tommymonza

After almost losing my 31 foot single inboard parasail boat after hitting a log and tearing the shaft out leaving a 1 3/4 hole for water to pour in I mounted 2 of the biggest bilge pumps I could buy a foot up in the bilge with minimum lift to slow them down.

That and high water bilge alarms, pumps were up and free from daily bilge debri, never had to use them but gave me peace of mind.

An inch and 3/4 hole can put a stern heavy offshore boat under in mere minutes.

20 years ago while running home on a glass smooth Gulf I pulled up on a triple 420 yanmar 50 Nortech drifting noticing it had both bilge pumps heavily dumping water overboard and looking low in the stern.

There were 4 adults sitting on the sunpad watching the sunset that did not have a clue what was happening, as the vents placed all along the length of the transom had water pouring into them.

Within the 2 minutes it took to convince them they were sinking the engine compartment went under and once the cockpit was breached it went down and rolled within 30 seconds.

tommymonza

I rebuilt a year old 1985 Kaama 302 Formula for the owner after he sunk it in the Gulf and it spent the night getting bashed on the beach in 6 foot breakers leaving it looking like a buried beach toy with the hull barely visible the next morning .

The following day the Salvage crew prematurely yanked it off the beach after we dug it out and repositioned it , and before we could trash pump the sand out of the boat , they than ran to a pass with it and missed the markers and sunk it again there .

The 3rd day after refloating it and while pulling out of the water the overloaded crane tipped over and it went to the bottom a 3rd time .

Saltwater and sand infiltration took me 6 months to get it running like new again after a semi complete strippin down .

I believe this is the same model boat . Fresh water sinking and no sand and this thing is as good as new , should be back out on the water in a week.

CDShack

I almost lost my Kaama Scarab similar to that. I was making a wide turn and heard a "pow" and vibration. For some reason, the gimble bolts sheared off the starboard side and the whole drive was hanging by the trim and steering cylinders, leaving a 5" hole in the transom. I hit the bilge pump, dove in, stuffed a towel in the hole, and I had a friend with a house on the lake about 2 miles away, so I headed there. (I figured it was shallow enough there to find it when it sunk!)

I had my wife watching the water rise in the engine compartment while I limped along. It was going down. Having water come up to your feet in a 30' boat while you're driving across a lake is a surreal experience!!! I called my friend and pull up to his retaining wall to tie it to a tree. He had just revamped a house with a flooded basement and came running down the hill with a couple of large sump pumps he had just purchased. We pumped it out while his wife drove me to pick up my trailer, and I loaded at his private ramp. Honestly, 10 lucky things happened in a row, or it would have gone down!!! I have empathy for anyone who has to live through a boat sinking around them, it's scary!!!

zz28zz

Judging from the gas-powered water pump on the swim deck, don't think this guy was as lucky. Bellows definitely failed, among other things..

Michael1

When I was a kid, we had a Century mahogany inboard. I was letting off the throttle, and the drag on the prop yanked the prop shaft out of the coupling. The whole shaft and prop assembly went to the bottom. Obviously, it wasn't properly secured. A ton of water was coming in. I quickly stuffed a rag in the shaft log hole, and another boater towed us in. Not enough water came in with the rag stuffed in there that the bilge pump couldn't handle. It's definitely a good idea to carry to rags and towels with you. It can make a huge difference.

Quinlan

iTrader: (1)

Tres course stressed carrying large plastic garbage bags to stuff in holes from the outside if accessible.

resurrected

That boat has some history now. Reminds me of a Monty Python scene

Twin O/B Sonic

When I first started doing serious Lake Erie boating with my first twin outboard 24 Sonic I was very concerned with losing power under heavy seas.

Lake Erie is so shallow that the waves are chop not long swells as in the ocean.

That boat sat low enough at rest that I figured two or three 5 foot or larger waves would put me on the bottom.

And it had the biggest bilge pump I could fit in it with the largest (non-corrugated) hose as well.

W/our style Of boats, stern low, bow high w/loss of power, they will ALWAYS spin, bow down wind.

Putting the more vulnerable transom to the waves.

My answer to this was to carry a sea anchor just for that situation.
In case of loss of power, tie sea anchor to bow line, let bow swing into wind, then call Coast Guard/Sea Tow and wait in safety.

I was following my brother one time, in his 23’ Celebrity cuddy cabin when he got caught in fish nets.

Stiff breeze, typical Lake Erie 3’ chop, bow swings down wind which allows waves over his euro style transom.
The drive was tucked so far under the swim platform there was no way for him to clear the net from his drive, even w/it fully tilted up.

I carried a dive knife on my boat for just this reason.

Had my wife run my boat while I went over the side and cut him free.

My brother was fine, his wife was scared silly!

cig28

A good way to save a boat and if the strainer isn’t to high is to close the ball valve take the lid off and use the engine as a bilge pump. You’ll move some water real fast. Of course twin engines help but it can be done with a single engine.

ThisIsLivin

That’s a great idea, I’ll keep that in my bag of tricks. I also keep a big roll of Flex Seal tape on hand.