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

[user 6672]

Ive flipped my flat back canoe once and my point to point a handful of times.. both kayak's once..

All of the above are typical "flipped my canoe/kayak" stories.

Hmm.. ripped 2 X 6" gashes at the same time on the side of my 1648 30 hp jet.. had my girl stuff her shirt in the holes and ran back to the launch (her shirtless) @ wot.. didn't actually sink but dam close by the time i got my trailer down the launch.. lol.

 

[CodyPomeroy]

I am new to boating, so I thankfully haven't had any close calls but I witnessed the aftermath of one this summer. I was returning to the ramp one sunday afternoon, I was taking my time because I saw someone was on the ramp. As I got closer I realized there was water coming out of the back of the boat and two people were bailing it out by hand. As I beached my boat I said "Looks like you took on some water..." Then they told me about how they found the owner of the boat drunk and barely coherant. Luckily the ramp is in shallow slack water because he had hit something and punched a hole in the stern. He had sunk it and was revving the motor trying to go somewhere. By the time we had got there he was passed out somewhere on shore.

 

[spotco2]

I am new to boating, so I thankfully haven't had any close calls but I witnessed the aftermath of one this summer. I was returning to the ramp one sunday afternoon, I was taking my time because I saw someone was on the ramp. As I got closer I realized there was water coming out of the back of the boat and two people were bailing it out by hand. As I beached my boat I said "Looks like you took on some water..." Then they told me about how they found the owner of the boat drunk and barely coherant. Luckily the ramp is in shallow slack water because he had hit something and punched a hole in the stern. He had sunk it and was revving the motor trying to go somewhere. By the time we had got there he was passed out somewhere on shore.

I hope someone notified the police or rangers about this situation. Boating under the influence is both dangerous and illegal. It's a very good way to kill yourself or someone else.

I'm not a tattle tale, but I'll report a drunk driver on the road or water in a second. I couldn't live with myself if I knew that I did not make the call and they hurt someone.

 

[PSG-1]

I am new to boating, so I thankfully haven't had any close calls but I witnessed the aftermath of one this summer. I was returning to the ramp one sunday afternoon, I was taking my time because I saw someone was on the ramp. As I got closer I realized there was water coming out of the back of the boat and two people were bailing it out by hand. As I beached my boat I said "Looks like you took on some water..." Then they told me about how they found the owner of the boat drunk and barely coherant. Luckily the ramp is in shallow slack water because he had hit something and punched a hole in the stern. He had sunk it and was revving the motor trying to go somewhere. By the time we had got there he was passed out somewhere on shore.

Sounds about like the caliber of folks where I live, where Bud Light is the official drink of the ocean cowboy. We'd probably never have boating fatalities in South Carolina if they every decided to make it illegal to have an open container of alcohol aboard a boat. But that'll never happen.

 

[earl60446]

Sunk a wellcraft v20 fisherman on lake erie once, about 4 miles out. That boat was a real lead sled. Plus the transom was so low in the water. We were in about 3-4 foot waves and trolling for walleye with following waves. We had a lot of weight in the boat too, our fault there. A 150 johnson and a 10hp honda on the back plus downriggers, rods, etc.. Water was splashing over the transom, bilge pump would keep up ok. The the backend started to look really low and waves coming in heavier. We started the big motor to get going and the big motor died everytime we put it in gear??? Before you knew it we were swamped, both outboards amd whole transom underwater. The boat rolled in a wave and we were swimming.

We found out later the bilge got something stuck in the impeller and it stopped plus a dock line was wrapped around our big motor prop and that caused it to keep killing. Some boaters saw us and came and got us from about a mile away. The salvage / tow boat righted our boat, pumped it out and towed it to harbor for $600

We had too much weight in the boat, should have had 2 bilge pumps.

Tim

 

[aeviaanah]

Sunk a wellcraft v20 fisherman on lake erie once, about 4 miles out. That boat was a real lead sled. Plus the transom was so low in the water. We were in about 3-4 foot waves and trolling for walleye with following waves. We had a lot of weight in the boat too, our fault there. A 150 johnson and a 10hp honda on the back plus downriggers, rods, etc.. Water was splashing over the transom, bilge pump would keep up ok. The the backend started to look really low and waves coming in heavier. We started the big motor to get going and the big motor died everytime we put it in gear??? Before you knew it we were swamped, both outboards amd whole transom underwater. The boat rolled in a wave and we were swimming.

We found out later the bilge got something stuck in the impeller and it stopped plus a dock line was wrapped around our big motor prop and that caused it to keep killing. Some boaters saw us and came and got us from about a mile away. The salvage / tow boat righted our boat, pumped it out and towed it to harbor for $600

We had too much weight in the boat, should have had 2 bilge pumps.

Tim

Wow crazy 4 miles out...thats a long swim. Thats good someone saw you! A series of unfortunate events.

 

[CodyPomeroy]

I hope someone notified the police or rangers about this situation. Boating under the influence is both dangerous and illegal. It's a very good way to kill yourself or someone else.

I'm not a tattle tale, but I'll report a drunk driver on the road or water in a second. I couldn't live with myself if I knew that I did not make the call and they hurt someone.

I never thought of that... I supposed it didn't occur to me because he was passed out and wouldn't be going anywhere soon. I will do something next time.

 

[hotshotinn]

I was out catfishing with a friend one night some time agao and when we were heading in about 3 in the morning my friend hit a big rock in the middle of the river.The boat was a jon boat with a 25hp johnson.Upon hitting the rock it opened up the bottom of the boat and water was rushing in.In no time we were not going under power by the 25 hp.I grabbed my fishing rods and tackle and went for shore.My friend stayed with the boat for awhile as it went down streem with the current,he was wanting to try to save the boat and tackle.I yelled to him to just let her go so he bailed out and went to the shore,he lost his poles and tackle but he didnot loose his life.Good thing it was in warmer weather and not in deep water.Once day light came he and i went to retreave the boat and we found it wedged in a blow down tree,all i did we hook a rope onit with my boat and pulled it free.The jon boat was scraped and he was able to salvage the 25 Johnson for another jon boat that he is still running today.He has learned not to run fast in the dark and he allso has some lighting for night use now.A close call for sure.We did have out life jackets on board but we wernt wearing them.When I bailed out for shore the water was shallow up to my knees and waist but when my friend bailed out he had to swim abit til he could stand

 

[aeviaanah]

I was out catfishing with a friend one night some time agao and when we were heading in about 3 in the morning my friend hit a big rock in the middle of the river.The boat was a jon boat with a 25hp johnson.Upon hitting the rock it opened up the bottom of the boat and water was rushing in.In no time we were not going under power by the 25 hp.I grabbed my fishing rods and tackle and went for shore.My friend stayed with the boat for awhile as it went down streem with the current,he was wanting to try to save the boat and tackle.I yelled to him to just let her go so he bailed out and went to the shore,he lost his poles and tackle but he didnot loose his life.Good thing it was in warmer weather and not in deep water.Once day light came he and i went to retreave the boat and we found it wedged in a blow down tree,all i did we hook a rope onit with my boat and pulled it free.The jon boat was scraped and he was able to salvage the 25 Johnson for another jon boat that he is still running today.He has learned not to run fast in the dark and he allso has some lighting for night use now.A close call for sure.We did have out life jackets on board but we wernt wearing them.When I bailed out for shore the water was shallow up to my knees and waist but when my friend bailed out he had to swim abit til he could stand

Well that was a good read! Did you catch anything? I'm glad you were able to salvage the motor and that you and your buddy are ok.

 

[hotshotinn]

WE had some cats in a white cooler and that was gone.IT went some where down streem,i bet someone else found them.My friend should of grabbed that coolerwhen he bailed out to atleast save the cats.Those fish fries are priceless you know :mrgreen:

 

[Loggerhead Mike]

Didn't sink but came close

Fishing chatuage before a big storm with small craft warnings. I told my brother to turn the Livewell pump on and completely forgot about it. Wind picked up bad and waves started comming over the side. I cranked the motor and hammered down to get to the ramp. Boat stood up about 2oclock going maybe 3mph. I said wtf, let off throttle turned and saw water comming out of the whole rear deck. Instantly hammerd down barely moving and pointing at the sky again, turned on the bildge and pointed it to the closest bank wich was all rocks. Just before I would of been comited to running into the bank the boat started to pick up and eventualy plained after a few min. Scared as I've ever been on the water. I guarantee we had well over 100 gallons in the boat.

 

[aeviaanah]

Didn't sink but came close

Fishing chatuage before a big storm with small craft warnings. I told my brother to turn the Livewell pump on and completely forgot about it. Wind picked up bad and waves started comming over the side. I cranked the motor and hammered down to get to the ramp. Boat stood up about 2oclock going maybe 3mph. I said wtf, let off throttle turned and saw water comming out of the whole rear deck. Instantly hammerd down barely moving and pointing at the sky again, turned on the bildge and pointed it to the closest bank wich was all rocks. Just before I would of been comited to running into the bank the boat started to pick up and eventualy plained after a few min. Scared as I've ever been on the water. I guarantee we had well over 100 gallons in the boat.

Man thats scary. I got my foam in!

 

[Loggerhead Mike]

Ya man, but I did finially get to use the new bildge pump

The funnyest part was watching my brother trying to get the drain plug out of the back while we were hammering 2-3 ft waves at 20mph. I was still to puckered up to let off the throttle any untill we hit the boat ramp

 

[aeviaanah]

Ya man, but I did finially get to use the new bildge pump

The funnyest part was watching my brother trying to get the drain plug out of the back while we were hammering 2-3 ft waves at 20mph. I was still to puckered up to let off the throttle any untill we hit the boat ramp

Whats he gonna do with the drain plug?

 

[bulldog]

Ya man, but I did finially get to use the new bildge pump

The funnyest part was watching my brother trying to get the drain plug out of the back while we were hammering 2-3 ft waves at 20mph. I was still to puckered up to let off the throttle any untill we hit the boat ramp

Whats he gonna do with the drain plug?

If you pull the drain plug while on plane it will drain the boat. You have to be on plane for it to work and you have to make sure to put it back in before you stop.

 

[PSG-1]

Yep, the drain plug trick works for draining the boat while underway, but as stated, don't forget to put it back in!!

In a few of my close calls, I've been swamped bad enough, I didn't even have to pull a drain plug, as the water was draining out over the top edge of the transom while the boat was at a 45 degree angle! (The bilge pump handled the rest of the water, but it took a while)

I'm a big fan of self-bailing decks, but the problem with modifying a johnboat to have a self-bailing deck is that you have to build the inner hull up above the natural waterline of the boat, which means coming up about 4-6 inches. As johnboats are low-slung to begin with, you lose a lot of gunwale height inside the boat when you do this modification. But if it's done correctly, and you have large enough drain scuppers (like 1 inch or better in diameter), you can just about take a boat like this through breaking surf, and not have to worry too much.

I thought about doing this modification to my jetboat when I rebuilt it, but I already had so much to do, this was a low priority for me.

But when I build the next boat with the supercharged engine, it WILL have a self-bailing deck, with enough drainage to handle any condition I could ever encounter.

 

[bulldog]

Do you have any reference pictures of a self bailing deck?

 

[aeviaanah]

Didnt know that, thanks!

 

[PSG-1]

Do you have any reference pictures of a self bailing deck?

Not really. I know what the design looks like in my head, so, I'll try to explain it.

It's similar to the inner hull you would see in a johnboat, but instead of attaching to the factory ribs across the floor, you need to use some 2x4" rectangular aluminum tube, with a thin wall, to raise the deck level up above the waterline. Simply attach them to the existing factory ribs across the floor, with the ends of the rect. tube angle cut so they butt right up to the inside edge of the gunwale ribs.

Fabricate and install the inner deck by riveting or screwing it to the ribs along the floor, and along the gunwales.

You then separate this inner hull from the bilge/stern area, by properly sealing at the rear bench seat, engine compartment, etc. And then at each rear corner of the inner deck, you install your scuppers.

 

[srr5008]

Never sank a tin, but we almost sank our fiberglass jet boat. Story could serve as a good warning for jet owners on the forum.

We were in the middle of a 120' deep lake, getting ready to do some skiing. When we hit the throttle to get ourselves into position and the engine revved, but nothing happened. So after working the throttle back and forth a few more times, water came rushing into the boat from underneath the back seat (which butts up to the engine compartment). We lifted the hatch to look in the engine compartment and there was water up to the spark plugs (350 Chevy small-block engine). Luckily we were able to idle her into shore where she sunk at a dock.

As it turns out, the hoses in the boat were the original hoses (20 years old at the time) and had dry-rotted. So when we hit the gas they started sucking water into the engine compartment, but not much of the water was making it through the engine. Very close call, and it was quite the eye-opener.