G23 Sunk Yesterday on a Texas Lake

[RDT-G23]

Yes, as the title states-a G23 sunk yesterday. (2016-2019 vintage) To begin, I don’t feel comfortable attaching pictures, videos, etc. Friends of ours were actually on the boat (and with the owner family) and sent all of this to me when it happened. The boat is now roughly 65 feet under the lake surface. I started this thread to try to wrap my mind around how this happened. The plug was in. Is it plausible that a ballast bag had a split in it and the pump just kept running and filled the entire subfloor?…and if so, I’d think the bilge pumps would kick on, spit water out the sides to let you know what was happening? The Linc would tell a person the pump was on, AND you can’t help but hear those whiny things! Please opine…

edit: bilges came on, then they looked underneath to find the floor full.

[RDT-G23]

Any cracked or loose water carrying vessel associated with the engine would fill the boat very fast, like an exhaust manifold. The engine would just fill up the boat..

[scottb7]

Lot's of ways something like that can happen.

I was on a friends boat when a water hose top of motor came off by the thermostat, boat filled up with water so quick. Early season minnesota water about 50 degrees. Pretty scary. Kept it running and almost burnt ourselves getting it back on.

I had the 4 inch hose that connects the 2 manifolds to the pipe that leads the exhaust and hot water out the back of the boat come off. And when fully ballasted the boat so low in the water that water coming in very fast from the lake into the boat.

And this season, some guy on this forum used marine max rogers minnesota and they didn't put the vdrive drain plug back in. So as the boat running it just pumping water into the hull.

That just 3 possibilities that don't require a crack of anything. Just human error.

Life vests and throwables nearby, always super important.

[bturner]

Not nearly enough information. When you say pictures and videos were they of what was happening as the boat was sinking? While you're uncomfortable posting if this were the case it might provide a clue as to where the failure occurred.

From a pure guessing perspective (because that's all you can do with "the boat sank, what do you think happened?") a boat the size of a G23 would need a very substantial failure to sink and some pretty novice boaters to not be able to make at least a partially successful attempt at saving the boat. A cooling line off the engine would do it but there's a seacock on that line as well as every other fitting like ballast lines. A front or rear plug would do it but it would take much longer and even if water were over the floor it wouldn't sink and you could stuff a rag into it (the rear from the outside and the front from the inside) and stem the flow enough to get to shallow water (please don't ask me how I know this). The thing though with all what I mentioned is that you need to know where the seacocks are and how to plug a hole from a missing drain. Both can be daunting in the heat of the moment and you'd be surprised how many boaters don't know they have seacocks, where they are or how to operate them.

Yet another bad but not fatal failure would be the dripless shaft seal but these are not typically catastrophic and are the silent ones that get your boat when you leave it in the water for an extended period without anyone checking on it. They leak at a rate the pumps can handle but slowly drain the battery then sink the boat after the battery is dead and the pumps no longer work. The last and IMO worst is hitting something that puts a nice sized hole in the hull or some type of hull failure. With this again getting to shallow water is your best bet. I've seen both of these but thank god I didn't personally experience either. One a guy with a 28' plus cruiser hit a submerged rock island then beached the boat. The other was with a go fast that had a stringer delaminate in some strong seas then had about a 3' crack in the hull that started to open up. He was able to beach this one as well. Both of these were with experienced boaters that did some quick thinking that's easier to say than do when you're in the midst of the situation.

The good news here is that even though it was an expensive boat at the end of the day it's just a thing that can be replaced and will make a great harrowing bar story some day. The important thing is that while I'm sure everyone is traumatized from the experience since you didn't lead with a story of loss of life I assume everyone is fine. The insurance will cover the boat and life will go on.

[NautiqueJeff]

There had to have been additional weight in that boat in the form of lead or similar. The boat filling with water would likely not sink the boat like that. It would likely hover right at the surface.

[RDT-G23]

There had to have been additional weight in that boat in the form of lead or similar. The boat filling with water would likely not sink the boat like that. It would likely hover right at the surface.

Jeff-

They had nothing extra. The boat is two years old. Suspicion surrounds an exhaust failure/hole. We will know within a week and a half; they will raise the boat with bladders and figure out what failed.

[vision]

I am with Jeff. Unless regulations have changed in the last few years, pleasure boats in this size category are required by CG regulations to be neutral bouyant when swamped. Without non bouyant ballast on board, I do not see how the boat actually sinks unless there is a hull defect that allows water between the hulls and saturation of the hull foam.


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[Miljack]

That sucks for your friends, isn't it true that the G23 and other "new" hulls no longer have foam stringers? If no foam then the hull would only have displacement to keep it afloat. I'm curious as to what failed, it had to be a fairly major leak to fill up that fast.

[gscho002]

OK terrified SANTE 210 owner here. super sorry to hear about your friends. really glad they are all ok - guess that's why we must have lifejackets for everyone.

two questions:

1) doesn't the water stop coming into the boat from the engine coolant lines if i TURN THE MOTOR OFF? i know where to shutoff the intake lines i think but still.....
2) how often and/or when do i need to have my dripless shaft seal replaced? i've started winterizing myself just because the marina's are so busy, so i'll need to make a special appointment to do this if its not something i can do myself in the winter.....

does insurance cover "boat sank"?

[bturner]

Thinking that your boat is somehow going to sink without warning is not based on any rational thinking. It's not.But let's talk about your concerns.....

1.) Theoretically it shouldn't once the engine has stopped which will be well before you sink in calm water. If the raw water pump is not turning no water should bet past it. You should also have very good warning that something is wrong way before engine is flooded with water before that happens. First the pumps are going to start running which unless you're drunk or clueless should be a tip off that something isn't right. Other clues like sluggish performance trying to turn or get the boat to plane would be an indication that something is amiss. Then there's that pesky water over the floor that would indicate an issue. At this point you may want to do an inspection and tun the boat to shallow water.

If you're getting this much water it should be fairly easy to get an idea where it's coming from. If it's from a line coming from a through hull close the fitting. BTW being the captain here you should know where all your through hull fittings are, how to tell if they're closed or open and how to operate.them. For extra credit find your fire extinguisher, make sure it's full and know how to use that as well.

2.) Unless it leaking most likely never. These are pretty much maintenance free and dripping is the worst that these do expect for the rarest of occasions. If yours starts leaking they can be a bear to work on in a vDrive and most people will have a dealer do this work (like me) due to the PITA factor.

Unless intent or gross negligence was involved your insurance should cover a sinking as it's an accident.

There are times when stuff just happens and then times when stupid happens. The idea is to keep stupid to a minimum so that you only have to deal with those rare times when stuff happens. This is why you'll hear guys talk about winterization and summerization as 2 separate processes. With winterization your focus is preparing the boat for winter and freeze damage. For me it's also a time to fix all those little items that I didn't have time to fix that could wait during the off season. When I finish my winterization process it's also ready to go in the water for the next season. I know a lot of guys like to pull their impeller but I don't. If I'm going to change it, it gets done then and is in the pump all winter, never had a failure or problem from doing this. I also change all my fluids/filters at this time as well.

For summerization I nut and bolt all the hoses and fittings while at the same time evaluate the condition of every item I touch. I check all my fluids again, all my electrical connections and only put the battery in when it's fully charged and ready to go. In short sumerization is a final inspection to make sure nothing got missed when putting the everything back together from winterization. First launch completes summerization for me. I try to pick a day/time at the ramp where I won't be pressured to do a quick launch. When I back the boat into the water I'll start then while the boat is running on the trailer I'll look for any water intrusion while letting the boat warm up. I won't leave the trailer until I see the temp stabilize and I see the battery charging and good oil pressure. At this point unless stuff happens you should be confident that your boat is in good condition and ready for a test drive. I'll typically take a quick run near the ramp and make sure the temp is stable then stop and check for any water intrusion again before heading away from the ramp to my lift on the other side of the lake. If you're trailing this is not a bad thing to do every time you launch as it takes about 10 minutes to do. The time (OK times) I've done stupid and left a plug out the boat I've been lucky enough to have caught it while the boat was still on the trailer. Never fun to do the pull of shame with everyone at the ramp watching and the boat streaming water out a hull drain but it beats sinking.

Keep your boat in good shape, work from a check list when launching, do your post launch checks and you'll have little to worry about sinking unless stuff just happens......

[RDT-G23]

They were trying to tow this boat that had become full of water. More to come.

[bturner]

Ahhhh amateur hour..... The time when stupid happens.

[Sammm724]

If you have the pics, why not post? If nobody died or got hurt I dont see what the problem is? You are already throwing the person under the bus or in this case boat. pics would help us all understand what happened and its a great learning tool for all boaters.

[AdamUCF]

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

[bird_dog0347]

Yeah, that is kinda cringeworthy... and one of the reasons I won't allow my kids to have social media anytime soon. Smiling as the boat is going down? Captions about water in the whiteclaw? How terribly inconvenient! The dad looked heartbroken and I feel terrible for him!