Misadventure at Sea

[Captn]

All right, I will go into detail about Krystalflash & Captn’s great misadventure. Like everyone else, we were hot to trot to get to the Halibut grounds. We were a bit behind Puffin, and thought that Pilar was still at the dock. Well, soon we heard his motor humming (over the VHF) as he had a hot mike (it would not shut off).
So off we go to get to fishing. We have an 1988 24 foot Trophy with a 350 cube Chevy, . The ride out was lumpy, but not bad. We were running at about 13 to 15 knots, and holding up pretty well. As we were within sight of the Chicken Ranch, Krystalflash mentioned that there was a pinging in the motor that he had not noted before. I could not hear it. We saw Pilar and crew hard at work. We tried to radio them, but with the hot mike, he had shut his radio off. We jockeyed into position and dropped the lines, and as everyone has noted there was a heck of a drift.
Lesson: When you are going to buddy up with someone, keep them in sight, especially if one of your radio’s doesn’t work.
Pretty quick it was time to pull up and turn around. We started up the big motor and were in the process of getting back to position, when the motor just let out a long gasp, like a lung had collapsed. We could not get it to start again, so I said to Krystalflash to open up the engine cover and see if we slipped a belt or something.
He opened up the cover and said something like holy cow, we have water in the bilge big time. The water was just about even with the deck. We were both shocked. We had two hand bilge pumps, of which one was too short. So I took the long one and started pumping. Within just a few minutes we could see a drop in the water level, and I continued to pump.
Lesson: Never leave the dock with out a method to hand pump the bilge.
At this time we were not feeling any danger, as we were way ahead of the water. Everything was so wet, we could not tell much about what was happening. I was thinking, we will get the motor started, and I think we will be all right. “Start the motor”, I said. The motor turned over and just coughed. I noted that as the engine was spinning, there was spray coming off. I got to looking closer and could see water seeping in.
Lets see, the engine does not want to start, we are taking on water, and our electric bilge pump is not working. We think it is time to call the Coast Guard.
Lesson: Know when to say when
Krystalflash was totally cool with his description of our boat, the GPS coordinates, and our condition. I just kept on pumping. It was at this time that I had changed my mind. Starting the engine was not going to make us all right. So as much as we hated to, we and the Coast Guard agreed that we needed to be towed back. As we were being towed at about 15 knots, the water was then pushed back away from our stern, and so we had no additional water coming in.
The Coast Guard was great. Very professional, and kept in touch with us via radio about every 10 minutes. I cannot overestimate their value to all of us. It was two hours back to Newport..
Lesson: The Coast Guard is the difference between a minor incident and drowning.
Once there they asked if we could make it back to our slip under our own power. We started up our kicker and told them we were OK. They followed us in anyway, and by the way, I had to start pumping again, since water was now at the back of the boat. We tied up.
Now we have another problem. The trailer is in Keizer and one of us has to drive back there and get it. It is two hours there and two hours back so for the next four hours one of us is going to have to keep the boat afloat. So I take off for Keizer.
In the mean time Pilar comes back to the dock, takes a look at Krystalflash kneeled over pumping out the bilge. The story comes out about the leak, the trip back and then the big question: What the he!! happened? Pilar, after taking a quick look says “you blew a hole in your exhaust manifold”. Humm, how did that happen? And he says (something like) “What size bullets are you going to use on your boat mechanic? It is unforgivable that the bilge pump doesn’t work!”. Krystalflash (half exhausted) agrees. So about 3 hours later a Coast Guard guy walks by and recognizes the boat as one he helped pull back a few hours ago, and sees Krystalflash pumping. “What are you doing?” he says. “Keeping the boat afloat” is Kflash response. So again the Coast Guard to the rescue. He goes and gets a electric bilge pump and saves the day for Kflash.
In the meantime I am doing my best to get to Newport from Keizer, and I am starting to fade. I got to Newport late Thursday night, could not sleep well, up at 4:00 AM and ready to go. Beat to death going out, beat to death coming in, and driving for 4 hours straight. Man I am starting to nod off. Had to pull over for a half hour nap about 30 miles out of Philomouth.
Showed up at 5:30 PM, Krystalflash is ready and we put the boat on the trailer. Just as I am doing the final tightening of the boat wench, I hear a voice. “Hey Captn, how did you do today?”. Its my boat mechanic!!!! I paused. I said in the calmest voice I have, “We have not had a very good day today.” I was really proud of myself, because in all of this, I had not gotten mad, or swore, or anything like that. I explained all I knew about the boat problem, he got inside and said that a piece of stainless steel had broken off part of the gimbal (clapper?) and was bouncing inside the outdrive housing, and it finally poked a hole in the exhaust manifold. That was the pinging Krystalflash had heard. So, that is the whole story, except the part about pulling the engine and the outdrive.
Last part: We had the boat serviced over the winter by the most trusted of boat mechanics. We had given him a list of what we needed done, including checking the float switch of the main bilge pump. He assured us that everything was working just fine. We checked his work on everything except the bilge pump. Big mistake. When the engine is pulled we will need to replace the starter and alternator and check over everything else. Salt water shows no mercy.
Biggest lesson learned: Always check everything yourself before leaving the dock.

[Threemuch]

Thanks for sharing. Way to stay cool. I had a couple hiccups with my fuel system and nearly had a heart attack each time. No way I would have been that calm in the same situation.

Saw you getting towed back, we were pretty much matching pace. I remember saying, "why are they towing that bayliner so fast?" and my buddy going, "it's probably sinking".

Scary stuff. Glad you came out of it OK.

KB

[Salmonator]

Holy cow! Glad you made it back ok. I'm suprised I didn't here you on the vhf but I didn't hear much at all I guess since I had to keep the big outboard running all the time just to fish. The mechanical failure probably seems petty now when you realize how much worse things could have turned out... Joe

[Orca]

Glad you got in safe.

I believe I will soon add a water level alarm to my bilge for early warning. Also, a spare pump and hose that can be tossed in the bilge and plugged into the lighter if needed.

[AngleThis]

Yo Mike! Way to go!...and way to stay cool!

DC

[Pilar]

A hell of a story Captn. I am so relieved that you and yours are OK. I'm getting on my soapbox now.

Do you all know the difference between a leak and flooding?

A leak is something you find, flooding finds you.

One of the early lessons I learned in the Navy is damage control. The keys to effective damage control is awareness that there is a problem and having your response thought out and practiced in advance. I'm quite sure that serving on an R & A detail or damage control party helped my friend keep his cool and do the right thing. I don't care what anyone says about skimmer sailors, they are all right by me.

Here's an idea for anyone who wants to use a float switch. I have set up on my boat a large capacity bilge pump (installing the second one tonight), a float switch and an alarm. The alarm is a flashing red light mounted on the dash board. It is very hard to ignore.

It works as follows, The pump can be switched on full time, off or activated by the float. Any time the pump is running the light flashes. This prevents the leave it on for hours scenario that ends up melting the pump or burning it out. When cruising I select the 'float' setting. Then the light starts flashing if the level rises enough to trigger the alarm and start the pump.

This flashing red light is not a normal thing and will cut through any distraction, giving you a very early warning. Now if it is raining or you get sprayed on a rough transit, the pump will run for 30 seconds every 10 minutes and you expect that. But, if the light flashes continuously, you know the pump is not pumping or the float is stuck or you have issues with extra water in the people compartment.

This knowledge may give you enough time to save your boat, call for help and/or prepare to abandon the boat.

If any of you want the details of the system I am describing, Email and I will put together a sketch and instructions. The automated pumps are fine but I really feel better knowing exactly what that pump is or is not doing. A $30 dollar item failing at sea can cost you your boat and/or your life.

[ 05-14-2002, 10:43 PM: Message edited by: Pilar ]

[KrystalFlash]

Thanks to all for the kind words. I sincerely hope that this doesn't happen to any of you, but if it does, keep your cool. The worst thing that you can do is lose your head.
I will say only this about this memorable experience.....It will remain in the readily accessible parts of my memory forever. I will never again trust my boat maintenance soley to another. I will always double and triple check everything myself.

Hard way to learn a lesson, but it was learned, and I hope that others will benefit from this.

Point of interest..... The Coast guard towed in somewhere around 14 "pleasure boats" that day...

Remember, the most important piece of gear that you have on your boat is the Skipper's brain...
Ensure that it is fully functional...

Team Double Gaynor
Team PILAR
Team Bad Salmon
Team Brown Pants

[bait boy]

Thanks for telling your story. I'm glad you found what made the hole. You looked pretty whipped that night when you started drowning your sorrows. sorry about the boat, what is the ETA of repair?

Thanks for taking me out after bait. I think that it made the difference between nothing and a limit (that and the fact that I was on Pilar)

I wish for a quick return of your boat to service and for 60 degree water. (hurry up Tuna)

[Captn]

Thanks for the notes of support. Another important point that I left out. If you do need the Coast Guard and you radio them. It will make it easier for them to find you by taking a life-jacket and clipping it to the highest point on your boat. That is an extra life jacket. Imagine being the Coast Guard and having someone needing your help and describing themselves as a white and blue boat. Just another point to file away. We figure we will be back in the water in about three weeks.

[ 05-15-2002, 09:28 AM: Message edited by: captn ]

[craigc]

Thank you Captn, for such a well told story... I'm glad to see you folks kept your cool, went through the paces of trying to resolve the problem, and knew when to call for assistance.... from reading the numerous reported problems, its been my observation that you have about 5 to 10 minutes to assess, and potentially fix your problem[s] when you have water in your boat.... with the inherent lag time of hoping what someone will respond to your emergency call, you need to make a decision to call early in the process if you're going to need assistance or not.... I like Pilar's suggestion 'cause is it's very visual, and easy to install..