lessons learned

Similar thing happened to me. Powered up and thru hull transducer let go. I saw the bilge pump lights come on. Figured out there was a problem. Didn't need to plug the hole as part of the thru hull was still inplace. Head back to marina and haulled the boat.

This guy really needed a high water alarm and/or bilge pump lights. Had he caught it early, he would have been fine since he had the plugs on board.
 
A good start, but safety is a process, not a task. It is continuous and ongoing.

No high water alarm.

He did not notice that the boat "felt funny" even with 4 ft of water in the bilge. Lack of situational awareness. Pay attention. If it "feels funny", there is a reason. Check it out. Note that "the Captain" is actually always "on duty" when aboard. OCD can be your friend.

Planing ( and training) is important. When things are "good", run mind exercises asking "what if..." and analyze your response to the hypothetical issues. Do this frequently. You may never be perfect, but this type of planing will go a long way to minimizing casualties.

There is more, much more. but he made a start, which is positive.

Always assume that a boat, from the day ( before! ) it is launched, is trying to sink. It is your job to make that less likely.
 
Don’t have the time or the patience to watch these you tube stars wannabe babble for 12 minutes over a simple problem...

90% of the boats out there don’t have enough bilge pumps and / or proper lights / alarms. First thing I did on my boat when I started the repower and refit 5 years ago was install 5 new Rule 3700s, with new switches, high water switches, all new wiring all the way to the batteries plus a pump panels with breakers, manual switches and LED for each pump (green = armed, red = running, 2nd red = high water with buzzer)
the 2 shower sumps have rule 2000 and kept open as a back up. The panel has two more rows so I can add two more pumps as back up.

I sleep much better at night
 
Factory standard high water alarms on my 1983 Trojan International in each of the 3 compartments

Over the years I upgraded the 1983 pumps to newer higher capacity units

Also added two additional, COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT emergency bilge pumps, wired direct into the genset battery, one forward, one in the engine room

Thats a total of 5

The diesels were fitted with crash pump plumbing with huge ball valves

I also carry wooden hull plugs and a wax toilet seal onboard

My fear is in the event of a total loss, insurance would not cover the replacement cot of this old girl.

RWS
 
My boat originally had two bilge pumps; one in the front and one in the middle. The one in the middle was useless because water runs forward when the boat is as rest and goes to the stern when under way (the boat is not compartmentalized in the bilge). I removed the one in the middle and added a 2000 gph pump in the stern with it's own dedicated power and discharge.
 
Bigger aquarium pumps are nice for faster cleanup, but without the means and plans to stop the ingress of water, they’re still just doing maintenance, not damage control.
 
I boat and fish in the Delaware bay. Should I encounter a leak that bad that the stern pump gets activated and I can't stop it, my hope is that I can run the boat up on land. If I can't stop the leak, then it doesn't matter. The boat sinks and we get wet. If I've run into something to cause a leak that bad in my 25ft single inboard, I probably ruined my running gear and can't move anyway.
 
PascalG said:
Buys you time to stop the leak.
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Certainly slows it down to some extent, but I’ve found most boaters greatly overestimate their utility when a boat is taking on a lot of water, and underestimate the importance and urgency of slowing or stopping the ingress of water.
 
Every inch of water in the bilge counts especially on small open boats with limited stability. A couple of hundred gallons may put the scuppers under water and it s game over.
 
PascalG said:
Every inch of water in the bilge counts especially on small open boats with limited stability. A couple of hundred gallons may put the scuppers under water and it s game over.
Click to expand...
No doubt. I’m not saying they’re without purpose - just that they tend to be relied on as the solution to water ingress, rather than the solution to water removal.

Smaller open boats with limited bilge access are obnoxious to dewater with a portable pump, despite a 250GPM@12ft capacity - rarely an easy way to get the intake low enough, and once the scuppers are at the waterline as you pointed out, there’s nothing doing without blocking them. (Nerf footballs are awesome for that)
 
I almost sunk my boat at the dock.
I had a push on fitting on my hot water heater let go while I was sleeping.
I woke up to a almost flooded engine room. Not sure why I woke up but if I didn't I would of sunk at the dock.
Bilge pump was running but had a hole in the hose which I was unaware of, so water was coming back into boat.
Other bilge pump couldn't keep up.
High water alarm was not working.
Lesson learned - .29 part
Even though I tested everything at beginning of season at some point bilge pump hose rotted out and was cracked, never use those corrugated hoses.
High water alarm rotted out during the season.

Was very scary. Friend and I used a bucket and bailed it out.
Cost me 2 starters and who knows what else!
 
Pumps and float switch need to be tested regularly. High water alarm shouldn’t fail as they are usually high and dry

it s never one thing it s always a series. Problem is that builders install cheap small pumps, use the cheaper hose possible and then use plastic plumbing fitting in hot engine rooms...

if your bilge pumps can’t keep up with a dockside hose and a plumbing failure...you got a problem. Any single of my 3700s will easily handle a fresh water leak. But I still don’t hook up dock wa
 
I've read too many stories about city water sinking a boat to leave the city water supply turned on at the dock.

Don't want to be a statistic

But imagine if you hit a semi submerged object while on plane.

Say a shipping container, or a dock post

you hole the hull, or rip off the running gear

I'm waiting for Boating Safety Month and hope to find a sale on an EPIRB

Good for a life threatening medical emergency as well

RWS
 
After that incident I always turned off dock water when leaving the boat. My fresh water tank had a leak and only held 20 gallons. I also bought those device that shuts off the dock water after 100 gallons in case I left it on.
 
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