pump(s).



I do agree with your second assesement. It seems like they may have thought the bilge pumps were going to save it, until the batteries started running down and the pumps began to slow. (Hence the reason my portable unit and the jumpbox.)

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

Took and hour to go down?? I mean damn I would have been back there cramming towels and duct tape to keep it afloat. They couldn't get to a boat slip or trailer in an hour?? :eek:

Anyway, i am glad everyone is OK, you can replace the boat.

WILL :D

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

I can't take the credit. Its been posted on here before as well as used successfully.

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

Sunsation does install multiple bilge pumps in their boats. Glad everyone is OK.

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I hear ya Brian. The only thing is those big pumps are brutal on the batteries. What I do see your pump doing is maybe keeping your bilge a little dryer while you are getting down in the bilge to pump. I just do not see the advantage of not having it bolted in to your boat permanently other then I guess if you see some one else that needs it you can toss it over to them.... The sea strainer idea is a good one but most of the boats that I see have those things up high so you already have enough water in the boat to make it very unstable. That is why I like the drop the hose in the bottom of the bilge.

Like some one said earlier I would be over the side soving anything I could find in those holes if that is how long it really took to sink. I had a customer whose sport fish was sinking because he had a major hull failure and he was stuffing mattresses in the hole :eek: :eek: Another guy that I know got his by a drunk boater and it cracked the entire side of the boat open. We made a duct tape blanket and put it on the thing and the preasure of the water trying to get in was enough to hold the thing in place and it actually did not leak at all.

Jon

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

Did it stick a sponson and land upright ...under 70' of water?

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

Another tidbit of info:

On the Chicago Poker Run, an older Kevlar Cigarette lost a portion of the side of the boat up near the cabin. The side just delaminated and flapped open like a banana peel. Quick thinking by the captain of dropping that side's tab in the water and gunning it... got him the several miles he needed to go back to his lift. He ended up going through the marina a bit faster than no-wake, but he stuck that thing on the lift just as the alternators started to go under water; and SAVED the boat. I can't image the lift operated too fast, but it did allow them to avoid sinking completely.

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That is one lucky bastard!!! :eek: :eek: I am sure all the blow boat guys had something to say :rolleyes: :rolleyes: Ya the lift was probably like lift it up a inch then waite, lift a inch then waite........

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

Beautiful boat, such a shame, glad everyone is OK

on a side not I have been off the board for the last several days, someone told me about a cat pile up in CA, I am assuming threads must of got deleted since I see no mention of it................................

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

My seawater pickup is a thru-hull and the plumbing is ran with fittings to allow swapping the seapump in and out quicker. However it can also, like mentioned here be used to pump out the bilge once the valve is closed. Seapumps flow a ridiculous amount of water. I don't have the stats in front of me but when I was testing KPM pumps with a flow rig I had to be very quick to set the test point before the 50 gallon drum I was using was empty! Would empty a bilge in no time!

And there's no reason not to carry a spare bilge. Small and could save the boat - cheap insurance in my book...

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During a poker run and noone could hook up and tow it before it went down.. if you tow it at 10+ mph nothing will come in ??????

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http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/M...odelName=wx15#

small and should keep up just have to be carefull of exhaust fumes
20lbs should store easliy, its a honda and will start :)
fuel needs to be stored in some sort of container not in the pump.

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Somehow I cant see carrying a trash pump around in the boat as the solution :D

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Any idea what caused the drive to break? Did they hit something? There are some place on Grand that are shallow around that reach out 30-40 yards from the lighthouse beacons.

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This stuff makes a guy think. Chit can happen even when you're doing nothing wrong. Broken drives, exploding u-joints, failed gimbal housings, etc.

I'm half temped to hit the local home depot today. What if you Audiofn's intake hose idea one step further and put a valve with a T on the intake hose to the seawater pump. Then placed the third open-ended hose down in the back of the bilge. Then, if anything did happen you could quickly open the valve and allow the seawater pump to suck from the hose in the bilge. It would be a lot faster than crawling back there and unhooking the hose with a screwdriver when you under pressure of your boat sinking!

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

I Keep A 4x4 Sheet Of Water Proof Canvas On Board. It Can Easily Be Rapped Around Something And Stuffed In A Hole. Also You Guys That Have An Anchor Shade You Can Stuff That Into Any Hole.

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

Apparently, insurance companies were not aware that high performance boats sometimes wreck until people started discussing the incidents here on OSO :)

I guess some of those threads did become a feeding freenzy of speculation, but overall I think bringing incidents into the light is a good thing. In the new sanatized version of OSO, boats don't wreck, people don't go to the hospital, and no one learns from the mistakes of others.

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

Obviously if there was an hour involved there's more to the story than we know other than the end result.

I suspect the crew was shaken up pretty good hence the lack of McGyver -like thinking, and possibly the pumps did hold it until the batteries ran down. Not knowing the condition of the other motor or whether or not they could get it started again prevent sus from doing anything other than speculating.

What a shame a boat so well-known here on the board, ends up this way. It'll be interesting to hear the full "accurate" story of what happened and the timeline of events.

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

Wasn't Dragonheart capable of speeds in excess of 100 mph plus some?

Be damn scary snapping a drive off at those speeds.....

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The problem is the majority of the threads turn into a bunch of people whining about their insurance rates and how stupid someone must be to have an accident. Basically kicking the hell out of someone who's already down. Everyone on OSO is a perfect boater, so what could you possibly learn from someone elses mistake?

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

I agree 100% BLee. Self-righteousness has no place in the real world.

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

Bob Teague tested DragonHeart at something like 104 give or take a mile an hour---

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Plain old accidents... yeah, no reason to beat a dead horse.

BUT, if you do something stupid; (i.e. lack-o-lanyards, drinking; totally irresponsible operation); I don't think there is anything wrong by pointing out the mistakes so that no one else repeats. I don't see a reason that everyone needs to repeat the same mistakes.

Re: Sunsation crash at Grand Lake?
 

You bring up an exceptionally good point- virtually no one thinks clearly in unfamiliar circumstances. That's why in professions where it counts, professionals train on all the likely scenarios and some of the not-so-likely ones. When an engine falls off an airliner, the pilot usually has had some training on what to do.

Unfortunately, many people view boating as a purely recreational activity. Lots of folks hit the water with equipment deficiencies and absolutely no skills or training to address them. It can be pretty entertaining watching folks sink their boats at launch ramps.