Okay, here?s the story. I keep my Pursuit Denali 2460 at full service marina in Southeast CT, valet rack stored outside. As part of normal operating procedure, the marina removes the drain plug when they pull the boat and replaces it at launch (this is to keep the boats from filling with rain water and overstressing the rack).
As normal, I called the valet service phone number and asked that the boat be put in between 5:30pm and 6:00pm yesterday so I could take my wife and two young daughters for a ride. I arrived at the marina at 5:55pm and the buildings and office were closed up as it was after hours. I saw my boat had been launched and was tied up in a slip. So far so good.
As I approached the boat, I noticed it was sitting very low in the water and I knew there was a problem. The Bootstripe was under water. I jumped onboard, removed the mooring cover and saw that the rear of the deck was under about 1 inch of water. I opened the engine cover (Mercruiser 5.7 LX efi Bravo III) and the bilge was half full of water. Batteries starter, alternator, trim pump, trim tab pump all under water. There was also about 1 foot of water in the cabin.
I yelled to my wife, who was holding our 1.5 and 3 year old daughters to see if she could find someone while I tried to locate a pump. Two fellow boaters helped me untie the boat and we were going to beach her on the boat ramp to keep her from sinking. The batteries were dead and I couldn?t raise the drive. My wife caught the marina owners as they were leaving and he quickly got the forklift out of the locked storage building while I moved the boat back to the take out slip. (Water still rising quickly) We got the boat on the fork lift and raised it up and saw the problem.
NO PLUG!!!!!!!!!
So my boat was launched at the end of a long holiday weekend and I'm sure the marina staff were thinking about barbeques and fireworks and not about doing their job carefully. They were in a rush and just plain forgot to put the plug in. Nobody noticed the bilge pump discharge as the boat tried desperately to save herself at the dock while the workers scurried to close up shop. From what I was told she was launched around 4:45pm and if I came a few minutes later she would have been lost because the batteries were under water and the pumps not working when I arrived.
So this morning the marina is having their Mercruiser certified mechanic "make it all right". I am angry, frustrated and leery of the future problems that will emerge because of so much salt water in the bilge. So far the marina is very cooperative and has promised to make it right because of their mistake. At the very least, I expect a new starter, alternator, batteries, trim pump, trim tab pump etc. I also think that they should replace the gimbal bearing and u-joints on the drive and do a complete cleaning and corrosion treatment including all electrical connections. (The water reached about half way up the motor).
Has anyone else had experience with this much water in he bilge? What else should I expect them to do as part of "making it right"?
BTW I have not mentioned the name of the marina on purpose because I want to give them the chance to make good on their mistake. I hope to relay the name of the marina in the future with praise because of how well they handled the situation
