Thanks to Fay's and Marine Patrol
 

About noon yesterday we arrived at our dock on Welch with a load of supplies in the Slickcraft. Just after we docked on the island, we heard the sound of water gurgling in the engine compartment. Opening the cover showed the compartment half full of water and quickly filling. I turned the pump on and we jumped back in to race back to Fay’s at full speed leaving half our supplies on the dock. The water was coming in just a little faster than the pump could clear. I thought that the rubber out-drive bellows had failed so my wife called Fay’s to have them ready to haul the boat. She also called Marine Patrol to alert them that we were taking on water and we would soon fly through the no wake zone in front of their HQ. We made it to Fay’s just before the water was high enough to kill the engine and the boat was then hauled as they were waiting for us. Marine Patrol arrived to make sure we made it in ok. They would have towed us if we did not make it all the way

I turned out to be a good size hole in the exhaust manifold and a new one is being installed now. We borrowed a boat from Fay’s to run over and put our stuff away and our boat may be repaired by today. Great service from Fay’s.

The two MP Officers stayed a short while to learn what the problem was and to make a brief report. I explained that violating the no wake zone was our only option thinking that the bellows was compromised. They were understanding and very courteous. They said to call them whenever having a problem out there. BTW, when my wife talked to the MP dispatch the first question was do we have PFDs on. Yes, as we always wear the inflatable units.

So our thanks to Fay’s and the Marine Patrol.

Sorry to hear about your boat troubles. But very glad to hear that you made it back safely. Kudos to Fay's for being there to help you out, as well as the MP.

I keep a siphon hose on my boat. $5 from either the big box or auto parts stores and has a little hand suction pump. It's not as fast as a bilge pump but in a case like yours, if the battery goes dead it may be the only way to get water out of the bilge.

If you're taking on water fast it won't help but it also does a good job of getting that little bit of water out of the bilge that the pump can't get.

Glad to hear no one got hurt!

Your story made me think about just how fragile boats are. Sure they look like big solid fiberglass, but most also have a bunch of holes in then. Most of those holes are sealed with nothing but rubber or old cast iron. Suddenly an outboard seems a lot safer or maybe I should invest in some inflatable PFDs.

Hmm
 

Why would you risk crossing that stretch of water with a sinking boat? You would not have lasted long in the cold water. I would have had a beer and watched it sink at the dock before risking lives to save a hunk of fiberglass. Glad it worked out though.

redundant backup
 

I bought a 500gph portable, submersible bilge pump with alligator clamps. This can be run off the main battery and I carry a jumper battery as well. $50 plus a few bucks for a real hose. Cheap insurance. Real backup. Completely redundant. I like this better than the siphon approach.

http://www.amazon.com/Rule-IL500P-In.../dp/B001VJBTD6

Just another idea.....

Fay's and Marine Patrol
 

That is one scary story! Especially given the current cold water temperatures! So glad that you and the Mrs. have a happy-ending story to tell. :D

I think we are going to invest in a back up bilge too. Thanks NH_boater and lawn psycho for the great ideas!!!

For anyone who wants to pick up the cheap siphon hose, I recommend you get the one with the hand pump.

Because the bilge is under the waterline in most cases as standard siphon hose may not work.

Siphon Pump
 

I recommend anyone contemplating using a Siphon Pump to remove bilge water might want to TRY it BEFORE the emergency.

The squeeze bulb on a "Siphon Pump" is designed to Start the "Siphon action". A Siphon WILL NOT siphon water UP Hill and that is what pumping the bilge is doing....always. The liquid being siphoned MUST be above the discharge end of the hose for the siphon action to work. The laws of Physics can not be broken.

I just used a Siphon Pump from Benny's ($1.99) to siphon the gas out of my snow blower for summer layup. It works fine for that task. The discharge end of the siphon hose was in a gasoline jug BELOW the snow blower gas tank. :) NB

Glad someone braught that up. That's what I was thinking. That's what insurance is for...

I agree
 

CrownRay....I was thinking what you were thinking when I read this. Not knowing where the water was coming from, they were very lucky the leak didn't get bigger once the engine was started and began to shake things up some more. Glad everyone made it to shore safely but I think I would have stayed on the dock.

Not sure I agree with the above comment, as I don't think my first instinct would be to watch one of my possesions just sink and not try to do something about it.

I know that Marine Patrol headquarters can almost be seen from where Slickcrafts camp is. He noted that he called Marine Patrol to inform them of the situation. It takes about one minute at W.O.T. to reach Smith Cove from Welch. I would have done the same as Slickcraft in this situation...

I'm absolutely sure I would have done the same as Slickcraft. The thought of having my boat sink and being stranded on the island would have driven me to make a run for it.

As a purely loss of life issue, staying on the island would have zero risk compared to leaving dock in a leaking boat, in cold water, with my wife aboard. But I wasn't there, so I have no way of knowing of the apparent risk at the time was high enough to make the run back too dangerous.

Anyway, it looks like things worked out great.

Of course my intent here was to offer some thanks to Fay's and to the MP guys for being on call to help out.

As noted by ishoot308, it is a short trip to Fay's and at no time did we think that there was any danger of the boat sinking under us. We did feel that there was danger of ruining the engine. At worst the MP boat would have had to tow us starting a short distance from their HQ.

We do, however, appreciate the concern of many of you.

As for insurance, the 1976 Slickcraft can be insured for only $5K even though it is in very good condition. The cost of re-powering is about $25K. The cost of a comparable new boat is in the $60K range.

One fault in the boat design is that the bilge pump is manual only and as the boat lives in a covered slip I don't often run the pump even to just check. So my plan is to install a second pump that has an auto as well as manual selection and an indicator light to show pump operation. I would leave it on auto so as not to get surprised by a leak again.

Fay & M.P.
 

Many years ago I had a Rudder drop out of a Correct Craft. Had Someone hold his hand over the ho;e until I could beach the boat. Worked for me ! What would Carl Say ? If I have the correct owner. V 8s forever!

Carl would have never forgiven me If I let his Slickcraft sink at the dock!