Almost Sank!

M

MJ Aviator

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Jun 13, 2009
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31353
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7
1988 Chaparral 22' Cuddy w/OMC outdrive and 5.7 Mercrusier engine with 80 hours on it.

Coming off plane in 25-30 feet of water in our man-made lake heading into a cove we frequent all the time. At about 15-20 mph (sorry had GPS on MPH not Knots) we hit a submerged object and the boat bucked pretty good. Raise the outdrive, no apparent damage, prop intact, no apparent water coming in. Motor around at idle for 5 minutes, then head at cruise speed another 2 miles to our anchor spot. Everything operated/sounded normal. We got lucky. Not.

Get anchor set and Son says, “Dad, water in the bilge, pretty high!" The water has filled the bilge/engine compartment and the pump obviously is not keeping up. Now in 75 feet of water. If we sink, it's a total loss. High-tail it to the ramp and get the boat onto the trailer in record time.

Water is pouring out the area where the outdrive meets the transom. Hmm. Seems the outdrive was knocked hard enough that the opening between the outdrive mounting plate and the transom had water draining out pretty heavily.

My mechanic w/25 years experience said he's never seen anything like this and, “..it doesn't look good…".

The shop hasn't begun pulling anything apart yet, but I am interested in thoughts on the repair likelihood – I would think the outdrive mount can be re-seated and worst case, new holes drilled for mounting bolts if they pulled through the transom a little it.
 
i don't know how the transom shield is mounted with an OMC but usually they are thru bolted. i dont' see how you can knock that off unless the transom was rotted due to age. if you look around the transom shield, do you see any cracks or anything?

i hate to sound like a broken record... but you said... "THE bilge pump"... one pump isnt' enough, you should have two on a boat like that, and real 2000gph pumps, not little tinny bity gadget. as you found out, it can make the difference between getting home or swimming home.

oh.. and a light/alarm/buzzer too so that you hear the pump coming in... every seconds counts.
 
Agree with Pascal on the pumps. On the other hand, I'm also suspicious of a rotten transom. In which case, even multiple pumps would likely not keep up. Then again...you DID make it to the ramp, so even a little extra pump capacity would have been of service.

Will be interesting to see what gave.
 
Are you saying a rotten transom would cause the mounting bolts not to hold properly?

How is a rotten transom diagnosed accurately?
 
Add me to the list of those susupicious of a rotted transom. Would be interesting to see pictures of the area.

Also, consider this a lesson learned and add a second bilge pump AND a high water alarm.
 
quote:
Originally posted by MJ Aviator

Are you saying a rotten transom would cause the mounting bolts not to hold properly?
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ABSOLUTELY - the bolts would have nothing to bite into or against.

For example - drill a hole through solid 3/4" ply and put a bolt and nut, now tighten it, pull on it and see how sturdy it is. Now, do the same with a piece of paper and see what happens.

In this all too simple example, the solid ply is a non-rotted transom and the piece of paper is a rotted transom.

quote:

How is a rotten transom diagnosed accurately?

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Hit the entire transom with a plastic mallet - you do not want o hear the dreaed "thud" sound. You should hear a more sharp crisp "whack" noise.
 
Drill some holes in it and see what the core looks/feels like. Agree, rotted transom--1988 boat.
 
Sorry for the accident, that sucks! That being said, I will be installing a second pump on my boat right away. I've only ever had the original pump that Searay supplied with the boat. Thanks for the advice.
 
I have a Sundancer 270 and I have 4 bilge pumps with a net output of 6500 gph and I have big gauge wiring and the biggest hoses it will accept.

My guess here is is if it was a rotted transom, the drive pressed up against it when in forward thrust, limiting water intake, when you came to rest, the gap increased letting in a lot of water. Your ran back to trailer most likely put water below the infiltration point while on plane and the drive pushed up against the transom to help.
 
If this boat has an 88 OMC Cobra, the transom mount is similar to that of a Volvo SX in that the outer transom mount has mounting studs that pass through holes in the transom and the inner transom mount (which also has the rear engine mounts on it) is bolted to the studs...and the gasket that keeps the water out is squeezed between the outer transom mount and the trasom itself. If the plywood transom was rotted it may have flexed allowing the transom mount to move away from the transom which would have let water in past the seal...Look for stress cracks around the transom mount on the transom itself and you can take wood samples from the inside of the transom itself...the transom for this type of boat is usually a little more than 2 inches thick plyood...and replacing one is a lot of work....requires pulling the engine....
 
Dependant on the severity of the impact, it is possible that the transom shieled could have bent/twisted and pulled away from the transom. I had a similar instance 9 years ago, traveling about 5-7 knots, 1988 OMC 260 Cobra outdrive in a Trophy 2560, hit an unmarked submerged barge. Actually lifted the boat out of the water, got to the dock, water level up to the exhaust manifolds in the bilge, 2 bilge pumps could not keep up with the incoming water. Got an emergency haul out. Upon inspection the transom shield had pulled away from the right lower corner. Upon removal, inspection of the transom revealed it was solid, no rot. Used a straight edge on the transom shield mating surface, found it bent twisted. Had to replace the transom shield asembly.

Only impact evidence was on the foward lower right of the nose of the lower unit, scraped no damage.

Based on your speed this is posible and if the transom has no apparent rot, check the integrity of the transom shield at the mating/sealing surface.

Sea Esta
1984 Silverton 34C twin 270 Crusader
 
You will see the rotten wood when they take off the transom assy. Then you will want the insurance company to total it... it will always be flimsy going forward, my boat sunk when we had a hard Nor-easter, the outdrive contacted the canal bottom and separated the transom assy from the flimsy transon and let the water in.. insurance money was good!
 
quote:
Originally posted by pstew96

You will see the rotten wood when they take off the transom assy. Then you will want the insurance company to total it... it will always be flimsy going forward, my boat sunk when we had a hard Nor-easter, the outdrive contacted the canal bottom and separated the transom assy from the flimsy transon and let the water in.. insurance money was good!

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How do insurance companys view rotten wood?
I know corrosion metal on fiberglass boats are a difficult pay out if anything happens at all.
 
If they don't view it to closely, I think you would need to have your marina personnel help with a creative diagnosis....I know it sounds a bit sketchy, but who would want to take a chance that a skiddish insurance adjuster would just want to put a flimsy patch on the deal as mine tried to do. This is to big an investment to be fooling around with it.
 
"no apparent water coming in. Motor around at idle for 5 minutes, then head at cruise speed another 2 miles to our anchor spot."

That's the only thing that kinda, and I emphasise "kinda" bothered me. Sounds like you checked and motored around bit..Did your due diligence so to speak, but then headed two miles to deeper water. If you have the ability to get back to port after crashing something hard as you said, I would head back immediately. I know it's arm-chair quarterbacking and quite frankly I'm pretty sure I just learned something from your experience.
 
dont' know about that... i woudl check for leaks and damage and if all is fine i would also continue, keeping an eye on things and checking for water every once in a while...
 
quote:
Originally posted by STEELA

"no apparent water coming in. Motor around at idle for 5 minutes, then head at cruise speed another 2 miles to our anchor spot."

That's the only thing that kinda, and I emphasise "kinda" bothered me. Sounds like you checked and motored around bit..Did your due diligence so to speak, but then headed two miles to deeper water. If you have the ability to get back to port after crashing something hard as you said, I would head back immediately. I know it's arm-chair quarterbacking and quite frankly I'm pretty sure I just learned something from your experience.

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I was still about 4 miles from the nearest ramp.
Had I "Beached it" in the cove I was in, it would have sank, ruined the motor, and definitely been unrecoverable.
Still awaiting the Marina's diagnosis; should have it today.
 
quote:
Originally posted by pstew96

You will see the rotten wood when they take off the transom assy. Then you will want the insurance company to total it... it will always be flimsy going forward, my boat sunk when we had a hard Nor-easter, the outdrive contacted the canal bottom and separated the transom assy from the flimsy transon and let the water in.. insurance money was good!

Click to expand...

So would you say the insurance company should total it due to the impact, even though there 'may' be rot, which really had nothing to due with the incident/damage sustained? (Assuming not a simple gasket or seal leak, of course).
 
Aparently you do not have any insurance related claims, if your motor became submerged and the water intrusion affected other aspects of your craft you may have had some insurance issues. It sounds like you are back in buisness and that there is one troubling concern here and that is how that water got into the bildge area.. My case was I beleive, that I had grounded my boat or that the privious owner may have and that started the water/rot situation in my transom, the boat resting on the outdrive on the day of the Noreaster(the outdrive was being pulled away from the transom) allowed water in, it filled halfway up my cabin, so my engine was totally submerged, enter Mr. Adjuster, he wanted to replace engine parts by my marina guys pointed out the rot to me and we all insisted that the boat had to be totaled, the adjuster decided that the transon assy was the culprite(did'nt notice the rot I suppose,I'm not going to dispute him, he made the call), but we know the real story.
 
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