Have you ever sunk your tinnie? If so, how??

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i was trolling for kokanee one day,minding my own buisiness when some d-bag pulling a wakeboarder passed 20 feet from my 12" tinnies stern.it filled it up to 2" from the top of the sides.it was almost half under water. all i could do was punch it wot. i sank about 6 feet from the dock, but it could have been worse. several people on the dock saw me heading in full blast,and threw me a line to tow me all the way in. the motor was ok and i actually made it back out,but couldn't catch the s.o.b. in the ski boat, but i did report him. at least i didnt lose all my flyline from him passing so close,but i did spool my rods tearassing back in.
 
Man lucky you, **** wake boarders. Did his wave crash against the stern allowing the water to come in? I'm curious, did you have a bilge pump? Would it have helped?

Or flotation?
 
I came very close one time. I beached just up river from this large tree going over the river. I barely made it under it coming up river. Me and 2 of my buddies were fishing the rapids and weren't having any luck so we decided to go to a new spot. Pushed off and I could not get the boat started and we drifted right under the tree. The motor stuck under the tree and kicked the boat sideways in about 3' of water that was really moving. The upstream side of the boat went under water and water just poured in so fast. I grabbed my buddy that was standing on the upstream side of the boat and threw him to the down stream side in order to lift the edge out of the water. He almost went in and was pissed but he was just frozen and not doing anything to help the cause. He's one of those, not my boat not my problem type of people. I have a 500 GPH bilge and it pumped for 45 minutes before the boat was empty of water.

Lesson learned here - beach the boat far enough up stream from rapids so if something goes wrong you have time to prepare for something or beach the boat below the rapids and walk up stream to fish.
 
Wow. I would never fish the rapids. I do have experience sinking a kayak in them.

My dad and I were boating when I was younger with a group and had stopped to help some folks who had flipped their canoe with kids in it. So, we propped against a rock right before the rapids and caught kids and gear coming our way.

Once all was settled we went to push away from the rock and the current caught the kayak in a weird way and sucked it down. As soon as it started filling it the thing sunk like a rock and trapped my dads leg between the rocks. He was screaming in pain and it took about five guys nearby to lift the weight of the thing filled with water.
 
bulldog said:
I came very close one time. I beached just up river from this large tree going over the river. I barely made it under it coming up river. Me and 2 of my buddies were fishing the rapids and weren't having any luck so we decided to go to a new spot. Pushed off and I could not get the boat started and we drifted right under the tree. The motor stuck under the tree and kicked the boat sideways in about 3' of water that was really moving. The upstream side of the boat went under water and water just poured in so fast. I grabbed my buddy that was standing on the upstream side of the boat and threw him to the down stream side in order to lift the edge out of the water. He almost went in and was pissed but he was just frozen and not doing anything to help the cause. He's one of those, not my boat not my problem type of people. I have a 500 GPH bilge and it pumped for 45 minutes before the boat was empty of water.

Lesson learned here - beach the boat far enough up stream from rapids so if something goes wrong you have time to prepare for something or beach the boat below the rapids and walk up stream to fish.
Oh man, what a story. Glad everything worked out. The boat never actually sank tho huh? Turned the bilge pump on in time and were able to keep the water from pouring in? Crazy!

Jdholmes said:
Wow. I would never fish the rapids. I do have experience sinking a kayak in them.

My dad and I were boating when I was younger with a group and had stopped to help some folks who had flipped their canoe with kids in it. So, we propped against a rock right before the rapids and caught kids and gear coming our way.

Once all was settled we went to push away from the rock and the current caught the kayak in a weird way and sucked it down. As soon as it started filling it the thing sunk like a rock and trapped my dads leg between the rocks. He was screaming in pain and it took about five guys nearby to lift the weight of the thing filled with water.
Ouch glad to hear everyone is OK! Those kayak guys are nuts!
 
aeviaanah said:
Oh man, what a story. Glad everything worked out. The boat never actually sank tho huh? Turned the bilge pump on in time and were able to keep the water from pouring in? Crazy!

It never sank. Basically had a lot of water in it which caused it to sit low enough in the water to free it from the tree. We then imediately beached it and let the bilge pump do the work. I think I remember hand bailing also. There was a lot of water.
 
aeviaanah said:
Man lucky you, **** wake boarders. Did his wave crash against the stern allowing the water to come in? I'm curious, did you have a bilge pump? Would it have helped?

Or flotation?
it was my old 12 footer bare bones. no bilge,just a battery, motor,gas and my fat *** all in the stern. it was the deciding factor in me buying a 2010 14.5 ft. g3 v bottom.no way a bilge could have helped. it came flooding over the stern.
 
bcbouy said:
aeviaanah said:
Man lucky you, **** wake boarders. Did his wave crash against the stern allowing the water to come in? I'm curious, did you have a bilge pump? Would it have helped?

Or flotation?
it was my old 12 footer bare bones. no bilge,just a battery, motor,gas and my fat *** all in the stern. it was the deciding factor in me buying a 2010 14.5 ft. g3 v bottom.no way a bilge could have helped. it came flooding over the stern.
Was it a flat bottom?
bulldog said:
aeviaanah said:
Oh man, what a story. Glad everything worked out. The boat never actually sank tho huh? Turned the bilge pump on in time and were able to keep the water from pouring in? Crazy!

It never sank. Basically had a lot of water in it which caused it to sit low enough in the water to free it from the tree. We then imediately beached it and let the bilge pump do the work. I think I remember hand bailing also. There was a lot of water.
Crazy....did it have flotation built in? Im trying to figure out if I can get away without flotation....curious of the risks. I dont have much room in my 12' boat.
 
I've never been close to swamping, but it is a "what
if" that is always in the back of my mind. I am about three quarters of the way through modding a 12 footer to make it more fishable, but two absolutes were minimum added weight and retaining all factory flotation. I am very happy withe results...flotation is a must in my book...
 
Having been on the water for almost 30 years, I've had a few mishaps with johnboats.

When I was a kid, I was on a boat that capsized....my stepdad and one of his buddies were fooling around, cutting sharp turns with the boat, and the next thing we knew, we were all overboard. We swam it back to the hill, flipped it up and drained the water out of it, and went home.

Another time, I nearly pitch-poled a johnboat coming through the surf zone in the inlet of Cherry Grove Beach, and that was in January. Back in those days, you could go from Cherry Grove to Little River through Dunn Sound, but only above a mid-tide, otherwise, you had to run through the ocean. I had been at Little River, it was getting dark and time to go home, but the tide was too low to go through the sound. So, I had to run the 2 1/2 miles home through the ocean, and back through the inlet. The wave I was riding on the back of, decreased in size, and the wave on my stern increased in size, picking up the stern. Fortunately, the water was so shallow, when the boat tried to nose-dive, it scraped bottom, and bounced up.

Then of course, there was my most recent incident, where a 31 foot para-sailing boat came by throwing a massive wake, and it swamped my jetboat, blowing up the engine. I replaced the engine with the High Output, but I've still got charges pending against the so-called 'captain' of that boat, we go to court in a few weeks. This 'captain' (and I use the term loosely... "common boater" is a more fitting description) has a history of swamping people, he's been convicted of doing the same thing twice. So, the DA's office has picked up the charges. If he's convicted, he will lose his captain's license, he will have to pay restitution to me, and the DA will also ask for jail time. Should be interesting to see what happens.
 
I've never thought about putting a bilge pump in a jon before but you guys are making me think seriously about dropping one in the back.

I've never sank a jon before but I did sink a 19' fiberglass tri-hull once. It was not a fun experience flipping it back over and bailing the water out of it.
 
I assume you don't want to know about drain plug sinkings or deliberate capsizing. ;)

In that case, I have had only close calls. Those have all been on river drift trips where the hull hung on rock and the current almost flipped the boat. Never underestimate the power of shallow water current. All cases the depth was less than 4".

I have been hit by large wakes that have almost thrown me in, but didn't swamp the boat. Those pedelstal seat can do more than rest your butt. A surprise wave at the transom has exercised the bilge pump a time or two.


PS: Are you doing risk analysis for your floatation foam question?
 
FuzzyGrub said:
I assume you don't want to know about drain plug sinkings or deliberate capsizing. ;)

In that case, I have had only close calls. Those have all been on river drift trips where the hull hung on rock and the current almost flipped the boat. Never underestimate the power of shallow water current. All cases the depth was less than 4".

I have been hit by large wakes that have almost thrown me in, but didn't swamp the boat. Those pedelstal seat can do more than rest your butt. A surprise wave at the transom has exercised the bilge pump a time or two.


PS: Are you doing risk analysis for your floatation foam question?
Your exactly right, risk analysis.. Ya know I want what I want but the foam is still in the back of my mind. I havent locked anything down yet. The decision needs to be made!

Its a 12' semi V. I need roughly 5.3 cu ft with people and 4.6 cu ft without.
 
My advice is just do it. It will always be on the back of your mind. and why tempt Murphy?

My latest project had the benches (and foam) removed by previous owner. I will be putting foam in floor and sides, along with additional in nose compartment that will not be used for storage.
 
rickybobbybend said:
I've never been close to swamping, but it is a "what
if" that is always in the back of my mind. I am about three quarters of the way through modding a 12 footer to make it more fishable, but two absolutes were minimum added weight and retaining all factory flotation. I am very happy withe results...flotation is a must in my book...

I agree totally with rickybobbybend. I see you have already calculated how much foam you need to put in the boat. From my perspective the smaller the your boat is, especially if you are sharing water with larger more powerful boats the greater the chance is that you are going to be put at risk by the misjudgment or irresponsible actions of another boater. For example the experience that PSG-1 had. The manufacturers flotation requirement for new boat construction basically means that the boat can be totally swamped at it's rated load and still hold the powerhead on your motor out of the water and not sink. So not only is the amount of floatation important the placement is important also. Like rickybobbybend I kept the added weight to a minimum and retained all the factory flotation on my mod. The idea of watching my boat, motor and all my gear sinking to the bottom of a lake while making my way back to shore even in a PFD is something I would prefer not to experience. :roll:
Just my $0.02 worth. Good luck with your project.
 
Thanks guys. I will go with flotation. Its either live well or flotation...i removed livewell and can now have enough for flotation. I cant quiet get enough flotation for persons and boat but i can get it for boat weight...
 
I'm a firm believer in bilge pumps on board any boat.

My jetboat has 3 bilge pumps in total. One on the main deck is a 500 GPH automatic pump, this one deals with any water that hits the main deck. The main deck is fairly well sealed from the engine compartment, a very tiny amount of this water makes it to the engine compartment, and it takes that a while to drain, again, it's sealed pretty good. But then there are ventilation scoops, a hatch on the starboard side, and a few other routes where water can enter the engine compartment. Most of these breaches are above the main deck, and they only get wet in a rainstorm, or if I'm doing a lot of spinning or other maneuvers. The stern rarely takes any water, even with waves behind me, as the platform seems to give added lift, and keeps the transom from being swamped.

Inside the engine compartment, I have 2 more bilge pumps to deal with any remaining water. One is an 1100GPH pump with a 1 1/8" discharge hose. This has a float switch. It's mounted at the rearmost point on the starboard side. The other bilge pump, mounted at the rear corner of the port side, is a pressure-fed bilge that's hooked to the jet pump, so, it uses the negative pressure created by water flowing out of the pump, as suction to drain the bilge. Most jet skis have this type of pump. I'm not sure exactly what GPH flow I get from the suction bilge, as the hose is only 1/2" diameter. Also, the amount of suction is dependent on the speed of the prop, obviously the more water flowing through the pump, the more suction at that hose. But I'm going to guess and say it's capable of at least 300-400 GPH.

So, in total, I'm able to pump about 25-30 gallons per minute, which is a good bit of water. Overkill? Maybe, but then again, remember that just one breaking wave, or one large boat wake across your bow is enough to fill an average boat at least knee deep in water.

The floatation foam I have under my false bottom would be enough to keep the boat afloat, for sure. But the main objective of the numerous bilge pumps, is to prevent a large amount of water from ever being able to accumulate in the engine compartment and destroy another engine.

You can get by with being swamped all the way to the transom with an outboard motor, and it will be OK, as long as the intake manifold never goes underwater. (I know, because I've done it) But, as you can imagine, with an inboard, it's a much different story.
 

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