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Old 10-09-2020, 12:30 AM   #1
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californian goes down

One of the saddest and scariest days of my life. Out cruising with my wife, son, daughter in law and twin 4 year old grandsons when my boat started taking on water. Opened the hatch and just seen water gushing in. Had already filled up the bilge before I noticed and shorted out the bilge pump. I re started the boat and headed for the public boat ramp and tied her up to the dock. Got the girls and kids off the boat and my son and I bailed like crazy keeping up with the intake of water. A pump arrived and had it running for about 20 seconds when a large boat created a large wake and sunk my boat. Turns out that the exhaust elbow blew out from years of use. Might have been the original. If you don't have a plug big enough to plug your exhaust, I recommend getting one. On Amazon for about 20 bucks. It is a rubber cone that fits any size up to 4". Has anyone restored a sunken boat?
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Old 10-09-2020, 12:33 AM   #2
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Old 10-09-2020, 12:46 AM   #3
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Old 10-09-2020, 12:47 AM   #4
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back on the ways.
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Old 10-09-2020, 12:49 AM   #5
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So sad about the boat...so glad you made sure everyone was safe!
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Old 10-09-2020, 01:01 AM   #6
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Old 10-09-2020, 01:04 AM   #7
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Old 10-09-2020, 01:11 AM   #8
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Sorry to hear that news. Was it in salt water or fresh?
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Old 10-09-2020, 05:08 AM   #9
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Oh! So unfortunate!! I wish you the best of luck with the restoration project, if that's the route you ultimately decide to take...

TF continues to give me ever-increasing respect for exhaust elbows. An item I previously never gave a thought to!
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Old 10-09-2020, 05:09 AM   #10
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Get engines pickled ASAP!
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Old 10-09-2020, 07:51 AM   #11
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[QUOTE=Comodave;931478]Sorry to hear that news. Was it in salt water or fresh? It was fresh. San Juaquin Delta
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Old 10-09-2020, 08:10 AM   #12
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So sorry to hear this, but glad no injuries.


Fresh water is a good bet for a rebuild, but like said, get the engines pickled and out asap... same with the gen. Perhaps radios that haven't gotten wet.


Reusing the electrical stuff that's underwater will be challenging, and could argue for a replacement of that.



Best of luck whatever you decide, but keep us posted.
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Old 10-09-2020, 08:54 AM   #13
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You can buy 30 foot boats for WAY less than the repair cost on yours.Sorry, but that's the way it is.

Now you can look at a bigger boat!

Hope you had insurance,

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Old 10-09-2020, 08:56 AM   #14
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If he had insurance, let the adjuster make the determination of rebuild or total.

Sometimes you can collect and buy the boat back cheap enough to rebuild yourself.
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Old 10-09-2020, 12:39 PM   #15
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Sad to hear, but glad everyone is safe.
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Old 10-09-2020, 01:12 PM   #16
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Freshwater is great for electronics submerged, salt water is almost instant (once the water hits the inside electronics) toast.

BUT..........................DO NOT TURN ON THE ELECTRONICS TO SEE IF IT (THEY) STILL WORK, explanation to follow.

Turning on the electronics to see if it still works is what toasts them. Instead take them out and set them aside in a small room with an electric heater on and leave them there for one or two weeks. In other words you want them thoroughly dried out before you test them. Ignore the advise to use rice, submerging them in rice, this is a myth. The key is to thoroughly dry them out.

My experience with two smart phones. Scenario A, I bend over beside a deep puddle in a parking lot and I forget my phone is in my shirt breast pocket. Phone slides out and into the puddle. I did not try and turn it on but instead did the above scenario. I also put it on top of the clothes dryer when in use to get the vibrations to break up the water inside, but I DID NOT TURN IT ON.

Scenario B, I put my clothes in the washing machine and the machine starts washing my clothes. With horror I realize my new Smart Phone is in one of the pockets of my pants and has been in the water getting sloshed around for about ten minutes. I repeated the treatment as in Scenario A. A long time in a very warm room (laundry room with electric heater) and putting the phone on top of the clothes dryer to break water loose so it will dry out better.

In both scenarios, the phones lasted years beyound the swim in the water. If you google, you will find that electronics can be brought back to life if the unit was in fresh water and it was allowed to thoroughly dry out.

And.... without letting my wife know, when she isn't looking I have been known to put our electric popcorn pooper (no electronics just electrical with a motor to move the rotating arm to spread the corns) into the dishwasher to clean it (I've also done the same with a toaster twice, no electronics). After I bring it out of the dishwasher, it is set aside for a month or longer before I use it, translation: thoroughly dried out. That popcorn pooper has been through a wash about 14 times as still keeps on ticking. Of course I might be shortening the life of it, but so far I've used it for ten years so it owes me nothing - traditional Cuisinart model with swing arm.
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Old 10-09-2020, 01:19 PM   #17
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That is very sad. I'd like to know a little more about the failure - is the exhaust elbow in that boat below the waterline? Or did the engine cooling water flood the boat from the failure sufficient to sink it until the exhaust elbow was below the waterline?
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Old 10-09-2020, 02:59 PM   #18
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rsn48, I guess washing your popper keeps it pooping along.
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Old 10-09-2020, 04:47 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by psneeld View Post
Get engines pickled ASAP!
That's the key. Rust starts immediately and even a wait of a few hours makes a huge difference. Once the engines are salvaged worry about the rest. I've been present when an insurance adjuster wanted to wait for estimates. The yard told him the range of cost if he started now vs. the range if he waited. The adjuster said to hold on and obviously spoke with someone else and then told him to start and just keep him updated.

Only reason I'd see for your insurer to delay is if they were planning on totaling the boat.
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Old 10-09-2020, 04:51 PM   #20
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I applaud your response to the situation. You saw you had an issue that put you in peril and you got everyone to safety. Then you worried about the boat, but you didn't sit around out on the water trying to solve something and increasing the risk. You definitely had your priorities right.
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