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  #1  
Old 05-19-2006, 07:28 PM
Phan000 Phan000 is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Lake Worth, FL
Posts: 63
Default Scary Moment

Went dolphin phishin out of Boynton (FL) last friday, sat and sunday with my wife and a friend. On Sunday it was like a lake as we left in the middle of the afternoon (we were feelin lazy). We fished for about 4 or five hours, mostky trolling, but came in to bottom fish for a while. The waves had increased and there was a decent chop brewing.
After we packed up and headed back in through the inlet I noticed that the boat was not getting over the waves easily and that we were surfing down the front sides more clumsily than normal. After we had entered the inlet I had my friend hold the wheel and checked the bildge while we were still on a plane.
To my horror the water was above the batteries. I instructed my friend to turn on the manual bildge pump and prayed. I had him stay on a plane so that we could run the boat onto a sandbar in case we had a genuine hole in the boat. Luckily the manual bildge pump did the job quickly and things retuned to normal. The auto bildge had not kicked on the entire trip and the light wave action over the stern throughout the day had very slowly filled the bildge. In retrospect, I guess I should have payed more attention to the auto bildge. Thank god for redundancy.
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  #2  
Old 05-19-2006, 08:47 PM
RS RS is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Narragansett Bay, RI
Posts: 399
Default Re: Scary Moment

Quote:
The auto bildge had not kicked on the entire trip and the light wave action over the stern throughout the day had very slowly filled the bildge. In retrospect, I guess I should have payed more attention to the auto bildge. Thank god for redundancy.
Glad all turned out well. I think you need to fix where the water finds it's way into the bilge in the first place. Otherwise, the only thing keeping you from sinking is an electrical connection.
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  #3  
Old 05-21-2006, 10:49 PM
cfonts cfonts is offline
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Join Date: May 2006
Location: cape cod
Posts: 14
Default Re: Scary Moment

Check the through hull fitting near the bow of your boat. I had similar event from a cracked fitting. Needless to say I now have a brass fitting. I think ther is more to this than just wave action over stern.
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  #4  
Old 05-22-2006, 10:56 PM
Phan000 Phan000 is offline
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Location: Lake Worth, FL
Posts: 63
Default Re: Scary Moment

There was a faulty wire causing the auto-bildge to not activate. I also filled the hull with water while the boat was leveled on a trailer at my home. Not really any leaks. I suspected that the live well was leaking into the hull, but it is compartmented off and is probably not the source of the water. The forward through hull is old and should be replaced, but there was negligible leakage when the hull was filled at home.
I do have the original height transom and water seems to splash though the steering/wiring boot in the splashwell and also under the lids to the battery boxes. Other than that I cannot explain how all that water hot in the bildge.

Is filling the hull while the boat is level on land an accurate way to test for leaks?

Also, the backup auto bildge and the highwater alarm sound like a good idea. This was a good wake up call.
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  #5  
Old 05-23-2006, 10:42 PM
eggsuckindog eggsuckindog is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Tampa
Posts: 2,354
Default Re: Scary Moment

My bow fitting my 18 leaked but only when I was really loaded, drove me nuts till I found it. You guys just made my mind up on the high water alarm only $60, I was doing 2 separate pumps but wasn't going to do it.
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  #6  
Old 05-24-2006, 08:26 AM
wavelength wavelength is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Yankeetown, Florida
Posts: 322
Default Re: Scary Moment

You've caused me to react, I've installed a high water alarm and pulled out all the brass sleeves for the plugs. I bought the tool the replace them and followed someones advice about letting the holes dry out. New sleeves will go in this weekend. I'm also going to pull off the cover above the live well and caulk everything that has a hole.
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  #7  
Old 05-19-2006, 09:55 PM
yachtjim yachtjim is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 67
Default Re: Scary Moment

A high water alarm is a good thing to have on a boat to alert you to this. I don't have one on mine but after reading your post might reconsider. These are usually red lights on the dash with an audible alarm so you can see and hear it.
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  #8  
Old 05-20-2006, 02:09 PM
warthog5 warthog5 is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Pensacola,Fl.
Posts: 789
Default Re: Scary Moment

Both of the above post's are very good and you should abide by them.

What about the "Backup" bildge pump too?
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  #9  
Old 05-20-2006, 04:39 PM
0179 0179 is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: suffolk, virginia
Posts: 15
Default Re: Scary Moment

I had a similar experience with my 23 sceptre except I had no manual pump. My boat capsized on june 29th of last year with 4 buddies along with me. 2 bilge pumps at least and a high water alarm is the only way to go. You dont want to go through what we went through, believe me. My 25 seafari will have just that before she gets splashed. My experience was extra scary. Test your bilge pumps before every outing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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  #10  
Old 05-20-2006, 10:54 PM
Hooper Hooper is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Cape Cod
Posts: 393
Default Re: Scary Moment

Yup, me too.

While out seabassing on a drift, my wife comments, "Isn't there too much water on the deck?" I checked the bilge and it was full. I was embarrassed that I didn't realize earlier. We ran for the river which was only three miles away and had the marina fork us out. I believe it was the thru hull in the forward fish box. I had it closed up this winter, less holes the better.

But I'm with you bro, that is a scary feelin' ain't it!
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