[boat_guy64]

I’ve always wanted to write what happened that day. I’ve hesitated because it wasn’t my boat and I was just a passenger. I also hoped that someone would read the MP report, report on it and then I could say what I wanted to say without being scrutinized by the people that are sure they know what happened or heard from a friend of a friend of a friend that there was nothing wrong at all with the boat. The last thing that I want to do is argue, debate or have to defend my view in this forum. If you don’t believe me, go spend the $2 to get the MP report and come to your own conclusion.

That said. I feel that it may be worthwhile to share what happened. I’m an electrical engineer and not a marine surveyor or a marine mechanic so excuse my lack of in depth knowledge.

The day the boat came up was beautiful. It was a warm September day with no wind on the broads. We hung out at the scene all day until MP took control of the boat and towed it back to MP headquarters at about 9:30pm that evening.

The boat sank in rough conditions on September 1. That day, Seatow was hired to find and recover the boat. They searched for about two weeks and never found it. It seems that Seatow and the people helping them just didn’t have the required equipment to find a boat that was 138 feet below the surface. They did the best they could with the equipment they had. MP was always available to control traffic and was helpful in the entire process. On September 13, as documented in post 159, a third party came in with commercial grade side scan sonar and found it in about two hours. They held the coordinates of the boat secret until a payment was agreed to by the insurance company.

The boat was raised by Seatow as documented in pictures and video that members of the forum documented here on the forum. The boat was then towed to the Alton Sand Bar to finish the job of raising it and the towed away by Marine Patrol.

Marine Patrol had their Marine Surveyors look at the boat. They found no physical issues with the boat. As a last test, they put it back in the water. After some time they noticed that the boat was leaking and taking on water back near the outdrive unit. They included pictures of the leak in the report but my copy isn’t clear so I can’t see the exact location of the leak. At this time they secured the boat and watched it continue to take on water. Then, they began to wonder why the bilge pump was not running. They determined that the bilge pump would only run if the battery switch was in the “both battery” position. That is not the position that it was in and not the position that it should ever be in. You never want one battery to go bad and take out the other battery. They didn’t state the root cause so I don’t know if it was mis-wired or a defective switch. At this point they took the boat out of the water and concluded their investigation.

So what do I think? I think that with many accidents, several things went wrong simultaneously to make that boat sink.

1. The boat leaked and as we were driving, it was slowing took on water.
2. The bilge pump never ran.
3. With the boat gaining weight and being heavy, we took on waves.

I think that it took all three things to make that boat sink.. By the time that we noticed the hull being heavy, we could have made it to Rattlesnake if not for the waves. If the bilge pump worked, it probably would have kept up with the leak. No leak and none of the other factors would have mattered.

The captain was in control of at all times. The boat is rated for 15 passengers. We had 8 and 6 of them were in the 100 pound range. (I can’t say the same for myself  ) We had many life jackets on the boat and had them on at the first sign of trouble.
Thanks to our rescuers and the people of Rattlesnake Island that offered up docks, facilities and guidance to the location of the boat. We were lucky that day but we were also prepared. I’ve logged hundreds of hours on Winnipesaukee before and after this accident. You need to respect the lake and be prepared. I’ll say that my level of preparedness was always good but now it is even better.