"almost sunk my boat"

D

deltabighat

Member
exMember
Joined
Aug 17, 2004
RO Number
14904
Messages
493
An interesting time in Capitola Harbor. I keep my 24 ft Trophy there on a can for a month every year to chase salmaon (well not this year) and halibut. After only three days of fishing, I noticed I was taking on a bit of water. My trailer was back home in Fresno so I had my son in law watch the boat and check for water while I retrieved my trailor and broght it back. The next morning he called and told me there was two feet of water in the cabin and cockpit. Fast help arrived in the form of Ed and Mike at the Capitola Boat and Bait business and it was pumped out. Another 4-5 hours and it was going to be gone. The automatic mid bilge pump apparantly failed or shorted out. After getting it out of the water at SC, I inspected the cable shift boot and the bellows and they seemed ok. The only thing left was the below water line live well fitting. Problem is I don't know how to access it. I have asked about it and the mid bilge pump access on all the boating forums and no one has been able to come up with an answer. This week I start taking out the galley to see if I can find out about that fitting. Any ideas anyone. I also have an appointment with the boat shop for an experts opinion on the leak and the damage that may have been done. Most of the engine was under water befoe we got pumps to it. First time in 14 years this boat ever even hiccuped

DBH
 
Yes this just happened to "upspirate" on the Glen-L boat building forum last month. Do a search on "bait well" and you will find it and the pump pictures he posted. It is my recollection he was going to install a sea cock between the inlet and the pump to avoid a future mishap. Good luck.
 
Thankfully, I've never had such an issue, but I've read that the engine needs to be "pickled" asap to prevent catastrophic damage. That needs to be addressed as soon as the boat is out of the water. Finding and fixing the leak can come after that. I sure hope someone has addressed that with you already! Best of luck.
 
If the engine was under water then getting the water out ASAP is essential. This is even more critical due to it being salt water.

It may already be too late but I would still go through the motions if you can.

Drain the oil, refill with fresh.

Pull the spark plugs. Turn the engine over any way you can. It probably needs a new battery for the starter to work, and if it won't function get a socket wrench on the front pulley. If the intake or exhaust manifolds went under water then you will have water in the cylinders and this will get most of it out.

Once you have the engine turned over at least four revolutions squirt a liberal amount of oil into each cylinder. Pour some light oil (transmission fluid works good) down the air intake. Crank it over a few more times to spread the oil onto the cylinder walls and displace any water.

This alone will stabilize the engine for a few days.

If you have a water separating fuel filter inspect for water in the fuel. If the gas tank vent stayed above the water line your fuel system might be fine but if it got water in it then it needs to be drained. I would recommend getting an electric fuel pump from an auto parts store. Make whatever modifications to the output of the fuel filter so that you can connect the electric fuel pump to the output of the filter and pump gas. Pump it into a large pickle jar so you can see the separation of water and gas. You can pour the gas back into the tank. Once you are pumping just gas and no water drain the filter again then pump some more, shaking the boat on the trailer to stir things up.

If you are fuel injected then it is probably fine, but if you have a carburetor it will need to have the float bowls drained.

Put fresh plugs back in the engine and try to fire it up. You may need to pull the plugs a few times to dry them off if there was still any water in the cylinders.

If you can get the engine to start up then let it run a few seconds and change the oil again.

Start it up again, run it until it reaches normal operating temperature. Change the oil again.

Now the bad part:
All the components that got dunked in salt water that weren't supposed to get wet are likely to start failing in relatively short time. I would recommend pulling the starter, taking it all apart and rinsing it with WD-40, it might save it. Don't be surprised if the alternator fails in a month. If the blower got wet it is likely to fail soon.

If your starter is operational check to see if you have spark.

trim motors, I/O lift motors, etc. need to be check and/or watched.

The stern drive system should also have its oil changed and inspected.

If this is going to be an insurance claim then I would keep the case open until you have had the boat running for a month or so. Or have the shop replace everything that got submerged.

Rod
 
Our boat sunk two weeks ago today. The first thing the insurance company instructed us to do, after recovering it from the water, was to "pickle and preserve" all mechanical and electrical components. Time is of the essence!
 
What is meant by pickleing and how is it done?? Also thanks for all the information. The engine was submnerged halfway up the top pully so I think there was no salt water in the engine. It was well insured buy I have had no experience with boat insurance and am not sure what will be covered. I am still on vacation and have not even looked at the insurance papers yet but am calling them today. Maybe I should have just let the old girl sink.....

DBH
 
Rod gave you a complete list of what to do to pickle your engine in the above posting, repeated below:

quote:
Originally posted by abdiver

If the engine was under water then getting the water out ASAP is essential. This is even more critical due to it being salt water.

It may already be too late but I would still go through the motions if you can.

Drain the oil, refill with fresh.

Pull the spark plugs. Turn the engine over any way you can. It probably needs a new battery for the starter to work, and if it won't function get a socket wrench on the front pulley. If the intake or exhaust manifolds went under water then you will have water in the cylinders and this will get most of it out.

Once you have the engine turned over at least four revolutions squirt a liberal amount of oil into each cylinder. Pour some light oil (transmission fluid works good) down the air intake. Crank it over a few more times to spread the oil onto the cylinder walls and displace any water.

This alone will stabilize the engine for a few days.

If you have a water separating fuel filter inspect for water in the fuel. If the gas tank vent stayed above the water line your fuel system might be fine but if it got water in it then it needs to be drained. I would recommend getting an electric fuel pump from an auto parts store. Make whatever modifications to the output of the fuel filter so that you can connect the electric fuel pump to the output of the filter and pump gas. Pump it into a large pickle jar so you can see the separation of water and gas. You can pour the gas back into the tank. Once you are pumping just gas and no water drain the filter again then pump some more, shaking the boat on the trailer to stir things up.

If you are fuel injected then it is probably fine, but if you have a carburetor it will need to have the float bowls drained.

Put fresh plugs back in the engine and try to fire it up. You may need to pull the plugs a few times to dry them off if there was still any water in the cylinders.

If you can get the engine to start up then let it run a few seconds and change the oil again.

Start it up again, run it until it reaches normal operating temperature. Change the oil again.

Now the bad part:
All the components that got dunked in salt water that weren't supposed to get wet are likely to start failing in relatively short time. I would recommend pulling the starter, taking it all apart and rinsing it with WD-40, it might save it. Don't be surprised if the alternator fails in a month. If the blower got wet it is likely to fail soon.

If your starter is operational check to see if you have spark.

trim motors, I/O lift motors, etc. need to be check and/or watched.

The stern drive system should also have its oil changed and inspected.

If this is going to be an insurance claim then I would keep the case open until you have had the boat running for a month or so. Or have the shop replace everything that got submerged.

Rod
Click to expand...
 
I'm curious as to what happens with both of these Insurance Claims and I hope neither of you are insured with Boat US because unless they Total it......you're gonna be on the hook for quite a bit of money.
 
Yes, I am insured with Boat US but they were kind enough to tow it to the launch ramp in Santa Cruz. The starter was shot and I didn't want to run it anyway after being flooded. I will let you all know how this turns out.

DBH
 
I don't know how far you were from Santa Cruz or "The Boat Ramp" but if you're Insured with Boat US it wasn't at all "kind of them" to tow it there for you. Boat US Insurance has Towing in their Policies.
Now read the new thread in the ATC Forum.
 
I used the term "kind enough" rather satiricaly in that I have paid for years on that insurance and have never used it. I know it covers towing and I wouldn't depart without it. My boat was only at Capitola Harbor when it was towed so it was only a couple miles. Vessel Assist did a quick and professional job. I will let everyone know the damage and the fate of my insurance claim.. Thanks for all the input.

DBH
 
I am REALLY curious as to what happens now that I see your Boat is 14 years old. Read the posting in ATC and let me know how they treat you.
 
We are insured through State Farm. Our boat is a 1988 Carver Santego. It looks as if the repair estimates on the mechanical/electrical and interior are going to exceed our policy limits. I will let you know what happens. Hopefully, we will hear something soon!
 
Please do....I certainly hope all goes well for you but I'm sure it'll get interesting. Of course...it'll also depend on what type of Policy you have. If they go by book value in the event of a total loss....you'll be hard pressed to replace it with the money.
 
With all the used boats on the market, and all the folks who can no longer afford boating, replacement will only be a matter of finding the right boat. Don't get discouraged!
 
Today is the 10th of Aug and the original post was the 4th. By now I would hope the pickling process has been completed. The instructions listed by Rod and posted by Flutterby are very complete and accurate as my past experience tells me. While I have been lucky not to have drowned a vessel of my own, I have been involved in the recovery and "pickling" process although a slightly differnt than earlier posted. Each of these vessels had gone to the bottom completely submerging the engine. While one of the first things we did was to drain the oil and water from the crankcase, We did not replace the drained oil from the pan right away instead we filled it to aprox half capacity with diesel. This submerges the oil pump intake. Back to that later. Diesel is then poured into each cylinder thru the spark plug holes, enough to fill each cylinder. we also pour aprox 1 qt of diesel down the throat of the carb to clear water form the maniford and cylinder head. Then as suggested we turned the engine over five or six revolutions with a socket and breaker bar on the crank harmonic balancer bolt. Any water in the maniford has moved down to the cylinder heads and then past the intake valve into the cylinders where it is allowed to settle on top of the diesel in each cylinder then out the sparkplug hole as the piston move to the top of the stroke. The cylinders are then refilled with diesel and allowed to sit over night during which time diesel seeps past the rings cleaning them as it moves into the crankcase pan. Thread in each plug a couple of turns to prevent kangaroos for nesting in any of the cylinders overnite. Before you go to the bar take some compressed air and blow the water out of the starter motor and give it a healthy squirt of WD40. It has always surprised me but never have we had to replace a starter. OK grab a beer and then we need to remove the distributor cap the rotor there you are likely find a threaded hole in the top of the shaft. Thead bolt or stud of the appropriate size into that hole, this will allow you to attach a drill motor to the stud and spin the oil pump in the proper direction, (same direction as the rotor spins) which will clear the water from the oil pump as well as the oil ports and passages. Suck any remaining diesel from the cylinders and give each a table spoon of gasoline. Then drain the diesel form the crankcase and refill with cheap motor oil. I say cheap because after running the engine for 5 minutes you are going to drain it again this time refilling it with proper oil. The next steps lead to restart: First the carb is pulled drained inspected and replaced, distributor removed cleaned (fill with diesel and drain, then final wash with brake clean or equivalant.) Refit the distributor with fresh components and replace. New sparkplugs are fitted and wires attached. Fuel filter replaced, fuel supply checked and determined to be free of water, OK? no, well drain it replace it with fuel and 1 qt of denatured alcohal. Don't ask just do it. Remember to check and replace battery if needed. Your ready to start..... Ewing ewing ewing POP fire in the carberator...Panic, don't pour beer down carb. Instead stuff your Raiders cap down the carb, fires out nothing lost. Pull the distributor, turn rotor 180 reset....Ewin ewing PUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. Now you can go to the bar with a great story to tell.
 
Now a week later and we still hear nothing from the OP.

And I'm still dying to know what happened to TaMiki Tiki Bar
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top