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New Member
- Feb 13, 2012
- 843
- Boat Info
- 2000 310 Sundancer
1997 175BR
- Engines
- 310: Twin 454 Mercruiser w/Bravo III
175: Mercruiser 3.0
Well, I've been stewing on this one for a while, and it's time to figure out what to do. I'm selling my boat, so I moved it to a new marina in a more active boating region with a decent brokerage, but it's now several hours from my house. After dropping the boat off in November, I wasn't able to visit again until the end of February.
When I got there I found that when they had blocked my boat, they left the garboard drain plug in. I don't know exactly when the batteries (and thus bilge pump) gave their last gasp, but it had obviously been a while, because my bilge was now a swimming pool. I couldn't tell at the time exactly how high the waters had risen relative to the engines, but I suspect that the starters and oil pans at least were immersed. When I removed the drain plug, it took more than 10 minutes for the water to stop flowing.
Unfortunately, I was there off-hours and couldn't talk to anyone at the time, and had to leave on a long trip in a few days, so I couldn't really address the situation with them at the time. I did inform them of the problem, though.
I'm about to head back over and try to get a good look at the situation. I won't be able to try to start the engines (still need batteries), but I'll give it as good a visual inspection as I can (twin 454's in a 310 don't leave any room).
I guess my question is, is it ever normal practice to block a boat with the garboard plug in? Who would be dumb enough to do such a thing, and why? I know that it is ultimately my responsibility to make sure the job is done right, and I should have found a way to get up there after they blocked and serviced the boat, but I'm at a loss to explain how someone could be so bone-headed.
This is partially a chance to vent, but also partially a "taking the community's temperature" on how aggressively I should press them on making sure everything is fixed after this mistake.
When I got there I found that when they had blocked my boat, they left the garboard drain plug in. I don't know exactly when the batteries (and thus bilge pump) gave their last gasp, but it had obviously been a while, because my bilge was now a swimming pool. I couldn't tell at the time exactly how high the waters had risen relative to the engines, but I suspect that the starters and oil pans at least were immersed. When I removed the drain plug, it took more than 10 minutes for the water to stop flowing.
Unfortunately, I was there off-hours and couldn't talk to anyone at the time, and had to leave on a long trip in a few days, so I couldn't really address the situation with them at the time. I did inform them of the problem, though.
I'm about to head back over and try to get a good look at the situation. I won't be able to try to start the engines (still need batteries), but I'll give it as good a visual inspection as I can (twin 454's in a 310 don't leave any room).
I guess my question is, is it ever normal practice to block a boat with the garboard plug in? Who would be dumb enough to do such a thing, and why? I know that it is ultimately my responsibility to make sure the job is done right, and I should have found a way to get up there after they blocked and serviced the boat, but I'm at a loss to explain how someone could be so bone-headed.
This is partially a chance to vent, but also partially a "taking the community's temperature" on how aggressively I should press them on making sure everything is fixed after this mistake.