First time boat owners here. Recently was handed a very well maintained 1994 Four Winns Freedom 170 I/O. Took it out, ran great.
Until... we ran into a log. Hard. The boat did not really react/change speeds/show any immediate signs of distress, but of course we immediately stopped to see what happened. Nothing was obviously detectible, so we began slowly (and relatively unconcerned) heading back to the dock ... About 25 minutes into it, the boat seemed to be hesitating... we popped open the engine compartment and the bilge was full of water as was the ski cubby. Seemed to be a relatively rapid intake of water, though we didn't know from where, but to be that full in such a relatively short amount of time was frightening. We immediately turned on the bilge, went straight to the dock and immediately used a gas pump to remove the water/keep it out until we could get to the trailer. Once we put the boat on the trailer, we were able to see that the water was clearly leaking out from the transom at the bottom of the outdrive.
I've attached pictures... it almost seems as though the collision jolted the outdrive and broke the seal with the transom. Is this possible? We've inspected the fiberglass as best we could, and cannot see anything else obvious (we of course have not removed the out drive). Hoping for best case scenario here, as lake season is finally upon us! If you look in the pictures, the dirty line is very clear from the "clean line" of where the outdrive "was" (guessing?).. Also including pictures from the bilge.
We have a guy coming to look at it tomorrow, but I would like to get some input and have an idea of what I'm in for. Previously, it had run beautifully and never had any issues. Cheap boat, but made us happy! Hoping we can enjoy it this season. Any/all suggestions/personal experiences are greatly appreciated!
Until... we ran into a log. Hard. The boat did not really react/change speeds/show any immediate signs of distress, but of course we immediately stopped to see what happened. Nothing was obviously detectible, so we began slowly (and relatively unconcerned) heading back to the dock ... About 25 minutes into it, the boat seemed to be hesitating... we popped open the engine compartment and the bilge was full of water as was the ski cubby. Seemed to be a relatively rapid intake of water, though we didn't know from where, but to be that full in such a relatively short amount of time was frightening. We immediately turned on the bilge, went straight to the dock and immediately used a gas pump to remove the water/keep it out until we could get to the trailer. Once we put the boat on the trailer, we were able to see that the water was clearly leaking out from the transom at the bottom of the outdrive.
I've attached pictures... it almost seems as though the collision jolted the outdrive and broke the seal with the transom. Is this possible? We've inspected the fiberglass as best we could, and cannot see anything else obvious (we of course have not removed the out drive). Hoping for best case scenario here, as lake season is finally upon us! If you look in the pictures, the dirty line is very clear from the "clean line" of where the outdrive "was" (guessing?).. Also including pictures from the bilge.
We have a guy coming to look at it tomorrow, but I would like to get some input and have an idea of what I'm in for. Previously, it had run beautifully and never had any issues. Cheap boat, but made us happy! Hoping we can enjoy it this season. Any/all suggestions/personal experiences are greatly appreciated!