What was i thinking...ran aground

andrewterri

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Jun 25, 2014
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After posting a question about draining my engine or removing it from the slip I choose to go get it. I did not see the post intime and got scared of it freezing. Also, there is a storm coming in this weekend so figured I would just go get the boat. I had a friend come with me while my wife met us at the dock on the other side of the lake. The water is very low, as they are anticipating a heavy rainfall so the drained some of the water off. There are no navigational charts for this lake so i did my best to look for low water obstacles from a high vantage point. Problem is the wind was blowing sustained at 30mph with gust much higher. We got the boat out of the slip and while entering the mouth of the cove we were going to we ran aground. I raised the motor and assets the situation. We hit slow so no one was hurt. The waves were about 3' and beating the boat hard. I could not try to self recover with an anchor as the stern was into the wind and current. I checked the depth and we were about two and a half feet of water. I could not us a paddle to break us loose. We were getting blown further into shore where there were many many tree stumps. Now im worried about puncturing the hull. I felt I had no choice but to try and keep the drive tilted up even if it meant I destroy the u-joints. At this point, I am worried about my friend and i going into the drink which is currently 58 degrees. Once i realized that would not work, only took about 10 seconds, i realized our only chance to save the boat was to jump in and guide it to shore where we could at least miss the stumps and get it secured on land. I quickly calculated we had about 20 minutes in the water before getting to cold and risking hypothermia. I told my buddy to be careful not to get trapped between the boat and the stumps. As we were moving the moving forward we suddenly got into deeper water and got lucky. We made it out and it did not appear to damage the boat to much. There were a couple deep scratches on the keel and the prop is of course chewed up but everything else looks okay. I watched the engine temp closely and the raw water intake never got plugged. Is there anything else i need to look for or check? Is there anything else i could have/should have done (besides running around)? After 16 years of boating I have never had this happen.
 

alldodge

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I read your post but unable to say you did it right or wrong, only you can make that determination. With it getting cold, and the water being 58 degrees there was a possibility to just leave it in the water. The water would keep the block from freezing with those temps

Glad all got out ok
 

kenny nunez

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Jun 20, 2017
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If the boat is now on the trailer spin the propeller by hand to see if the propeller shaft is bent. You may want the drive removed to grease the universal joints and have a new impeller or pump kit installed. Other than the propeller you probably did not hurt the drive.
It looks like you and your friend were in a bad situation. At least you and your friend are both OK.
 

Lou C

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Nov 10, 2002
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Lucky no one got hurt! Sometimes things like this happen, we have had to pull our boats out when we have hurricanes and tropical storms and if you don't get to it a day before, it can be just like what you experienced. For the next time, I'd practice draining the engine and manifolds, once you know where all the drains are, it does not take that long. I just drained mine, started up after winter storage to make sure everything is good but we are going to get a few cold nights where it could go down to 35 and since it could be colder, you never know, and its on the trailer, I took 20 min and drained it.

Even if the boat is the water you can drain the block and manifolds. I had to do this when my engine had water in a cyl from a blown head gasket, till I could pull it out. I've done it so many times I can find those damn drain plugs in the dark!

Do you have insurance? If so I'd have your adjuster look at it, get an estimate. Props are not a big deal to replace but you want to make sure the prop shaft is not bent. Check the hull carefully for gouges into the fiberglass laminate. This has to be fixed properly to keep water out of the laminate.
 
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andrewterri

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Jun 25, 2014
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I am going to find where the drain plugs are at that Bt Doctur told me about. I thought the warm water would keep it from freezing in the slip but with not being sure the boat was not worth risking. I dont think the prop shaft is bend. The boat drove find without any vibration on the way back to the dock. The prop was only in mud and sand from what I can tell. I will check it when i get home. I sinned the prop after getting the boat out and it look normal from what i remember. The boat will vibrate in the water even at idle if it was bad correct?
 

Bondo

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I am going to find where the drain plugs are at that Bt Doctur told me about.

Ayuh,...... Under the exhaust manifolds, where the block, turns into the oil pan,......

On the port side, just ahead of the oil filter boss, you'll see the hose, 'n connector,....
On the starboard side, it's just ahead of the starter,....
Aft of the motor mounts on both sides,.....

You'll also want to drain the exhaust manifolds,.....
There'll be drains or drain plugs along their bottom most surface,....
Or, pull the hose off the bottom elbow,.....

Donno where yer P/S cooler is,.... most are a real pain to get too,......
I sometimes pour antifreeze right outa the jug, down the in-comin' water line from the drive, by takin' it off at the t-stat housin',.....
Usually the port side aft port on the t-stat housin',....
 

andrewterri

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Jun 25, 2014
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437
Thank you guys for the information. Thank you for the description Bondo. Soon as I get off work I am going home to find the drain lines. I should have left the boat in the slip. You try to do the right thing and learn a lesson in unintended consequences.
 

dingbat

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Nov 20, 2001
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Your biggest mistake was leaving the dock in near Gale conditions.

You got lucky....people have paid with their life for lesser mistakes.
 

andrewterri

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Jun 25, 2014
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437
Lou C, yes we have insurance on the boat. If I contact them and ask them to get it looked at doesn't that count as a claim? I can post a picture tonight of the hull scratch and see what you guys think. I have only been with my insurance company for one month and cant imagine a claim already would help me, let alone what it might do to my home owners and car insurance. Boat is through progressive and everything else is through USAA.
 

andrewterri

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Jun 25, 2014
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I checked the prop and it spins true. Kenny, I can not grease the u-joints they are non-serviceable. I have not pulled the drive but almost positive mercruiser switched to non greaseable u-joints a couple years back. I need to find the correct impeller and order it along with a bellhousing gasket. I will check them when I pull the drive. I will not be surprised if they need replacing. While I am talking about the lower unit, there is a small pitot size hole in the front of the drive just above the drive gears. Is this another water intake area or the speedo location for the newer drives?
 

Lou C

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Nov 10, 2002
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Well you won't know for sure about the prop shaft (you can't always see run out) till you put a new prop on it and run it, if there are vibs that were not there before, I'd have the ins adjuster look at it. A prop shaft is expensive plus the labor to replace it and set up the lower gears adds up. While you might not want to make a claim, in the end if there is damage you want it fixed right. Its like a lack of a nail story (for the lack of a nail, a horse's shoe was lost, etc). Bad prop shaft, wears prop shaft seal. Bad seal, lets gear oil out. Low gear oil damages outdrive, now need new gears and bearings. And low drive oil level, is not an insurance claim unless it can be tied to a bent prop shaft!

PS this is another reason why, I always say that inboards and I/Os should always be closed cooled even in fresh water, because then the engine is much easier to drain. You only have to drain the heat exchanger, a couple hoses and the exhaust. The hard part is getting at the block drains. With closed cooling you NEVER have to pull these drains, unless you are changing the antifreeze. In some boats they are very hard to reach due to bad designs on the part of boat builders. I swear they are sadistic, inflicting pain on the poor hands of mechanics. Newer sport boats with all that molded in fiberglass that is part of the top cap around the engine are the worst. I would never buy one like that. On mine all the seats and wood bulkheads come out.
 

kenny nunez

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The small hole is the pitot for the speedometer that is there to get plugged up about the first time you use the boat.
I could not agree more with Capt, Lou. The way the boats are made today is to lay the engine on the ground and build the boat around it !
 

andrewterri

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Jun 25, 2014
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I can take the boat out this weekend and see how she runs. I don't think it was running fast enough to cause to much damage. Since I knew the lake was low and I was getting close to the shore line I dropped my speed to about 5kts. With the wind blowing the impact speed was slightly higher. Based on the prop and drive, plus feeling the bottom when my friend and I jumped in, I believe we only ran up on sand and mud. When we got the boat freed I idled back to the dock which was about 50 yards and the boat felt normal. I know I need to run at speed to really be able to tell.
 

Lou C

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Sand and mud, your prop shaft might be all right, but for sure I'd replace the impeller, because when you run in water that shallow, the sand sucked in just grinds up the wear plate so the impeller doesn't pump well. I had that happen when I got stuck on a sand bar once. As soon as the engine got up on plane it was running hot. Do you have an aluminum prop or a stainless? Alu will bend and protect the prop shaft, stainless will not as much. I bent up one prop my first year and the boat was vibrating like crazy, but because it was an alu prop no damage to the prop shaft.
 

andrewterri

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Jun 25, 2014
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I am using an aluminum prop just for that reason. Should I buy the housing for the impeller or just a new impeller?
 

alldodge

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You could just watch your temp gauge for a while, if it stays cool, then your probably good for this season

So far as complete or just the impeller, you could buy the whole thing, then if you don't need the pump housing, save for another time.
 
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