- Joined
- Jan 14, 2021
- Messages
- 9
- Reaction score
- 3
- Points
- 3
- Age
- 53
- Location
- Satellite Beach, FL
- Model
- Marlin
What started as a good day of fishing, 16 miles offshore quickly turned into a near disaster and kicked off 3 months of work. We took on water while backing over a reef, filled the bilge, rear pump failed and the front was unable to keep up. Not sure at the time what was going on, tried to get on plane with no success, bailing did nothing and we started in at 8 knots full throttle, but stable. Sea cocks were closed, everything was checked and looked fine until we saw the rear access panel in front of the engines was missing and under water. We didn't have anything to cover it.
In hind sight, the entire issue was that access panel popped (was never screwed down) and the pitch of the boat at WOT was letting water in as fast as we could get it out. Had I leveled out, the bailing would of made progress. But you have to decide in the open ocean, do you stop and guess or just get close to land as quick as possible not knowing if the hull is compromised, etc.
Around 6 miles out Coast Guard boarded with a pump and it made no difference. Again in hind sight, I know why, but not at the time. They setup an emergency haul out in port and we made our way in still at 8 knots. A half mile from the marina, a second team boarded the boat with a second pump and it also made no difference. At that time, the port motor sputtered to a stop. I assumed it went under and took on water as we were quite low.
Finally at the dock, to reach the forklift, I had to back in on one engine, with a side wind, fuel dock on one side and charter boat on the other side of a 12' wide entrance. This was not fun and after bouncing off a piling, somehow missing everything else, we got in to the forklift and they pulled us up.
Eventually as it drained, we were dry docked, relieved, but now the fork lift arms were too tall to transfer to my trailer. So I had to jack up the bunks 6" so they could get it on. And the missing rear deck hatch was found at the bottom of the bilge!
Now many people assumed we had scupper issues, transom problems, etc. So I inspected EVERYTHING. Scuppers were shot but leaking very minimal amounts. The cap had slightly separated on both stern ends from the hull, but all of it was still well above water. Transom - replaced when re-powered in 2022, was solid. While many things didn't look good, a thorough inspection of the hull, every thru hull, and every hose pointed to the rear hatch coming off.
Given the state of the hoses, all scupper drains, hoses, and ports were replaced. Replaced the single rear 1500GPH bilge with dual 2000GPH, each on new independent float switches, and a high water alarm. All new wiring. Also found two thru hulls above the trim tabs I honestly had never seen before, and don't know what purpose they serve, but they were all replaced with new hoses and thru hulls. Also replaced all bait well hoses and thru hulls with stainless. The caps were 5200'd very well and screwed down every 4".
Now for the port engine. I feared the worst, but come to find out the timing belt snapped, presumably under the stress. Its only had 750 hours on it, but it hadn't been changed in 7 years, so over the 5 year recommendation. Changed the belt, did a full 100 hour service and no dice. No start and weird compression. Pulled the head and found two bent valves. Replaced the valves, all gaskets and all internal zincs. Cleaned it good and it runs!
Final toll on flooded equipment: Trim tab controller shorted, both rear bait pumps shorted. Inside water pressure pump shorted. Plumbing replacement is in progress, but that is all secondary stuff.
While at it, decided to do a full 4 battery rewiring, new switches, all new cables, circuit breakers etc.
Splashed it finally after 3 months, and its running well! A few more things to tidy up and it'll be better than ever.
Thought it was a good time to post the progress pictures since its seaworthy again.
In hind sight, the entire issue was that access panel popped (was never screwed down) and the pitch of the boat at WOT was letting water in as fast as we could get it out. Had I leveled out, the bailing would of made progress. But you have to decide in the open ocean, do you stop and guess or just get close to land as quick as possible not knowing if the hull is compromised, etc.
Around 6 miles out Coast Guard boarded with a pump and it made no difference. Again in hind sight, I know why, but not at the time. They setup an emergency haul out in port and we made our way in still at 8 knots. A half mile from the marina, a second team boarded the boat with a second pump and it also made no difference. At that time, the port motor sputtered to a stop. I assumed it went under and took on water as we were quite low.
Finally at the dock, to reach the forklift, I had to back in on one engine, with a side wind, fuel dock on one side and charter boat on the other side of a 12' wide entrance. This was not fun and after bouncing off a piling, somehow missing everything else, we got in to the forklift and they pulled us up.
Eventually as it drained, we were dry docked, relieved, but now the fork lift arms were too tall to transfer to my trailer. So I had to jack up the bunks 6" so they could get it on. And the missing rear deck hatch was found at the bottom of the bilge!
Now many people assumed we had scupper issues, transom problems, etc. So I inspected EVERYTHING. Scuppers were shot but leaking very minimal amounts. The cap had slightly separated on both stern ends from the hull, but all of it was still well above water. Transom - replaced when re-powered in 2022, was solid. While many things didn't look good, a thorough inspection of the hull, every thru hull, and every hose pointed to the rear hatch coming off.
Given the state of the hoses, all scupper drains, hoses, and ports were replaced. Replaced the single rear 1500GPH bilge with dual 2000GPH, each on new independent float switches, and a high water alarm. All new wiring. Also found two thru hulls above the trim tabs I honestly had never seen before, and don't know what purpose they serve, but they were all replaced with new hoses and thru hulls. Also replaced all bait well hoses and thru hulls with stainless. The caps were 5200'd very well and screwed down every 4".
Now for the port engine. I feared the worst, but come to find out the timing belt snapped, presumably under the stress. Its only had 750 hours on it, but it hadn't been changed in 7 years, so over the 5 year recommendation. Changed the belt, did a full 100 hour service and no dice. No start and weird compression. Pulled the head and found two bent valves. Replaced the valves, all gaskets and all internal zincs. Cleaned it good and it runs!
Final toll on flooded equipment: Trim tab controller shorted, both rear bait pumps shorted. Inside water pressure pump shorted. Plumbing replacement is in progress, but that is all secondary stuff.
While at it, decided to do a full 4 battery rewiring, new switches, all new cables, circuit breakers etc.
Splashed it finally after 3 months, and its running well! A few more things to tidy up and it'll be better than ever.
Thought it was a good time to post the progress pictures since its seaworthy again.
