Is this a sea craft?
 

http://www.onthewater.com/boating/vi...an-60-seconds/

And should I be putting more expandable foam below decks on my boats?

Sure sank pretty fast.

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

Yes.It looks like the one that went down off of Martha Vinyard last week.There is a post pertaining to it a page or two back on this forum.

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

69 doesn't have the 2 giant foam filled stringers like the ones built after 1972. 69 has the 4 hollow stingers . . . doh.

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

Sure is an SC and owned by "mitchman" on this site.

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

OK so I guess we gotta keep our eyes peeled and help him find a new one!

Very glad they safely made it in. Can't imagine the feeling of being miles offshore and seeing your boat go down.

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

I have a 18 that is for sale, but something tells me he is gonna want a Boston Whaler, Scout, Henryo or some other unsinkable boat.

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

How much floatation do you have to add to get a sea craft to float? Figure 500 lbs for motor and steering, etc. The rest of a 20 is 1500 lbs?

So 2000 lbs of floatation. 60 lbs per cubic foot float... need 30 feet of floatation. The stringers are like 12' x 1' x 6" x 2 stringers = 25 cubic feet.
SO another 6 cubic feet is what, the space outboard of the stringers? The whaler nerds can go suck on that egg.

Foam numbers from here: http://www.shopmaninc.com/foam.html

ALso, does a floatation bracket and closed transom solve the problem? From the video it sounds like they were taking on water, gunned the engine, and the transom swamped as the water moved to the back of the boat.

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

All boats can take on water, most will sink. Got to be able to pump the water out.

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

Ain't it the truth. That should be framed and hung in every boat dealer and marine supply store. :D

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

Pumps are cheap. Any boat that is used offshore should have two or three of 'em.

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

I agree with the multiple pump logic. I boat on a land locked medium sized lake and still have 2 pumps. A Rule 1500 and a Rule 800. Both can be operated with a manual switch. Both are also "hotwired" to the battery through an automatic float switch. JIC I also have a high water alarm. Some people call this overkill, I call it safety! BTW, my boat doesn't take on any water during dockage. :)

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/educati...atbuilders.pdf

coast guard regs. for boat builders . . . I believe guidlines are the same for real boat builders. A 2000lb fiberglass boat under water doesn't require 2000lbs of foam floatation to float. see pages 16 - 29.

BASIC FLOTATION. Builders of inboards and inboard-outdrives are required to
comply with the Basic Flotation portion of the Coast Guard Flotation Standard. Basic
Flotation requires a fully loaded boat to float with some portion of the boat above the
surface of the water when it is swamped. This means that the boat must contain
sufficient flotation to support two-fifteenths (2/15) of the persons capacity and 25
percent of the dead weight. Basic Flotation is designed to give the survivors of a
boating accident in which the boat has swamped something on the hull to hang onto.
The advantages of Level Flotation versus Basic Flotation are obvious (see introductory
paragraphs to Level Flotation section).
Builders of boats that are subject to the Basic Flotation requirements should perform
Steps I and II in the “Calculations section on the following pages and substitute 25
percent of their boats’ rated maximum weight capacity for Step III in the appropriate
example. Also, since Basic Flotation requires only that some portion of the boat
remain above the surface of the water, the location for the required amount of flotation
material is unimportant.

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

Nice link, Big.
Probably ought to get a sticky on this site...
Definitely getting a bookmark from me. :cool:

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

For a 17' outboard they say 20 cubic feet (or about 5 gallons of uncured foam). For a 20' inboard, they say 22 cubic feet. P. 26 suggests pouring foam down the gunnels.

How much floatation should I add? I assume what is in the stringers is enough to pass the restrictions, but how much is enough to float the boat?

Can we convert that to plain english for 20's and 23's?

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

Instead of adding foam, I'd be adding extra pumps. The way this boat sank I don't think it'd matter how much floatation foam you had it in, she was going to the ocean floor.

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

Ken - The formula breaks the equation down to 3 steps. Calculate the foam floatation required for Boat (FB) motor (FM) and People (FPC). To keep it simple we'll not use include any floatation added by coring (like transom plywood, balsa deck, etc).

Boat = 1600 x .33 (fiberglass) + weight of gear on deck (200lbs) = 728lbs/60.4 = 12 cu. ft

Motor = 352lbs (suggested submerged weight) includes battery, controls, etc. (75% of dry weight)
=352lbs/60.4 = 5.82 cu. ft

People = Still not 100% sure on this one. maybe someone can explain this.



18cu. ft of foam is enough to float a rigged 20 seacraft without people on board. If you count the transom wood and the balsa/plywood deck quite a bit less than 18 cu. ft. You can take measurements on the stringers . . . but I would guess that 4 stringers full of dry foam (pre-72 hull) would be more than enough to float that hull with the motor and people. The boat might turtle b/c of stability, but won't sink.

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

I think that model was called the sink craft. All kidding aside if you own a Sea Craft and do not run 2+ bilge pumps @ 1500GPH on float switches on separate batteries you need to do so.

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

So let's say you're 20 miles offshore and taking on enough water to keep both pumps running continuously and for whatever reason, it's taking forever to get back in and your batteries drain completely? Now what?

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

Use a manual bilge pump and if that does work put you head between you knees and kiss your ass good bye, because your going to be turtled

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

I cant do that any more because my stomach is too big.

strick

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

That's why motors have a thing called an alternator that charges the batter(ies) when their running. :cool:

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

Good one Doc.

:D

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

When the pumps can't keep up, you are going for a swim, maybe your last one. Don't try to do anything to save the boat before you get everything you might need to wait for the coasties - Including the radio to let them know how big a bag of doo-doo you stepped in. Then try and save the boat.

See below! ie. buy BIG pumps!!!!

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

Aside from the whole redundant bilge pump discussion, whenever you are fishing offshore, in the northeast especially where the water is cooler and you are running farther distances than our southern friends, it is a good idea to have a raft on the boat.

I used to fish my 20 SF 30-40 miles off on nice days here in NJ without a raft and didn't think much of it. Now as you get older and a little wiser I don't go offshore without a raft in the boat. I have my epirb/plb, raft, hand held vhf, and a lot of my friends are going with sat phones as well now due to the long distances we fish. You don't even need to buy one yourself, find a friend that has one that you can borrow, or just let them fish with you for free [img]/forum/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

Hotwire your pumps. Be independant.

Cheers,
GFS

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

If the possibility of sinking or capsizing arises, first have everyone put on a PFD. Then grab your survival equipment and supplies and have ready to send over the side. Only then should you stop to call for help.
I STRONGLY recommend a small cooler for your survival stuff. I use a 32 qt Igloo in bright red. It floats, and is relatively water-tight.

FTR, I have 3 bilge pumps, 2 aft and 1 forward. I have a 1500gph fore and aft in the boat, mounted about an inch above the bottom of the bilge. I have an electronic auto-only 500 gph mounted right at the bottom of the bilge aft. Normally, it's the only one that ever comes on, except when I'm backing down, or launching at one particularly steep ramp where the transom gets submerged.

I am not happy with my Rule 1500's. I have had to replace three over the past 4 years, and the bow pump I have now is 2 years old and not working. :( My replacement pump (not yet installed)is a Swedish-built Johnson 2200.

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

I've had problems with the rules also. Also went with johnson. 2- 1500's with auto switches and manual override, each on their own battery. Also have a 750 auto in the built in floor "baitwell" to get rid of the water that runs off the deck when I have my splashboard drain plugs are in. Pretty good system to keep the bildge and deck dry.

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

My weekend project after reading this:

1: re-wired both bilge pumps, new switches, wire, floats etc

2: I put in a high water alarm


so sorry for Mitch's loss but it was a wake up call to add some insurance items on the rig.

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

Quick question about the rule pumps burning up... is this something new? Or have they always had a failure rate? I thought you used to be able to show up at their factory with a burned up pump and get a replacement, no questions asked.

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

Those days are gone, my friend. Warranty is one year now.

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

Here is the warranty link for the Rule bilge pump. Looks like they have a couple of warranty periods now.

http://www.ittflowcontrol.com/in-the...sted-pumps.htm

The date code for a claim is on the factory wire about 6 inches from the pump.

I had one fail (in the warranty period) and they replaced it.

Re: Is this a sea craft?
 

If you're left depending on a manual pump, you're toast anyway.