Got my Sportjet Tunnel project boat working, then sunk it..

[Novicaine]

This may interest you river guys, in a car crash sort of way:

I took a 1997 18' Bass Tracker with 90 Sportjet, added a 2" elevated tunnel. Put HardLine on the bottom. Replaced engine with 120hp SJ. Took it on the river, was in love with how it ran/performed, but then nailed an underwater rock (same thing that got me into this project) , ripped a hole in the bottom, and sunk it (but in shallow water, so no water damage). Conclusion: The 0.100" thick hull is just too thin to hit rocks.

My build thread:
https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=24908

 

[Loggerhead Mike]

How'd yall get it out?

 

[Novicaine]

We used tow straps to a 6x6 ATV on the bank to pull it upstream to a location where we could run about 7 tow straps connected together up the bank back to a path where a 4x4 truck could get as close as we could (7 tow straps away) and used the truck to pull it up out of the bank, using cell phones to communicate (since the truck couldn't see the boat). Then we hooked it to the 6x6 ATV and pulled it through the woods to the trailer. We had to cut out one fallen tree to make it fit through, but it took some jamming, ugh.

We swamped it around 5pm and got the boat sitting in a cornfield around 2:30am... what a night! The land owner was cool, but wanted us out right away since deer season is about to start. It's always an adventure on the river for sure...

 

[lowe1648]

Sounds like a hell of an adventure. I'm sure I'll be in the same boat someday.

 

[user 6672]

Sounds like a hell of an adventure. I'm sure I'll be in the same boat someday.

Yes you will and sadly it will probably be my boat and you running the camera.. hahahahahaa


Sucks you punched a hole and sank it. Got any pictures?

Must have been a huge tear..

 

[PSG-1]

Sorry to hear about the sinking incident. I hope you were able to salvage the boat, without too much expense or damage. One good thing DID come from your horror story, though, and that was a wake-up call for me. :shock:

I had been contemplating on taking my jetboat up to Cheraw, SC, and running the PeeDee River up through the fall line between Cheraw and Rockingham, NC. This is the area where it switches from a navigable flood plain river, to a fall line, with boulders and swift water, as it approaches the Blewitt Falls Dam at Rockingham, just above US 74.

Since my Dura Craft is ALSO a 15 year old boat, and is ALSO made from .100" material, and ALSO relying on polyamide epoxy (truck bed lining) as a hull protector, and not only that, but my hull is probably a little weaker from previous corrosion damage from being in salt water......I can almost predict an incident similar to what happened to you.

Crossing rocks in an unfamiliar stretch of river that I've never been on, I would have to be lucky EVERY TIME. A rock only has to be lucky once, to rack up instant damage. And although my boat has 4 bilge pumps with a combined pumping ability of 2500+ GPH, as well as flotation foam....I just don't think I want to find out if it works. Especially in the upper reaches of the PeeDee, it's wide, has swift current, and lots of rocks, I wouldn't want to have to swim for the shore in that part of the river, much less figure out how to recover the boat if it sinks. That area is about 2 hours from home, a long way from help/backup/resources, if something like that were to happen.

So, on that note, I believe I will keep my *** off that particular stretch of river, and just stick to coastal rivers, with logs and sandbars. You can bounce off logs, and slide over sandbars, even with a .100" hull. But hit a rock, and that's a different story, it's going to be instantaneous catastrophic damage to the hull.

I'll let the guys with thick hulls backed up with UHMW panels run those rocky rivers. As for me, I'll stay in the marshes, swamps, and coastal river deltas where I belong.

 

[montanaman]

yep any jet boat that is only .100 will never stand up to true shallow river running where you not only have the chance to hit rocks but will when you run that shallow. a true jet boat that is built to run very shallow water and last for more then 1 outing will have a much thicker bottom. these hardcore bottoms are the heart of any good hull for this type of jet boating and will range in thickness from .190 and up to 1" with UHMW. i do understand that a jon boat with an outboard engine and a bottom thickness of .080 - .100 is much cheaper to buy but if you spend more up front you will have alot less to go wrong for many years down the road.
in some of the more remote areas like alaska and siberia this added thickness not only gives you the needed protection but can mean the difference between life and death.

 

[PSG-1]

Yeah, I can see why now! Not only are the hulls tougher, but so are the jet pumps and impellers.

The aqua jet pump has an impeller with blades that are like 10X thicker than the edges of my Yamaha XL1200 impeller. Take the XL1200 through some gravel, not only is it going to chew the impeller all to hell, but the duct of the XL1200 is a very thin casting, one rock striking it equals a shattered intake duct, and a boat full of water in a very short amount of time.

Again, I just managed to get my boat insured....no way I'm going to take it through any river where there is the possibility of hitting submerged rocks. Heck, it's dangerous enough around oyster beds, or running up the ICW behind Myrtle Beach, where there are limestone/coquina ledges along the sides of the channel, or running in the swamps and coastal rivers with logs and shoals. But most of those hazards (except for the coquina ledges) will forgive a miscalculation, even with a .100" thick hull. Jagged rocks or boulders will NOT forgive a miscalculation.

So, as I said before, I'll leave the rivers above the fall lines to you guys with boats designed for that purpose. I'll stay on the rivers from the fall line to the ocean, where my boat belongs.

I guess if I want to run the rivers from the fall line inland, I need to just go ahead and build that supercharged jetboat! And utilize at least a 1/4" thick floor for my hull, and the aqua jet pump, so it's specifically designed to run in the rocks.