My boat sank at the dock - shallow water

nwaring

nwaring

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I got a call from my club that my Angler 22' Center Console was sinking. By the time I got there someone had started to pump it out with an AC pump. The stern was way down. I think the crossing lines from the bulk head were holing it up some. The OB motor was tilted up and I don't think any water got into it. The batteries and the oil tank for the E-Tec were under water and water got into the area where the gas tank lays. After pumping as much as we could with the AC pump I plugged in my battery charger (didn't get wet) and the bilge came on and did the rest.

At this point I don't know what happened but both batteries were dead. I did not have the charger pugged in.

My plan so far is flush everything with fresh water. Pump out the oil in the oil tank, check the batteries and open the access to the gas tank and set up a fan to blow air in and try and dry out.

Try and find the leak. Also try and determine if something is using up my batteries. The switch was off. Hard to believe rain water used up the batteries with the bilge pump.

Anything else?

Thanks
Niles
 
The bilge pump it likely what killed the batteries! It tried to keep up as long as it could but no one noticed in time. A high water alarm may have saved you but right now your focus should be on finding the leak. I would be looking at the bellows.
Sorry to hear about this hopefully this will be an easy fix!
 
It is a outboard boat. The boat is totally covered by canvas except the well where the OB is mounted. In that well is a access plate to the bilge. On the boat bottom there is 3 through the hull fitting. A transducer, the intake for the live well and a intake for the wash down
 
Live well would be my first suspect! A boat at my marina looked like it was sinking a few weeks ago I knew the owner so I went on board to try to save it while trying to reach him by phone. I found a breaker for his bilge pumps had popped and he apparently knew he had an issue with the live well leaking. I guess in the past the pumps were able to keep up with the leak however with a blown breaker the boat had no chance!
I thought you had said the outdrive was up but looking back I see you said OB this said you don't have a lot to look at!
 
I'm SOOO Glad the OB didn't go under! Rest of it's nowhere near as bad. OH! Fresh water too!

Is the boat raised now? Out on the hard or a trailer? What material are your thru-hulls made of? Those space-age plastic ones sometimes break off and still look like they're in one piece?
 
Once the bilge pump(s?) stopped pumping overboard did you listen or feel carefully to confirm everything was turning off without a stuck-Up/ON float switch causing battery drain?
Could the boat have sunk down to the point where water could have entered the fuel tank vent? E10 gas in Ohio, yes? Sufficient water in the tank of E10 means siphoning or pumping out every bit of the tank contents from the sender hole to prevent great damage to the outboard if it is still OK now.

Was wind or current a major factor in the incident? If not, you will need to find the leak source right off.
 
If you have a cabin, put a dehumidifier in there ASAP.
 
Sorry guys I fixed the OP the boat is a 22" Angler Center console with 225 Evinrude Etec.

JD - thru-hulls are bronze and the boat is now on the trailer.

Sandy - toward the end of the bilge pump finishing the job it did cycle on off with movement on the boat. The gas vent is midship on the cap, I only use non-ethanol.

Water never got to the console area.

The battery switch was off and I hadn't plugged in the charger which is normal but this time I hadn't used the boat in a month. Last weekend was heavy rains but the boat has a full canvas and the rain can only get into the OB well. There is access plate in the well that may leak but there is also scuppers in the well to??

I have not started the motor yet. The oil tank was under water and I plan on pumping it out and put in new oil. I crawled under but didn't noticed anything. I think I will fill bilge and see if anything runs leaks out. Next step I guess is to put back in the water and check for leaks.

Thanks
Niles
 
Yes to bronze, couldn't remember which was the "good" one

Some pictures

The water line was about up to the leaning post but I don't think it would of gone much further, too shallow of water
cc%20sank3_zpsgyvgxylw.jpg
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The area where my helping neighbor is pumping is the batteries, the other side is oil tank. At this point he had pumped out a lot but the swim platform was still under

cc%20sank%201_zpsya4vuw0i.jpg
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The bilge pump finishing the rest

cc%20sank5_zpsqbv6slhu.jpg
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Bad news, the engine did get water in. I'm now sure how but I was trying to start and it acted like it was hydro-locked so I pulled the plugs and sure enough water shot out. Looks like this may become an insurance claim. I did email and sent pictures to my agent just in case yesterday. I'll talk to her Monday. I'll also call my Evinrude dealer.

Niles
 
Tough to see. If you get some oil into the cylinders, you might be ok as long as nothing bent while trying to start.
 
So I was reading a little and most of what I read said to get it running. So cranked it over a lot until no more spay was coming out. I think the water was only in the bottom 2 cylinders and almost all of it was the port side. I put the plugs back in, hooked up the muffs and started it. I ran it for about 20 minutes, it actually ran and idled good, I put my finger on the head around the spark plug and all 6 seemed the same temp. I think all were firing. I'll run it more today and talk to my dealer Monday.

Niles
 
I talked to my Evinrude service guy yesterday and he was fine with everything I did. Even though the motor didn't go completely under he suggested I unplug all the connectors on the engine and blow out with compressed air. He thinks I will probably get an oil alarm light when I put it under load because I drained the oil tank and probably broke the siphon. He said to just stop and run it through the winterization mode and it would fix itself. Other than that the comment from him was to take it out and run the hell out of it.

I have proved that water does get into the bilge from the access plate in the well. Once back in the water I’ll check for more leaks

Niles
 
quote:
Originally posted by nwaring

take it out and run the hell out of it.

Click to expand...

To give it a chance to purge any little water bubbles in the crankcase, etc. before you winterize it. I think you are very fortunate this was fresh water. That, and you got after it right away.
 
It's been said a few times in the past, don't put any more holes in the hull than you can get away with. Whether it's one or the other wash down/ live bait. Next time trying using a pick-up tube mounted on the transom. I've got one for the drive shower(I/O) and two extra for emergency which can be used in place of the raw water pump...they are that effective. The live bait has a bilge pump on the trim fin with an auto on/off so it runs when stopped or slow trolling but shuts down on plane where the pick-up tube takes over.
 
How odd. My buddys CC sank last week as well. Again dead batteries . NO charger plugged in. The live well filled up with water from the rain , allowed the stern to sag just enough that the scuppers went under. she partially sank. The lines kept her up sorta. Outboard was under water. long story short boat us came with 2 lil rule bilge pumps . No crash pump. was a joke. The marina had a crash pump and pumped out the water. They flushed the engine and shes ok . They also found a tru hull towards the stern that was not connected or plugged so another contributing factor. ITs a new used boat for my buddy. So moral story BATTERY CHARGER !

Rob
 
quote:
Originally posted by Robski97

How odd. My buddys CC sank last week as well. Again dead batteries . NO charger plugged in. The live well filled up with water from the rain , allowed the stern to sag just enough that the scuppers went under. she partially sank. The lines kept her up sorta. Outboard was under water. long story short boat us came with 2 lil rule bilge pumps . No crash pump. was a joke. The marina had a crash pump and pumped out the water. They flushed the engine and shes ok . They also found a tru hull towards the stern that was not connected or plugged so another contributing factor. ITs a new used boat for my buddy. So moral story BATTERY CHARGER !

Rob

Click to expand...


The lack of a crash pump had no bearing on this incident. It was lack of maintenance and lack of a pre-sale survey (which should have noted the open thru-hull).
 
I finally got the boat back in the water yesterday. I launched and spend an 1/2 hour or at the dock looking into the bilge and saw no apparent leaks. I took the boat for a 10 mile run, stopped a couple times and nothing. The motor ran fine. I do know that I am getting water into the bilge from the access plate cover in the outboard well. I'll replace the big o-ring on the cover. The season is about over up here so it will have to wait until next year

Niles
 
Niles if the boat has a T top I'd suggest installing a solar panel to keep the batteries charged.
Billy
 
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