Bad News from a Family Member Today

[tpenfield]

My brother sent me a picture of his boat today . . .
.

.
Apparently they were out and had beached the boat nose in on a popular island for some fun and sun, which they normally do. 'Somehow' water came over the transom and one of the deck plates (?) was loose, filling the bilge with water.

Once noticing the issue they tried to make a run for it, thinking the water would flow out, but it didn't and the boat was going down. He dumped the boat into shore to avoid a complete sinking. (so I'm told)

He and his crew are now celebrities on Instagram from the bystanders taking videos.

The starboard engine took a drink of ocean water, but the port engine was OK. I would suspect that all the wiring and components down below is trash. Looks like he'll be playing more golf for a while . . .

SeaTow came and pumped the boat out and towed them back to their home port. Not sure what the total damage is going to be . . .

 

[froggy1150]

That sucks arse

 

[Fun Times]

Sorry to hear of your brother's misfortune Ted.

 

[tpenfield]

Thanks guys . . .

He has not had good luck with boats . . . His Grady White 305 needed a new engine (due to a hydrolock) after owning it for only a few weeks.

This boat (Pursuit 310ST) has been good (up until now) and he recently had the upholstery re-done.

I'm also thinking the fuel tank is a gonner as well as other stuff down below deck.

 

[Scott Danforth]

thats a bummer. If they get that motor running ASAP, they can save the motor (not the wiring or electronics on it)

 

[ahicks]

ugh.....

 

[alldodge]

Bummer

 

[tpenfield]

The boat is with a local marina now and they are going through it. I'm not sure what the cost (or feasibility) to fix something like this would be, but it is the sort of thing that the boat may never be right.

 

[Lou C]

Very sad story! The biggest thing is the wiring & gas tank. However the value of the boat is probably high enough to make repairs worthwhile.
This reminds me of the day the raw water hose popped off the p/s cooler on my 4.3 Cobra. Overheated the engine and filled the bilge with sea water in about 3 min! At first I could not figure out where the water was coming in. Not knowing my plan was to beach the boat; but the motor sounded like it was about to blow up and then it died about 100 yards off shore. And then the water quit coming in so I was able to figure out what happened. Water was up to the pulleys slinging salt water everywhere. I would up replacing:
Starter, alternator, all the burnt up rubber in the exhaust. Engine ran fine after this for 2 more seasons then blew both head gaskets. Then did the top end overhaul & exhaust conversion.
It was that day that I decided I didn’t want another inboard! Yes still have this one but after this only outboards!

 

[southkogs]

I'm sorry for all of the damage and hard time. That stinks. But thank God no one was injured.

 

[tpenfield]

that's a bummer. If they get that motor running ASAP, they can save the motor (not the wiring or electronics on it)

Yes, but I'm not sure they did . . . I would have pulled the spark plugs and tried to get it to turn over. I think a shop would just go for a new powerhead @ abut $25K if you can get them.

 

[nola mike]

I feel his pain...

 

[Lectro88]

That makes me sick to my stomach,. And it's not even my boat.
Very sorry for your brother.

At least they all are ok.

 

[tpenfield]

Looks like about $20K to fix motor and electrical stuff. I bet he sells the boat shortly afterward.

 

[KJM]

I saw a video (danger marine I believe) where a motor was submerged in salt water. They left it there until they were ready to rescue it and then immediately resubmerged it in fresh water for a while to remove the salt and then took out all the oil and let it dry good. they had it running in a few days I believe. Probably too late for that motor now. They said it is the salt water in contact with the air that really does the damage, you need to get into fresh water.

 

[Lou C]

I'm guessing if the motor isn't internally corroded they will wind up replacing all the electrical components and wiring on that motor. That and any other wiring that went under salt water.
When my bilge got flooded with salt water I re-terminated the starter wiring, the wiring itself was OK and luckily I had coated the oil pan several times with Corrosion X so it didn't corrode because of that little incident. When I pulled the starter I had to laugh, rusty salt water just poured out of it. But fortunately the bilge pump kept the level down far enough that nothing else got soaked but I changed the alternator just to be on the safe side.

 

[Captain Caveman]

On our honeymoon we went through waves big enough that it put a 3" gash in our hull along the keel. I didn't know about the damage at the time, as we were just trying to make it back to our cabin. The whitecaps were rough so we pulled up to the leeward side of an island. I cracked a beer for each of us to calm the new bride's nerves. I saw water behind me so I flipped on the manual bilge pump, figuring we had just taken water over the gunnels. A few minutes later my shoe was wet! We were taking on water and it was coming in faster than the pump could push it out.

I quickly started the 1979 35hp Evinrude and tried to get on plane. The weight of the water was almost too much. It struggled. Out of desperation I pulled the bilge plug and watched the water ebb and flow for about 20 seconds before it finally started flowing out, the boat got on plane, and the water receded. I dropped my wife at the dock and headed straight for my boat trailer.

Another moment and our tiny boat would have sunk. I'm glad to see that your brother and his family made it out safely.

 

[NWCafesurfer]

On our honeymoon we went through waves big enough that it put a 3" gash in our hull along the keel. I didn't know about the damage at the time, as we were just trying to make it back to our cabin. The whitecaps were rough so we pulled up to the leeward side of an island. I cracked a beer for each of us to calm the new bride's nerves. I saw water behind me so I flipped on the manual bilge pump, figuring we had just taken water over the gunnels. A few minutes later my shoe was wet! We were taking on water and it was coming in faster than the pump could push it out.

I quickly started the 1979 35hp Evinrude and tried to get on plane. The weight of the water was almost too much. It struggled. Out of desperation I pulled the bilge plug and watched the water ebb and flow for about 20 seconds before it finally started flowing out, the boat got on plane, and the water receded. I dropped my wife at the dock and headed straight for my boat trailer.

Another moment and our tiny boat would have sunk. I'm glad to see that your brother and his family made it out safely.

Wow