Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

This sinking seems very odd to me.These guys say that they noticed a small leak,and the boat sank within 15 seconds after they noticed the leak.
How can a small leak sink a boat in 15 seconds?It had to be a bigger leak,a busted thru-hull fitting perhaps?
And why in the heck would you go out with a non functioning bilge pump?
Maybe it's me but do these guys look a little too calm for people who just had their boat sink and are adrift at sea?.
It looks like they are kinda laughing.

I mean no offense to them and I'm glad they were rescued,thank god for that,but something seems strange about it to me.

http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/...-call-20110808

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

I didn't notice this posting before I posted the link that I did to the same story.

I agree with you that there is more "fishy" about this story than just their stated purpose for being out there to begin with! JMHO!

...and what about having a "head-cam" to video record the thing?
Who here carries a head cam on their boats when they go fishing? Let's see a show of hands.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

I know one of these guys personally. Very experience boater as he works on research vessles. The Go-pro camera was to catch some footage of them tuna fishing. Obv they didnt know the bilge pump wasnt working when they headed out(mistake). When they realized they had a serious problem they put the boat in gear and the water rushed to the stern of the boat and with 15 seconds it was under water.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

It was my vessel that sunk. Even though you tell your story it still manages to get flubbed by the news. What happened was towards the end of the day of fishing I went to get the hose out of the rear hatch and found it full of water. I discovered that the month-old bilge pump had burned out. I have an original 1969 hull with 20" transom that frequently gets water/waves splashing into the splashwell. It is also stern heavy with the far-rear console and 150 qt cooler that doubles as a seat. Water sometimes leaked into the hull from the splashwell through steering cable ports and rear seat hatches in the boat. I had taken measures to limit this but in the end it was not enough. Hard to believe that my hull filled up so much and though there quite possibly could of been another/new leak. I am on my boat several times a week May - October and hadn't noticed an issue lately either. Once the problem was discovered we reeled in the lines immediately to run for the nearest port (Menemsha). When I attempted to get the boat up on plane the water in the hull rushed to the back of the boat causing the rear end to swamp (didn't realize how much was in there). About 10 seconds later the boat listed, throwing the 3 of in the water. It was only a few seconds before the boat fully turtled and sank stern first with the bow in the air (that is burned into my memory). I would say it was 90 seconds from the time the first wave came over the transom to the boat sank.

We were very calm out there and no one panicked. It was almost surreal and couldn't believe that it just happened. We probably would of been more concerned if we were 60 miles offshore instead of 6 miles in sight of the vineyard. It was actually a bit of an adrenaline rush...

As far as the camera, my buddy has one of those go pro cameras and hes very annoying taking random video with it when were are boating and fishing. He had been taking footage that day randomly too. When we we were in the water, our 3rd friend was in contact with the coast guard and commercial boat, but we were all in good spirits. My buddy remembers that the go pro was in the his duffel bag (which somehow magically floated) and he starts taking video again.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

Glad everyone is alright.I had something similar happen to me in my old Wellcraft 25,the pump had failed but I didn't notice the problem until I tried to get on plane and all of the water went to the stern.I was able to beach the boat in time but I now check the bilge pump before each run.In my case the pump was a nearly new computerized pump the senses when water reaches a certain level (supposedly)

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

Man you guys are number one in my book for staying as calm as you were.Glad that you all came through ok.
It's a shame that you lost the boat.I'm still amazed by the level heads that prevailed in your situation.
Thanks for sharing the story and giving us the straight scoop.
I hope you'll be getting another seacraft down the road.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

This was actually the second new pump of the season. The first one was the same one that you had (electronic float switch) and it just went on all the time when the bilge was dry and killed one of my two batteries. Went back to mechanical float switch model and it was fine since then...

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

Glad to hear everyone is OK and I apologise for any suspicious thinking and premature conclusions. I guess its just that so many think it is funny to stage another "tragic event" in their interest of 15 minutes of fame, aka. 'Jack-Ass'.

Your evaluation of the media to get the whole story couldn't be more accurate in my book. Someone was certainly looking out for you and your buds.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

that sounds scary mitch. you guys done well not paniking. i take my 20ft seacraft out of westport to nomans area a few times a yr. was just out there 2 weekends ago. 22 mile trip . if you were 6 miles off chillmark the water depth isn't much more than 8o or 100 ft. think you could salvage the boat? i always check my pump before i go anywhere for the same reasons for the leaking that you think you had in your boat. if ya wanna go out there again, shoot me a pm and we'll go. gonna go to stellwagon this weekend.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

Wow, that was a tough trip. I wound up in the water once years ago (after getting run over by a freighter but that is another story) and I can tell you it is something I always think about when I leave the dock. In my case the water was 80 degrees I am not sure how I would handle the cold water but I bet I would not be so calm.

I am glad you guys made it through and hopefully you can salvage the boat.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

Yikes this is awful . . . What were you guys fishing for out there? Fox news said you had to toss over 150lbs of fish?

I might be able to help locate the boat next week if you have approximate GPS numbers. Pm me if you want help.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

Mitch - glad to see you guys did OK and made the best out of a lousy situation. I know KJ a bit and really glad I'm not hitting any funerals this week.

That said, I'm very glad you guys made it and the way you have documented will probably save some lives. That is huge and not enough can be said about that. Hope it gets told more.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

Ya made CNN, more importantly you made it back. Go play the lotto.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

The 20" transom on my boat is the one thing that scares the hell out of me. Routinely takes water and runs onto the deck and my 18 only has scuppers out the motor well. Mine will also runs water through the cable hole in the bulkhead, but only when loading on the trailer.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

Another friend of mine had a problem last week in his bay boat near Brenton Pt. Swells came over the 20" notch when switching tanks, the other 3 in the boat were bailing from the bow while trying to get restarted. Couldn't as too much water mixed into the 2nd tank. They were able to bail enough to get towed up the bay a bit.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

Hey John,
The MV Times got your site address wrong in Nelson's column about this story so I sent them a note to correct it. ;)

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

I share you concerns, but, took a few steps to make me feel better.It's difficult to see in this old pic and I have replaced since this was taken, but, I used a whole tube of silicone caulking inside and out of the hole where the cables run through to seal it up. I haven't had any trouble with water coming in. I also have the bulkhead on the front edge of the splashwell to keep the water in the well. I keep the plugs in while on the water. The water that does get into the deck area goes through the livewell in the floor and I turn on the bilge pump once an hour as a precaution.
http://i833.photobucket.com/albums/z...s/100_1887.jpg
http://i833.photobucket.com/albums/z...s/100_1886.jpg
When I get around to replacing the transom, which isn't necessary right now, I'm going to take some additional steps to fix these issues, like raising the transom to 25" and the floor a couple of inches including the bottom of the splashwell.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

wasn't your time to go guys...boats can be replaced,people can't be.i'm very glad to hear you guys came out well from this - coulda been real bad


take a lesson from this:
high bilge water alarm - any boat should have one installed - wired to be "hot" at all times - very easy to do - not sure how - ask,i'll gladly tell you how to do it

second bilge pump - wired to a seperate power source - meaning,2 batteries - 2 power sources - stagger the pumps - each battery powers a pump - this keeps the pumps independent of each other.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

I completely agree, with your back up pump 1 to 2" higher with it's own battery. Plus in my case it pumps out of the oposite side of the boat. If I see water pumping from the starboard side I know I have issues with my main pump which pumps out of the port side.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

Mitch - glad to hear you guys survived OK! As others have said, someone was looking out for you, with a radio popping to the surface, which then quit as soon as you were picked up!! How lucky is that?!!

I'm sure it was hard to do, but THANKS for sharing your story - it might save someone's life someday! BOAT/US publishes a lot of similar info in their Seaworthy magazine. I recently ordered a book from them containing 10 years of back issues; tons of useful info in it that I'm still wading thru!

One question, given the 20/20 hindsight and wisdom you now have . . . would a 25" transom or a full height splashwell have made any difference in preventing swamping when you hit the gas? One friend of mine, in response to a question about what he'd do if he ever took a big wave over the transom, said he figured the water could go out the same way it came in, i.e. over the low transom cutout, when he nailed the throttle . . . maybe that would work if the bilge were dry, but I'm not so sure about that now!! Seems like bailing might be a better option!

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

Thanks for the kind words guys.

To answer some questions:

*The boat is in 100ft of water, but unfortunately I don't have GPS coordinates for it. I can point on a map, but that is about it. I thought about trying to recover it or the gear, but I think it would end up costing more than shes worth (not including the restoration work).

*Fox news said 150lbs of fish!?!? It was 1 bonito and 5 bluefish. No spin zone my a$$. We were targeting bonito earlier in the day, and small bluefin tuna at the end of the day where we sank. Didn't find the tuna until we started sinking, go figure (40-50" fish bustin on halfbeaks just off the bow).

*Uncleboo- nice work on sealing up your spalshwell. Unfortunately on my 1969 hull my splashwell it would have been difficult to construct a bulkhead with the rear console so far back and I had the real low molded in hatch seats.

*My next rig will definitely have 2 bilge pumps and a high-water alarm! I had two batteries as well, just not good luck with bilge pumps this year.

*Bushwacker - I don't think a 25" transom would have made much difference when I hit the gas with the amount of water in the boat; however, I think that 25" would have help from water from getting into the splashwell (and subsquently draining into the bilge) in the first place.

This will just be easier if I attach a photo for reference.

https://s-hphotos-sjc1.fbcdn.net/228..._4388505_n.jpg

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

Wow. Thanks for sharing this rather terrifying experience. I had already added foam to my 20' master angler. I think I will go add more today.

Is there a resource for how much flotation is in which years and models of SeaCraft? I have an excel spreadsheet with estimates based on hull density, volume of foam and such, but I haven't seen my stringers, so they might be full of foam dust or air.

I hope to put block foam under the cap/gunwale on the Master Angler to help prevent turtling.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

OK, hope it's a sea craft. I think shrimp has an 18 for sale.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

From a fellow Seacraft owner located on the Vineyard, so happy you guys made it. Ever since I read the story, I've been bringing my handheld VHF with me. I was out there that day (my birthday) bonito fishing at the hooter. I have a dual bilge pump set-up with them pumping out opposite sides of the hull. I work maintaining a large fleet of boats, and I have seen more brand new RULE pumps fail this year than ever before. Check your pumps people! Glad you guys remained calm and survived!

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

I must of passed you then cause I was fishing the hooter early before headin a few mi offshore midday looking for charlie. I think I remember seeing another seacraft out there! Its going to be a bit before I get another boat (funds), but I will be considering another SeaCraft!

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

I wish I hadn't seen this. All I have is Rule pumps, it's not like they give these away, they are still a top dollar pump. I have them because I have had good luck with them in the past. Any reason why? Parts made in China, whatever....

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

I was out there that day as well and am 99% sure i saw both of you. We left the hooter early, 7:30 or so, and i remember a 26 regulator and 2 20 SeaCrafts headed out, we were in my Conch 27 and went out to the lanes.

I would be very interested in where your 20 went down always up for an adventure if someone wants to recover it?

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

I would be up for a search, however, I don't think the boat is worth recovering....there is a ton of tackle that went down with it though. Its roughly 6 mi S of MV....about directly N of inside fingers.....on the 100/110 ft line. I could find divers.. If my SPOT had functioned properly, I would of had GPS coordinates on it.....the SPOT is going to be replaced with a real PLB/EPIRB on the next rig.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

The best seacrafts seem to be the old ones no one else wants... I think someone nabbed one down in florida that was sunk for a while. It would be a pretty awesome story if you raised the hull, and fixed all the problems that led to the sinking. Close transom, raise deck, refoam stringers, replace rule bilge pumps.

Can you get the coordinates from the fishing boat who picked you up? Pretty sure the CG might have those coordinates as well. It's not likely you guys moved much from the capsize.

If there was tuna gear on that boat, it's probably worth looking for, just for that.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

It would be a cool story, but, honestly, the amount of money I would sink into raising & redoing her.....I'd rather just get something else. Also, I don't have a workspace to do a rebuild otherwise I would of already attempted it. We had some decent gear that I wouldn't mind getting back, but it could be a shot in the dark. I am going to find out if the Capt has our coordinates though.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

after reading this post last night i had to go out and remedy my single bilge situation. i now have a giant hand pump (24" w/ a 72" 1.5" line) and a secondary bilge that i will wire in next week.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

I am in the same business. The Rule pumps this year are horrible. I have about 10 or so that I will be sending in with nicely worded letter. I have moved a few of my boats to the johnson pumps. They seem to be doing better.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

i have repair shop - i've stopped using rules pumps and switches a while ago - due to problems.the cartridge style pumps are much better,last much longer.

a second pump:
it needs to be wired to a seperate power source than the other - this assures at least one "hot" pump at all times - do not connect the lead for the auto switch directly to the battery - connect it to the battery switch - at the battery terminal.do the same with the lead for the high bilge water alarm
trust me guys,this will avoid big problems down the road...

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

Yup. That's how I do it for my two aft pumps.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

I hadn't had any luck with bilge pumps this season as I was on my 3rd pump of the season. I found my pump from last year dead this spring. I installed a RULE pump with a electronic float switch (larger capacity too), and it killed both of my batteries in about 2-3 weeks. It turn on randomly even when there was no water and just run for a few minutes before shutting off. I replaced the RULE with another brand with a mechanical float switch and it worked great. Until that one mysteriously died 3 weeks later the day I sank. Prior to sinking we had pulled the pump to troubleshoot it and took it apart....there was no debris or damage(looked brand new). I had two other buddies with RULE electronic switch pumps that also killed their batteries or failed this year. Its amazing to me that these companies can get away with putting such crap out.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

Rule Automatic bilge Pumps

Very interesting read. I thought I was the only person having problems with Rule.

I have had nothing but problems with Rule automatic pumps with built in float switch. Pumps start but sometimes do not shut off.

They are made in China now which might explain a lot.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

Make sure you have a fuse or breaker on the rule pumps. . . my auto rule 1100 ate some bilge grass and melted as described above . . . I'm assuming that if I had a small fuse/breaker in place it would have saved the pump. The pump is a PIA to get to on an 18.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

A goofy idea I had was to put a pyhi in the deck in front of the console and maybe shoot some type of expanding foam in there

make any sense ????

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

Rule pumps with the internal float switch are the worst. Also Rule #41 switch the most cost effective they offer is the worst. Absolute trash. If you by one of either by 20 of them. You will go through them in a year.

The last Rule 750 GPH on my shelf says made in Mexico.

TO Bigshrimpin- Fuse don't matter. I have seen may that run and run and run under the conditions you describe (woman's hair in there) and won't shut off. Even with the Manufacturer suggested fuse (15amp?) and melt them or burn them up so they don't work.

Sorry these now suck. Sorry you lost your boat. Glad you and your crew are safe.

Re: Seacraft sinks off Martha's Vineyard
 

I had a digital switch that wouldn't shut off, must have moved it 5 times higher and lower - it burn't a couple up. I went back to old flipper and its fine - my 1100 bait pump must be 5 yrs old and run overnight quite a bite. Knock on wood