G23 Sunk Yesterday on a Texas Lake

[SilentSeven]

Who needs pics when we've got a tiktok video? https://www.tiktok.com/@madelinegrav...67534846561542

Hmm. So interesting....boat was undertow, bilge pump was dumping water (see pic) and still decently high in the water. And it sank.

Suggests to me some sort of catastrophic leak - thru hull failure...ballast system...engine inlet water hose....hull perforation of some kind...what else could it be? Hard to think of anything else that would let that much water in.

BTW, I'd dope slap the kid that pushed that vid. BAD FORM I say!

Edit: Also, judging by how quick everyone was off the boat (when it was still high in the water), I'd say they had a pretty good idea it was bad - what else would lead you to abandon ship? My vote is they hit something and punched a hole in the boat.

[AdamUCF]

Hmm. So interesting....boat was undertow, bilge pump was dumping water (see pic) and still decently high in the water. And it sank.

Suggests to me some sort of catastrophic leak - thru hull failure...ballast system...engine inlet water hose....hull perforation of some kind...what else could it be? Hard to think of anything else that would let that much water in.

BTW, I'd dope slap the kid that pushed that vid. BAD FORM I say!

Edit: Also, judging by how quick everyone was off the boat (when it was still high in the water), I'd say they had a pretty good idea it was bad - what else would lead you to abandon ship? My vote is they hit something and punched a hole in the boat.

from the comments...

[Skidave]

I stomached watching that horrible video. One word about most of the people in the video / situation: UNGRATEFUL

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[bturner]

Who ever heard of tanks cracking like that without stupid happening. Even if the tank split it wouldn't sink the boat in calm water like that. Then the next question would be if the tanks were split but still full why not set the pumps to empty the tank and use them to help pump out the boat?

As to the video..... rich kids doing what rich kids do. We see this attitude on the lake every weekend.

[vision]

Who ever heard of tanks cracking like that without stupid happening. Even if the tank split it wouldn't sink the boat in calm water like that. Then the next question would be if the tanks were split but still full why not set the pumps to empty the tank and use them to help pump out the boat?

As to the video..... rich kids doing what rich kids do. We see this attitude on the lake every weekend.

Agreed. None of this adds up. Unless they changed recently, there are ballast bags in the tanks. And as has been stated previously simply dumping the ballast from your ballast tanks into the hull the boat in no way would sink it.

I still bet the hull was compromised.


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[wviveen]

I am probably person number 65, but why dont just close the ballast valves and let the bilge do its work. Worst case nothing happens and everything remains status quo, no way more water would come in. It probably was something else or the ballast pumps were still running. I Do we for sure now the water under the arrow is the bilge or could it be the overflow of the ballast when full?

[Tchur1]

Who ever heard of tanks cracking like that without stupid happening. Even if the tank split it wouldn't sink the boat in calm water like that. Then the next question would be if the tanks were split but still full why not set the pumps to empty the tank and use them to help pump out the boat?

As to the video..... rich kids doing what rich kids do. We see this attitude on the lake every weekend.

Ya I was thinking the same thing. G's are designed to carry 2850 lbs of ballst (in tanks, or in this case not) + 16 people. No way that sinks the boat unless there is some gross negligence going on here. Hole in the hull theory seems to be the only way this happens.

[bturner]

Or the plug was out.

[jphdrake]

I have experienced an exaust hose coming loose from thr thru hull fitting. This was almost catastrophic because I realized immediately what had happened and was close to my lift and was able to slightly lift the boat to slow the flow while I reconnected the hose. This would not have been possible while fully in the water due to the huge volume of water coming in. If I had not been near the shore or if my daughter had been operating the boat by herself and was not able to immediatly identify and slow the flow possibly with a towel it would not habe taken long at all to habe a major situation. It was truely shocking to see the volume of water that was coming thru the hull. I’m not saying this happend here but just wanted ti identify a way that a G series boat call fill with water very quickly.

[SilentSeven]

So here's my takeaway from all this - have a plan on immediate steps one should do if the boat started to fill. Having thought the event out in advance helps cut through the panic fog when you're in the middle of a sinking needing to make decisions and deal with passengers.

Here's my little mental list...love everyone's thoughts and additions. List ignores passenger mgmt, this is just save the boat related.

Step 1
Turn on all bilge/ballast drain pumps and assess distance from shore, how much is now in the boat and rate of water entry. Are there 'special conditions'? Make decision to sprint for shore/shallow water or shut down.

Next
- Shut down engine if staying put
- Close the ballast valve
- Close the engine raw water valve
- Check the drain plug
- Look for other sources of water entry
- Dump lead ballast overboard
- Assess if situation now under control...

Special situations

1. Hole in hull due to impact - keep engine running, dump all ballast while sprinting for shore as best possible.

2. Exhaust hose failure (tricky one) - I think put the boat on a half plane to drain water aft and keep exhaust port out of the water, head for shore. Once close, see if you use water pressure to wedge something (life vest?) over outside of exhaust port to slow inflow then deal with hose.

[scottb7]

I had the exhaust hose come off. The decision was either put it back on manually to stop water intrusion or get home. Although we tried, since it would not go on easily we went with dump all ballast, and full plane home to boat lift. And raise boat as quickly as possible.

For us full plane meant less water was coming in to the boat from the engine then was coming in from the lake. When boat is full of ballast it sits very low in the water and if that exhaust hose comes off, you get a lot of water pretty darn quickly.

I did think about beaching but did not have to.

You will notice that pcm moved away from just large hose clamps to fancier and stronger clamps.

Now that I think about. I recall a very large, but deep sounds pop sound, which apparently was the sound of the hose popping off.

[Skidave]

So here's my takeaway from all this - have a plan on immediate steps one should do if the boat started to fill. Having thought the event out in advance helps cut through the panic fog when you're in the middle of a sinking needing to make decisions and deal with passengers.

Here's my little mental list...love everyone's thoughts and additions. List ignores passenger mgmt, this is just save the boat related.

Step 1
Turn on all bilge/ballast drain pumps and assess distance from shore, how much is now in the boat and rate of water entry. Are there 'special conditions'? Make decision to sprint for shore/shallow water or shut down.

Next
- Shut down engine if staying put
- Close the ballast valve
- Close the engine raw water valve
- Check the drain plug
- Look for other sources of water entry
- Dump lead ballast overboard
- Assess if situation now under control...

Special situations

1. Hole in hull due to impact - keep engine running, dump all ballast while sprinting for shore as best possible.

2. Exhaust hose failure (tricky one) - I think put the boat on a half plane to drain water aft and keep exhaust port out of the water, head for shore. Once close, see if you use water pressure to wedge something (life vest?) over outside of exhaust port to slow inflow then deal with hose.

Step 1: put on life jacket and make sure passengers do the same. Even experienced swimmers will loose their awareness under a panic situation. Having a life jacket can give you the sense of security if you know you're going to exit the vessel. Boats, gear, etc. are replaceable. Someone's life is not.

I'd be curious to see what others add to this list. I think it should become a sticky.

I know many boat on a lake. I'm on a river that can have a swift current at times. Too many people do not have an anchor or the proper type. I say add anchor. Doesn't really apply to a sinking vessel, but does apply if you loose power and you are drifting due to wind or current.

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[NautiqueJeff]

This really makes no sense to me. Assuming a ballast sack (yes, they are sacks, not tanks in a G-series) ruptured, turning off the pump would have stopped the flow. The pump would have automatically shut off via the timer when the bag would have been full, so unless they manually turned it back on, this isn't the cause.

Second, the boat would have been neutrally-buoyant unless there was additional non-water ballast on board. No way it would have gone down like that without additional weight.

Third, why in the world are they towing it full of water?? Let the bilge pumps do their job, and then assess the situation.

Also, not sure what year boat that is, but for the last few years they have a high water alert that comes up on the LINC screen if there is an abnormal amount of water in the bilge.

I can't imagine what would have caused this, but it wasn't simply a ruptured ballast bag. There is more to this story.

[bturner]

Fully agree with the above. I'm betting there was stupid going on here that hasn't come out yet. I have a feeling the owner fully knows what it is too.

[jtryon]

You will notice that pcm moved away from just large hose clamps to fancier and stronger clamps.

this was the point i was going to make. t-bolt clamps are much more reliable than the worm-gear clamps IMO--i've replaced all of my clamps below the waterline with them, and double-clamped the one attached to the rear exhaust exit. peace of mind is worth the $10 or so per clamp!