Ran Aground, delayed issues now

thesingr

New Member
Jul 9, 2016
6
Fredericksburg
Boat Info
twin 305 with v-drive
Engines
5.0
Hi everyone,

I just bought a 30 footer with twin 5.0s and v-drives a few weeks ago. I didn't like the berthing slip because it was too tidal. Friday before last last I was moving berths up river. It was low tide and I was being careful to stay in the channel. Right when I hit the end wake, I ran aground and it stopped both engines. I didn't think I ran aground at first because it's an area that's typically not that low. I started the engines again and when I put it into gear, the engines stopped again. I called boatus, but within an hour the tide started to come in and I was able to leave on my own.
I proceeded to get into the main river and did notice that the port engine rpms were slightly lower than the starboard, and it took a little longer to get on plane, but it did. I made the 1 1/2 hour trip and docked it. The next day we took the boat out again to fish and it was the same thing, took longer to get on plane, but it got on.
Today we took the boat out again after it has been sitting for a week. It ran fine, we filled up and for about a mile or so it's no wake. AAs soon as we got to end wake, I hit the throttles and it shot up to 2200 rpm and that was it. It would not get on plane and it stayed around 10.9 miles per hour according to gps. I noticed it seemed like it was shaking very slightly and maybe even calvatating. We tried it for about an hour but it just wouldn't get on plane.
I'm not sure if this is an insurance issue or not. I'd like to figure something out.
Any help is appreciated.

Thanks
 
Have you checked the props? It might be something as simple as grass or in my case a line, wrapped around the props. If you own a trailer pull her out for a better inspection. If not you may want to spend the cash and get her pulled for inspection.
 
Do you have any vibration as you speed up?

I hate to say it, but you need to get a look at your props and rudders. You can either dive in with a mask and get under the boat or pull it out. I've had to dive to remove a line from a prop shaft before.

You won't know for sure what the issue is until you check. When you said you hit the end of the wake are you referring to a no wake zone? Did you leave the channel? Do you have a working depth sounder on board and how much water were you in?
 
Do you have any vibration as you speed up?

I hate to say it, but you need to get a look at your props and rudders. You can either dive in with a mask and get under the boat or pull it out. I've had to dive to remove a line from a prop shaft before.

You won't know for sure what the issue is until you check. When you said you hit the end of the wake are you referring to a no wake zone? Did you leave the channel? Do you have a working depth sounder on board and how much water were you in?


Hi, yes, I meant to say end wake zone. I was in water at least 10 feet and deeper in the no wake zone. I put it into reverse several times then forward hoping it would make a difference, but didn't work. I drove around for about an hour trying hoping to resolve it as well.

It's weird that it sat a week before getting this bad. I did notice a difference in the performance right after it happened, but I thought if that was the worst it would get, I'd deal with it until end of season. But the condition it's in now really hampers the fun..
 
Do you have any vibration as you speed up?

I hate to say it, but you need to get a look at your props and rudders. You can either dive in with a mask and get under the boat or pull it out. I've had to dive to remove a line from a prop shaft before.

You won't know for sure what the issue is until you check. When you said you hit the end of the wake are you referring to a no wake zone? Did you leave the channel? Do you have a working depth sounder on board and how much water were you in?


Slight vibration. The problem is I didn't have the boat long enough to have a reference baseline. But it sort of feels and sounds like there's cavitation going on.
 
I'm guessing bent props - You need to get a look at them.
 
You need to get a visual check on your props before messing around and making things worse. The more you mess around allowing it to vibrate and cavitate, the more you're creating opportunities for things to happen upstream and create bigger problems.

Don't keep taking the unit out hoping it will fix itself.
 
You need to get a visual check on your props before messing around and making things worse. The more you mess around allowing it to vibrate and cavitate, the more you're creating opportunities for things to happen upstream and create bigger problems.

Don't keep taking the unit out hoping it will fix itself.


Thanks, I only took it out the one time yesterday to fish. I'm going to call someone monday to look at it. Thanks for all the advice.

BTW, the guy I bought it from said there is 17" brass props on it. Are these expensive to replace? I did a mild search and saw these going for around $500. I imagine that's about right?
 
Any time you hit the bottom hard enough to stall one or both engines, the chances are excellent that you not only damaged a prop, but also bent one or both shafts. To properly check the running gear for damage after a severe grounding, the boat should be out of the water and a dial indicator used to check the shafts after the props are removed. I don't care what your diver may tell you, you cannot find a shaft with excessive run-out by holding a stick or a screwdriver against it because you are looking for thousandths of an inch (.001").

As far a latent repercussions from a severe grounding, you need to drain and clean out your sea strainers. The intakes were laying on the bottom then you churned yp debris when you powered off what stuck you so the strainers are likelt full of sand/dirt/gravel/mud. Ignoring the strainers will likely cost a lot more to repair because you are sending whatever is in the strainers thru your engine.

Hope you get good news when you get the boat where you can see the bottom..........
 
Thanks, I only took it out the one time yesterday to fish. I'm going to call someone monday to look at it. Thanks for all the advice.

BTW, the guy I bought it from said there is 17" brass props on it. Are these expensive to replace? I did a mild search and saw these going for around $500. I imagine that's about right?

It depends specifically on the props you have. You won't know for sure until you get someone to inspect them.

As as others mentioned if you continue to use them while damaged the issue could spread down the shaft and then you're looking at thousands of dollars in repairs.

When you hit the end of the no wake zone did you leave the navigation channel? There are many parts of the Potomac River, for example, if you stray from the channel you go from 15-20' of water to 2' of water in a matter of feet. If you don't have a good chart plotter on board I highly recommend getting one. Up to date charts are a must have tool. You can even buy a chart app for an iPad, such a Garmin's Blue Charts. No install required on the boat. The app will even track your position.

The other issue to remember is underwater debris. You can have even hit a submerged log. This is one of the other reasons to stay in a channel, but even logs can stray in.

Good luck with the inspection.
 
It depends specifically on the props you have. You won't know for sure until you get someone to inspect them.

As as others mentioned if you continue to use them while damaged the issue could spread down the shaft and then you're looking at thousands of dollars in repairs.

When you hit the end of the no wake zone did you leave the navigation channel? There are many parts of the Potomac River, for example, if you stray from the channel you go from 15-20' of water to 2' of water in a matter of feet. If you don't have a good chart plotter on board I highly recommend getting one. Up to date charts are a must have tool. You can even buy a chart app for an iPad, such a Garmin's Blue Charts. No install required on the boat. The app will even track your position.

The other issue to remember is underwater debris. You can have even hit a submerged log. This is one of the other reasons to stay in a channel, but even logs can stray in.

Good luck with the inspection.


Thanks again. I turned it into my insurance. I appreciate all your help..
 
regarding your insurance, it should be covered. I hit a submerged log and bent a shaft, rudder and one prop. the total damage about 3500.00. I had a 500.00 deductible. But depends what coverage you opted for
 
regarding your insurance, it should be covered. I hit a submerged log and bent a shaft, rudder and one prop. the total damage about 3500.00. I had a 500.00 deductible. But depends what coverage you opted for

I got the whole package. Made sure sure to ask if it covered grounding. Thanks for your help..
 
Ran aground today, had to get Seatow to pull me out. My generator started right up but both of my engines would not start had no power from all 5 batteries. Even my electronics would not go on. Any suggestions?
 
Ran aground today, had to get Seatow to pull me out. My generator started right up but both of my engines would not start had no power from all 5 batteries. Even my electronics would not go on. Any suggestions?
I don't see how a grounding would cause all batteries to go dead. To many separate circuits involved. Something else is amiss.
 
fuse or breaker?
 
I ran my 390 Motor Yacht aground once. I was in gear with both engines at idle, and after hitting ground both engines stopped. Fortunately the damage was limited to minor prop damage. If you suspect damage from hitting the bottom you should not use the boat until you haul it and check things out. You could damage your transmission by running on dinged props.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
112,944
Messages
1,422,729
Members
60,927
Latest member
Jaguar65
Back
Top