My boat almost sank today...WTF?!?!?!?!

RufioSwashbuckle

Ok I need to vent. So I get all excited because we finally get to take our boat out, after being in the shop all winter. Hooray... So we put in and head off to the local riding spot. No problems so far as Im filling up my fat sacs and everything is running smoothly. In the water I go, my dad pulls me up and I do my thing...for about 3 minutes. My dad then cuts back on the throttle to a dead stop and tells me the RPM guages are fluctuating like crazy. So I get back in the boat and hop into the captains chair and give her some juice, yep, couldn't go faster than about 10 mph full throttle... By this point I was a bit confused, but not too worried, then I glanced down and looked in the ski locker and HOLY $H!T, the thing was completely filled with water! I thought my fat sac had busted, but it hadnt. So then we open the engine hatch, only to see that it too had been filled up with a couple feet of water as well, and the engine was throwin water all over the place and crap. By this time we were all freaking out. I turned off the engine and proceeded to pump the water out with my fat pump. (if I hadnt brought my pump, we'd be so screwed...). Eventually we get the water out, get a tow to a dock and get the boat home, only after we ran into the law and got written up for not having the proper registration documents or one of those throw cussion things...Anyways, on the way home I called my buddy LoudonTN on the phone and asked him WTF happened to my boat. We had the drain plug in and everything so thats not the problem. Apperently its either the worse case scenario of a cracked block, or a missing freeze-out plug, or messed up intake hose. The last two arent really a problem and shouldn't be hard to fix, but if its a cracked block then thats where it gets messy. We wouldnt be liable for it because the boat was supposed to be winterized by the people who were doing the work on it. But dammit, I dont wanna have to wait for them to either fix it, or to find a new one. My dad was so pissed he was talkin about just selling it and gettin a better boat. But that'll be awhile because money dont grow on tree's, and we have alot of other priorities to take care of first, so that might take some time!! Oh, We have a Bryant with a MerCruiser engine. The throttle on that thing is so damn sticky, I hate it. But it does throw a good wake, WHEN IT WORKS!!! AAAHHH DAMMIT!!!

Foote · Outlaw Joined: 23 May 2005 Posts: 190 City: Richmond

this hurts my eyes ever heard of paragraphs?

drifter36 · Addict Joined: 25 Aug 2003 Posts: 679 City: Fargo

Foote, chill out- hes venting. you would do the same thing if your boat was F-ed up.
rufio, sory to hear it, hope everything turns out right.

pilot_ryder · Posted: Apr 22, 2006 7:13 pm Post subject:

sorry to hear about your boat

midwesty · Posted: Apr 22, 2006 7:31 pm Post subject:

dude...i went thru kinda the same thing with mine...it sucks...hopefully fixin the problem tomorrow afternoon

AOliver · Posted: Apr 22, 2006 7:39 pm Post subject:

This might be a blessing in disguise...SAN 226? Anyone? Anyone? Mr. Green

J/K if money was no object right?

Really sorry to hear about your boat. You might want to write into the company that made that fat sac pump and tell them your story and you might score some free loot. Anywho hope everything works out and you're back out on the water soon!

03Belmont · Wakeboarder.com Freak Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Posts: 4656

Jama · Soul Rider Joined: 17 Sep 2004 Posts: 476 City: Knoxville

This sucks Matthew. Hopefully it's a minor problem and you'll be able to fix it in a couple of days.
AOliver, you wouldn't by any chane be named Adam McCall?

Iman · Outlaw Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 116

By far most likely it's just a busted hose.

I bet I would have nearly got thrown in jail if I took my boat out for the first time of the season and had problems and then the DNR or whatever you have in that area came over and not only didnt help but they gave me a ticket. That's ridiculous, for some reason I tend to always get mad at cops when they pull me over so in that case I would have blown up and probably gotten hauled in or something.

Good luck but I'd bet it's nothing and you'll be back on the lake in no time.

RufioSwashbuckle · Posted: Apr 23, 2006 9:19 am Post subject:

Iman, well they actually came as we were putting the boat on the trailer, so they didnt know about our little mishap. I mean, they were nice about it and stuff, but it still sucks to have gotten a ticket given our current situation...

hyperlite58 · Outlaw Joined: 15 Mar 2006 Posts: 228

That really sucks...i woulda blown up at the cops if that had happened to me lol...by the way i hope u get ur boat fixed.

wake eater · Soul Rider Joined: 04 Feb 2005 Posts: 272 City: knoxville

it sounds like a good time to get that supra you were looking at........ Wink

xSugaxKanex · Posted: Apr 23, 2006 5:19 pm Post subject:

that sucks bro

-rsklhm- · Posted: Apr 23, 2006 6:03 pm Post subject:

That sucks man. Hopefully you can get it fixed quick....

Bambamski · Posted: Apr 23, 2006 6:54 pm Post subject:

I wouldn't think it's a cracked block. I don't think there's anyway that much water would be in the bottom of your boat?

We had a cracked block many years ago and we didn't know it was cracked other than the boat being a bit sluggish. There was just a bit of water in the oil but there was no water in the bilge anywhere.

Maybe a cracked manifold, or a cracked muffler?

Depending on the boat we had a problem about 4 years ago with our X-10. The dealer didn't winterize my ballast properly and the ballast valves cracked. When we went to fill the ballast for the first time it was pretty much like we had a hole in the boat. We almost had water coming over the floor boards brfore me noticed it and the boat was so heavy our POS Yukon almost didn't pull it out.

Hopefully its minor. Good luck

bmartin · Addict Joined: 05 Feb 2003 Posts: 794

Had a similar thing happen to me and hate to say once it was a cracked block. If you were pumping out warm water then a freeze plug or crack is more likely. You can hook up one of those water muffs and run your boat while on land to see where your leak is coming from. It will be pretty obvious.

If you have a cracked block, the good news is that cracked blocks usually aren't as bad as they first seem. I patched one up with some metal compound (can't remember the exact name of the product) after I had the crack ground out. The patch last many years and outlasted the main bearings which finally did the old motor in.

It was a bad first day for you, but you will be on the water soon.

Commodore · Ladies Man Joined: 20 Jun 2005 Posts: 11636

Bummer man, that sucks. I'm sorry to hear about the boat. I hope it isn't anything too major.

On a side note:

So people understand, the Tennessee Wildlife patrol (our water cops) are the most horrible group of people you will ever meet. I have had so many problems with them it was ridiculous. We had a medical emergency on one of our boats ( bad asthma attack) we threw everone on my boat, and let the other one haul ass to the dock. I am idling back to the ramp, and get a ticket for overloaded and not enough life jackets. Shocked

There is an ambulance sitting at the ramp with my friend, and we are explaining why, nope still a ticket.
Evil or Very Mad

LoudonTN · Posted: Apr 24, 2006 9:52 am Post subject:

AOliver, That's what I'm thinkin, get that SAN Matt! haha

03Belmont, haugy Yes, TWRA is a horrible group of human beings, but I've been fortunate to never be the boat owner/driver when we've had run in's with them.

RufioSwashbuckle, like bmartin said, you CAN patch a cracked block. Heck, that's what I did with my boat (it has a cracked block), but ONLY if you don't have water in the oil. I'd check that out, you can tell on the dip stick if at the very bottom there is a water droplet. Like I said though, the same thing happend to me and it was a freeze out plug, that's what the most likely culpret is. In that case, it's not a big deal and is an easy fix for a decent mechanic (heck, my dad did mine).

410fortune · Soul Rider Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Posts: 314 City: Morrison

If it was my boat I would hook it up to a hose and run it in the driveway.
This will poibt you to your water leak coming from the engine.

Most likely a simple hose or freeze plug.
cracking the block would have required a very hard freeze and a block full of raw water, not very common but it does happen (this is the purpose of freeze plugs)

I cannot believe people will put their boat in the water without running it on the trailer hooked up to water first, even if a shop did the de-winterizing, it should be checked out of the water.

Nexyt it is not the cops fault you did not have the registration paperwork or the required throw-able float able device.

Now I understand it can be frustrating when they inforce the rules on you at a bad time, but um yeah registration and safety devices are required BEFORE you go in the water.....if you dont have them and get checked you can expect a ticket.

RufioSwashbuckle · Posted: Apr 24, 2006 1:02 pm Post subject:

410fortune, I hear ya on that and completely agree. We should have checked the boat out before we took it to the water. And as far as the law is concerned, we take full responsibility or being lazy asses and not having the proper documents and safety supplies.
bmartin, Yea it was pumping out warm water, Thats why I was freaking out because all of it, in the ski locker, and the engine hatch was warm. I must say that I dont know much about engines at this point, and the first time Id heard the term "freeze-out plug" was a few days ago. But Im learning hah.
LoudonTN, I did check the oil before I took it back to the shop today and it was fine...

410fortune · Soul Rider Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Posts: 314 City: Morrison

If this happens again or to anyone reading please understand that shutting the engine down will stop the water filling the boat. the waterpump used for cooling the engine/exhaust is what was leaking into the boat, either through a broken hose or a freeze plug.

running your engine with a leak like this can cause overheating (water not reaching parts to be cooled)

Pressing a freeze plug back into the block is pretty easy and straight forward, in fact it only takes a few minutes, you just have to make sure both the plug and the block are clean, then press it in lightly tapping with a hammer and something round almost the size of the plug (socket)

I have had to make this repair on the water before when a friends old straight siz popped a plug, the boat filled 1/2 with water before I got them to shut down and start bailing. Panic had set in and they figured they were sinking so they made a b line for the boat ramp, not realizing that the more they ran the engine the more water entered the boat. I also had a freeze plug pop out on my current boat last winter, of course this particular freeze plug came out of the block directly behind my engine mount, so a 5 minute job turned into a 2 hour job because I had to hoise the engine up enough to allow removal of the engine mounting plate, to gain access to the plug......

shadowfox · Outlaw Joined: 28 Jun 2005 Posts: 156 City: N Tex

410fortune thanks for the info

Rufio any word?

RufioSwashbuckle · Posted: Apr 24, 2006 5:55 pm Post subject:

shadowfox, nope not yet. Im really bummed right now. My buddy Pat just got his leg all effed up!!! Look at j-hills post...

RufioSwashbuckle · Posted: Apr 24, 2006 10:50 pm Post subject:

shadowfox, Well my dad called me and told me that he got a call from the shop and they said it was a faulty hose, which is good because its just a minor thing. I still want a new boat though Wink

...

jgates · Outlaw Joined: 14 Mar 2004 Posts: 158 City: Rome, NY

Did you guys happen to run it while it was on the trailer with water connected before you went out for a pull? Only reason I bring it up is that I do it prior to dropping my boat in the water for the very same reason. Last year I inadvertently forgot to reconnect a hose that filled the boat quickly even while it was on the trailer. We're all human plus as you already know things don't always work as advertised. Just some food for thought down the road. Glad to hear it was nothing expensive although a new ride is always nice!