First wet slip nerves..

[Thalasso]

Re: First wet slip nerves..

Looks like someone forgot to take there med's

 

[Philster]

Re: First wet slip nerves..

Deep breath, all.

Center console boats sink in dock because they are hard to cover. Rain comes; the drains don't work fast enough or not at all, and water settles in a corner; she lists and she goes down when the pump(s) give up the ghost or even before because the top heavy stature makes the list hard to stop. Sometimes, they capsize. It's hard to comprehend, but they'll capsize with finger docks on both sides.

Bow riders at dock and other runabouts: Quality cover(s) and two pumps with two quality batteries = recommended mooring setup.

I've seen center console after center console go down because drains/scuppers fail and the pumps give up the ghost. Because they lack full covers, they always have to shed water that lands between the gunwales. Shed water or sink.

Cover a runabout boat and have the proper pump/battery arrangement and you have sufficiently mitigated risk (yeah, charge the batts if practical-- ok). That's it. If it gets much crazier than that, join the freakin' Dry Bilge Club, put the fargin' boat in a garage and talk about boats; read about boats, but for Og's sake, stay off the water.

 

[cyclops2]

Re: First wet slip nerves..

Make sure your boat is REPLACED in your policy.

I never miss a payment.

I thought the USCG floatation Manufacturers Builders Regulations REQUIRE a boat to float UPRIGHT when filled with water.

 

[Philster]

Re: First wet slip nerves..

They can require anything they want under certain conditions, criteria and testing parameters.

They can't require a center console boat to not capsize after developing a list in gale force winds and heavy rains.

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: First wet slip nerves..

Make sure your boat is REPLACED in your policy.

I never miss a payment.

I thought the USCG floatation Manufacturers Builders Regulations REQUIRE a boat to float UPRIGHT when filled with water.

No, requirements are for positive floatation, not floating upright. And I believe that is still for 20' Or smaller.

 

[cyclops2]

Re: First wet slip nerves..

I can believe the 20' ruling. Makes sense. ?????????????????//

 

[Philster]

Re: First wet slip nerves..

Under 24' = flotation foam

Foam can be found on larger vessels; it's a popular way to subsidize structural strength and dampen sound.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: First wet slip nerves..

Pretty sure this is about all they require:

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: First wet slip nerves..

that's about it. when they "float" it's usually right at the gunwales--and they roll easy. Some, when they do, leave only a small point of the bow up. Having "floatation" is a false sense of security when it comes to open water, especially cold water, as your picture illustrates.
But many a flooded boat will float high enough to keep the engine OK (until they roll when you try to save them). That Merc might be OK.

 

[Thalasso]

Re: First wet slip nerves..

that's about it. when they "float" it's usually right at the gunwales--and they roll easy. Some, when they do, leave only a small point of the bow up. Having "floatation" is a false sense of security when it comes to open water, especially cold water, as your picture illustrates.
But many a flooded boat will float high enough to keep the engine OK (until they roll when you try to save them). That Merc might be OK.

Correction:

I sunk a boat like the one above in the St.Lawrance river. Belive me when i tell you, when you have an outboard on it, it isn't going to float upright in any kind of rough water. The motor just made that boat top heavy and will roll it.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: First wet slip nerves..

true, but not when they sink at the slip with 4 lines on them--that was my point. I've seen many a swamped and rolled boat in my day. Watched a 25' bow rider swamp, roll and sink in a matter of a minute or two, leaving just a 3' bow point sticking up and heading out to sea.
Not only does the motor make it top heavy so it rolls, then the motor pulls the hull down, leaving only a small part of the bow up--not a flat surface. So in cold water, you're dead; the USCG will be able to know where to start looking for bodies.

But all this scary stuff doesn't pertain to a boat in a well-run marina--don't need to scare the OP

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: First wet slip nerves..

The only thing you have going for you around here in a marina is that most marinas are very shallow like 4 to 5 feet in alot of the marinas, especially where the slips are.. If your boat ever does sink it will probably be sitting on the bottom. But by then, its to late.

I know of very few boats that will keep the motors out of the water when filled with water.

I personally sank/got swamped years ago on a 19 mako. The boat was under in less than 60 seconds. Motor and batteries were under water and the bow was sticking out of the water, center console was about half way in the water. . It never capsized and we were lucky. Most sinkings I have seen of fiberglass boats, its pretty much the same. The stern sinks first.

Having dock lines attached to a sinking boat may help one side stay more out of the water, but they will actually help the boat capsize if taking on water. Most docks only provide you with one side per boat to tie off of.

 

[coastalrichard]

Re: First wet slip nerves..

I'm loving my trailer!

 

[minx163]

Re: First wet slip nerves..

Tight cockpit cover and double bilge pump should keep your mind at ease . Don't use a cover that can collapse with water inside the boat

 

[ericp501]

Re: First wet slip nerves..

In regards to rain water.. My boat has had 8 people prob about 1400lbs total and wasn't even close to sinking.. That's like 200 gallons of water. How much rain are we talking here? I mean I've already decided to put in a second pump a bit higher then the main. I'm also going to run that one off it's own 12v battery, one of those smaller tractor ones. This way if the first pump or battery go I'll have some type of backup till someone notices in the morning.

 

[Outsider]

Re: First wet slip nerves..

and wasn't even close to sinking.

I seen two boats almost sink at the dock, and both were due to broken thru hull fittings. One was manufacturer error, one was owner neglect. Sleep well, there's not much else you can do unless you want to pay someone to check on it every time it rains. It won't matter if a thru hull fails, both batteries will die in about 24 hrs ...

 

[marcoalza]

Re: First wet slip nerves..

It all depends on wind and current. dont panic . you will figure it out. F/N/R. And maybe F/R/N

So I've waited patiently for someone else to ask so I don't look stupid...........

F/N/R. And maybe F/R/N..........what?

 

[belleview3]

Re: First wet slip nerves..

So I've waited patiently for someone else to ask so I don't look stupid...........

F/N/R. And maybe F/R/N..........what?

Forward/Neutral/Reverse. ..If I do F/R/N, I probably just threw everyone overboard.

 

[Ray1958]

Re: First wet slip nerves..

So I've waited patiently for someone else to ask so I don't look stupid...........

F/N/R. And maybe F/R/N..........what?

Forward/Nuetral/ Reverse....

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: First wet slip nerves..

To add to my previous posts on this subject, here is a quote of a friend of mine on another site when answering to a bilge pump output question. He hits the nail on the head in many areas. basically don't count on your bilge pump rating to be correct for your application.

"The folks at Rule are great to deal with and I've stopped in there before to ask questions and pick up parts.

My previous post on pump ratings can be broken down like this:

1) What is the stated/rated GPH of the pump?

This is the number that is usually offered, and it is commonly given as GPH, Gallons per Hour. They use that unit of measure because big numbers sell well. But we nee something we can imagine, so convert that to Gallons per minute. in this case that means 1600/60 = about 27 gallons per minute ( GPM )

2) The pump is rated ( usually ) at "no-head" meaning it does not pump upward at all. In the real world, this means a head of a few feet or more. Johnson gives a handy chart on their easy to access specs, so I will look it up and get: with a 4 ft head, the pump will deliver 17 GPM.

3) Unless the test conditions are stated in the spec sheet, you can expect that they ran the pump at 12V to 14.7V to achieve that number. But, you will be using the pump under high load conditions so figure 11V, and down-rate the pump. I use 60% of rated flow due to low operating voltage. That means 17 GPM X 0.6 = about 10.2 GPM

4) The output hose will also cause a reduction in flow rate. Assuming a smooth bore ( never use corrugated hose!!! ) hose, that is very straight has not turns, kinks or mud-dauber nests you will lose at least a few percent. In practice, you will have a misshapen spot, a few dips and curves plus the loop near the outlet end. This means that you can easily justify yet-another-down-rate of around 20%. ie: 10.2 GPM x 0.8 = 8.16 GPM. ( aka: 489.6 GPH )

Interesting how a 1600GPH pump is putting out 489GPH in the the actual application when many factors are taken into account. This is why the pump rating is comical.

Unless you have major dewatering systems, a bilge pump (or pumps) is not going to keep a boat afloat in the even of a holing, unless the inflow of water can be stopped. "

Op, I would not skimp on the battery that you install for your second pump, get a good deep cell battery that will be rated well with the pump you are trying to run under load.