was told over this last weekend that the 31 chris craft cruiser was a 31 stinger, and that it had left the dock taking on water, and the owner elected to wedge a block of wood under the bilge float and go on to the party cove, the boat had taken on so much water while there that once under way back to the docks the water in the bilge stalled one of the motors. at that time the hatches went up an 4 grown men headed to the engine bay to see what the problem was. as the 4 shifted to the back the stern became dangerously low in the water and a wave came right on over and filled up a already half full engine bay and the rest is history. if you think about the report sitings and how fast the boat went down it was probably full of water all the way up to the floors to begin with.

later

Later,

There was an article confirming part of that in the weekend LSL.

That makes it even more sad that they would start out headed for a possible disaster.

im curios why it went to the bottom.
pics ive seen of race boats still have part of the bow sticking out.

it was 1/4 full of water before the disaster started didnt take much to over come the boyancy. once the rear hatch decks went under it filled like a bucket because underneath the floors were all ready full of water not air, that would be my quess

later

Plus a pleasure boat has a lot more cloth, vinyl, foam cushions, etc, to soak up the water and add weight.

If this guy did leave the dock with a bad leak, he ought to be prosecuted for negligent homicide, or at least manslaughter. No excuse for that kind of negligence!

OK, was it a Old 31ft Wooden Cruiser made by Chris Craft or a 31ft Stinger made by Chris Craft??

This makes a Big difference to me and explaining it to my friends and family!!

later,
That is almost exactly what I heard was in the WP report. Not sure if it's public yet.

lotoparty
Boats will only stay afloat if they trap air in the front. Anchor lockers, docking/running lights, etc can leak a lot of air out.
A 40' Skater delaminated and took on water at LOTO a few years ago. The bow was still above water. But when they started towing it, the cleat ripped out and allowed air to escape. It went down in seconds after that.
Gary

It was a 31 Stinger

exact same thing i heard. i also heard that the driver instructed a few of the passengers to enter the cabin to help balance the boat because of the large amount of water that was already in the boat. i don't know if that is true, it is just what i heard....

does anyone know what color this boat was? as i left PC i saw a boat almost completely submerged in the same area as the report described that was basically white with some teal on it. just curious?

jbk

Thanks KCHOTBOAT, I've been telling eveyone it was one of those old wooden cruisers and that they have nothing to worry about in a newer style boat. Heck, now that I know it was a stinger.....It kinda makes me wonder about my boat.......Fountain already sit lower in the water than most!!! What if I lost both motor's while leaving Party Cove!!!

Guess I need to do the old trick that Gordo and I learned while we were racing.......inner tubes in the storage under the forward V berth, heck I ought to just fill the cuddy up with a bunch of tubes!!!