I have a 26' Seaswirl with a 2 year old 350 cu.in. engine on an 11 year old VolvoPenta outdrive. The engine started beatifully every morning, no problems to our first dive site; no problems to second dive site; then very hard to start after second dive. Same problem several days in a row, then the engine seized up. Boat is in Mexico and my mechanic says the engine is full of water. He claims I put too much weight in the boat, and water is coming up through the lower unit. I have a hard time believing 5 divers is too much weight for a 26' boat. Since similar problems occured with previous factory engine, I had 6" risers installed on the new engine. A VolvoPenta mechanic here in the US suggested a thru-hull exhaust should solve the problem, but another thread bad mouths that idea and says it just makes for a noisy engine. Other than coming off plane very gradually, is there anything else I can do. The engine is being pulled and bored. I don't want to go through this again. And I really am concerned about being stranded in the middle of the Sea of Cortez with no help within fifty miles. Any suggestions are sincerely appreciated. Thanks.
