My Boat Sunk!!

[layzdude]

WELL ALMOST. So I get my 06 211 from the marina after they got it ready for the summer. Memorial Day weekend was lousy so yesterday was the first chance to pick it up. Spent all morning cleaning and waxing and finally put it in the water around 1. starts, runs great no issues that I can tell. Had my two young boys 6-9 with me and a friend of theirs 12. The boys want to jump off the boat a bit before wake boarding, no problem. I do notice that the bilge seems to be running a little more but don't think twice. The youngest want to board first. After half a trip around the lake I notice I am having a really hard time maintaining a constant speed. Again don't think too much about it. When he is done, I don't know why but something told me to check the bilge. I open the hatch and the whole thing is filled with water! I open the engine hatch and the motor is half covered in water! My poor son is on the platform trying to get his board off. I grab him rip the board off his feet and pray I can start the boat. At this point I am hoping that between the bilge and the boat moving I can slow down the flood. That does not seem to work.
I get it home to the dock but, I want to get it out of the water. My son runs to the house to tell my wife the boat is sinking and get the trailer and meet me at the launch. My wife has very little experience towing the trailer. Fortunately to launch is only 1/2 mile from my house. So While I am waiting for her to get to the launch, the boat is filling faster than the bilge can work. I am considering beaching the boat at this point just to save it. Finally 20 later she is there. The boat will only stay in idle but I manage to get it half on the trailer. At this point the platform is a good 6-10 under water. I pull it out of the water a little so I can remove the drain plug and decrease the weight. That works and I manage to get it all the way on.
I am Firefighter by profession and I will tell you I have never been so stressed in my entire life. As I write this 6 hours later I am still shaking. I need a drink

Sorry for the long post! But just a few questions.

Anyone have an idea what caused the water leak ? I looked but could not find anything. My guess is the marina left a valve open?. Also I checked the oil and gear fluid and water is mixed, They both have a milky, coffee look to them. I am bringing it to the marina first thing tomorrow, is there anything else that I should make sure they check. The boat never stalled out and it still starts right up.

Thanks,

John

[intrlaz]

Hmm sounds like so much water that it has to be a thru-hull issue or a hose completely disconnected. Two bilge pumps should be able to handle any loose connections. Did you check all ballast connections? That's the first thing I would do. If a hose popped off the tank and the petcock wasn't shut you would experience an incredible amount of water coming in, which obviously you did.

[SANTE230OH]

I had something similar happen on an IO boat I had. I didn't get the top hose back on corectly after winterizing and it came off our first time our for the season. It just kept pumping more and more water in as the engie was running. It is not a good feeling to have water up to the floor level when your are in the middle of the lake.

[Neverenough]

Hmmm?? Water in oil is a concern. Did they or the marina winterize it? If the block is cracked it would just fill boat with water while running. Could be the same for an oil cooler. I have heard about gearboxes getting water in them after there has been water over the drive shaft out put.

[layzdude]

The marina I use does all the winterization/ summarization and stores
The boat for me. I hope it is not a cracked anything ! As far as I could tell no hoses were disconnected, but without removing most of decking it is hard to tell. I really hope it is nothing major.

[orzech]

A cracked block would take a lot longer to fill up the boat like you are describing. Check all your drains on your block to make sure they are in place, manifolds, and hoses on the motor... My guess would be the marina missed reconnecting a hose after they drained everything and filled with anti-freeze. Ballast equipment is always another option if too if that was not properly winterized.

[shawndoggy]

is there a center drain plug?

[beretta5spd]

I have seen boats almost sink because the wax packing for the prop shaft failed. In fact I drove 22 hours to pick up a mastercraft and that happened during the test drive

[layzdude]

is there a center drain plug?

Yes there is. I checked it before I put it in the water. Boat is at the marina now. Hopefully find out soon. Hoping it is nothing major. They are a Nautique dealer and said they never saw anything like that before.

[layzdude]

Just heard back from the marina. Turns out the hose from the freshwater impeller disconnected. So instead of draining out of the boat it filled it up. Should be back on the water tomorrow. Only other thing needed was to change the oil.

[jbach]

had to be hose off of the thru hull for either ballast or raw water. make sure your oil is clean when you get it back. i had water in my engine due to an overheat and running on issue, it took 3 oil changes to get the water out.

[AirTool]

Get it back on the water fast and run the engine for a long time at full operating temperature to boil out any remaining water residue.

I've seen engines FILLED with salt water and cleaned the next day and be as good as new....let them sit a few days and they will cease tighter than if you tried to cease it.

[BriNWrdr]

I purchased an 06 211 last year with 40hrs on it. Took it to the lake and noticed the bilge was running a lot. I put the boat back on the trailer check the plug, hoses and couldn't find any problems. The boat went back in the water and immediately started taking on water. At this point I checked the thru-hull fittings and they were only hand tight. It was a 1 owner boat and the dealer I bought it from was the original dealer and had performed all the maintenance. According to them the fittings get loose from time to time. Make sure you all the fittings each year as well as the hoses! Glad your wife was able to get to the launch in time! Best of luck with the rest of the season!

[jkallen21]

Just curious if you noticed the water being hot that was in the boat with you?

[madcityskier]

Tranny fluid too I would hope.