Went Aground Saturday on the Des Plaines River

[320Bob]

I guess I will get to see how good my new insurance is since I ripped up my underwater gear on some unmarked shallows near the Joliet Casino. To add further insult to boat injury, the marina owner came out with a pontoon boat to pull me back into the channel. Fortunately, once free, I was able to start the engines back up and engage both props to hobble 10 miles back to the marina. At 1500 rpm there was noticiable vibration but the boat handled okay and I was able to back into my slip with no problems other than some sluggish handling.

They pulled my boat this morning to inspect the damage and both shafts were bent, both props bent to perhaps a point beyond repair, broken shaft bearings and chips off the bottom gel coat that will have to be repaired.

I called NBOA Marine this morning to file a claim and was told that a Banker's Trust claims adjuster will contact me in the next 48-72 hours to set up an inspection of the damage. I have no idea how long this process will take and when I will get my boat fixed and back in the water.

I talked to my surveyor/captain and he said the same thing cost him around $6,600 a couple of years ago and the marina owner who rescued me went aground in the same area a number of years ago along with several gambling boat captains. So apparently we River Rats have our own version of the Bermuda Triangle.

I guess this is my just reward for not having a proper boat renamaing ceremony in April when I put the new name on the boat. :smt021

 

[Daniel P Thomas]

Bob

Sorry to hear the bad news.
Hope you get the boat back in time to make the planned Chicago Trip.

If props can be repaired, check out or call Areo Marine on Central Ave in Chicago across from Midway Airport.

They can do most repairs and do a complete Prop Scan at the same time.

Feel free to call if you need any advice or help.

Good Luck

Dan

 

[320Bob]

Thanks Dan for the offer. Fortunately Harborside Marina sends all their prop work to Airmarine so I'm covered on that one. My surveyed/captain told don't have them fix the prop shafts, simply replace since if remachined, they will deform back to the bent state after six months. What's your or anyone else's opinion/experience on this issue.

 

[320Bob]

Well, that takes care of the prop scan issue......sorry to hear about your grounding though. Clearly an autopilot would have prevented this, let me know when you want me to come over and install it for you.

I like Dan's autopilot almost as well though.

Scott, if the props are toast, I am going to try to replace them with 4 blade ones and pay the difference over what they will pay for 3 blade replacements.

As far as the autopilot, can you help me make the case that having one will reduce the insurable risk in the future! Although a river pilot might be better than an autopilot.:grin:

 

[Daniel P Thomas]

Scott

I thought for sure you would have posted a picture of the autopilot by now!

You are just jealous because of the very straight wake.....right??

Dan

 

[Daniel P Thomas]

Notice all of the boat traffic out on a beautiful Memorial Weekend Sunday.

Sad fact of the times I guess.

Hammond is very low key this season.

Some of the docks look like ghost towns.

Very few boats moving in or out of their slips.

Scott
Thanks for the compliment, I think.

Dan

 

[Daniel P Thomas]

Radios are sorted out.
DSC is great!
Wiring through the arches this weekend.
4ft antenna is mounted on the arch in autopilot picture.

TV antenna.....that's another mount.
Not showing that picture just yet!
Hmmm...wonder why gps is having a hard time fixing on satellites???
Any suggestions, Scott?

 

[BahamasBlair]

Hey Bob,
Don't feel bad, in the Bahamas, where most of the water is quite shallow the locals have a saying:
"If you ain't been aground then you ain't been around!"
It happens to the best of us.
Hope the repairs get her back in top shape.
Know how you feel - been there twice!

 

[320Bob]

Hey Bob,
Don't feel bad, in the Bahamas, where most of the water is quite shallow the locals have a saying:
"If you ain't been aground then you ain't been around!"
It happens to the best of us.
Hope the repairs get her back in top shape.
Know how you feel - been there twice!

So now I guess I can claim to " have been around." :grin:

Good news so far is the insurance adjuster has already contact my marina to get an estimate repair. I will either get tuned old props or properly configured new 3 or 4 blade ones depending on what Airmarine's analysis shows.

 

[320Bob]

I talked to my marina today and they heard back from the insurance adjuster that to cost estimate was over his authority so they would send a surveyor out next week to validate the claim. I am hopeful they will cover the entire cost but I won't know until next week.

However, I authorized the marina to go ahead and order new shafts and props regardless of whether the insurance company will pay to repair or replace them. I talked to Airmarine this afternoon and they said .040 out of alignment is too much to straighten and recommended replacement. the shafts will cost about $600 a piece.

As for the props, it turns out the documentation that came with my boat was wrong on two things. First both my props did not have identical 19" pitch but only the LH prop while the RH was 18.5" as per Sea Ray's prop chart for a 2006 320. This explains why at WOT my port engine was about 100 rpm less and I consistently had to apply more throttle to the port engine to maintain the same rpm but at increased gph.

The second error was the Mercruiser manuals that came with my boat. The show 4800-5200 rpm for my 6.2l MX MPI engine but that in fact is the spec for out drives. The same engine for V drives like my boat is 4600-5000 according to Airmarine and some data I found last night on the internet. Inspite of this, Airmarine says my boat is still on the low side of the range and less but equal pitched props would help. They won't make a final recommendation until they get my damaged props in tomorrow. They are leaning towards a 18x18 set of 4 blade props. The bad news is no one seems to have a spare matched set sitting around in their shop so I have to see how quickly they can get a new set in.

I am disappointed with Sea Ray for providing inaccurate documentation for the props and engines along with Chicago Sea Ray for telling me that the pitch on the props was identical when they supposedly check them while still in winter storage. Maybe because I am new to boatng and don't have the depth of knowledge yet to know exactly when I am being jerked around but at this point in time I am having trouble tolerating this level of mediocrity associated with something so expensive.

 

[firecadet613]

Wow Bob sorry to hear. Hopefully someone can get a new set of props in quick. Would love to have you make the Chicago trip with us...I hear getting a slip in Hammond is no problem!

 

[Daniel P Thomas]

Joe

You ARE SO RIGHT!!!
No problem with a slip in Hammond.
Only 1/2 full.

Had 6 boats come over weekend before last from Portage.
All stayed on our R Dock.
We fed them real good, too!

Looking forward to the Chicago Weekend!

Good Luck Bob

Dan

 

[Havana Shamrock]

Hey Bob. i went aground a few weeks ago bent both props and bent a shaft, my mech, said new shafts are $1000 each and the props where like 4600 each but straightened all to specs and the boat is better now, i can stay on plane at 3400 rpms with 1/2 fuel. The ins, was going to pro rate the props if i needed new ones and then i found out i have an $1100 deductible, (going to fix that) so check very closly if your claimimg the damage. good luck sorry about your boat bro

 

[320Bob]

Joe,
I hope I get a better deal out of my insurance company than you did since it sounds like my damage is more extensive because neither the shafts nor the props are repairable. Based upon a couple of sites I found, nibral props that would fit the 320 were around $1,000 apiece. My deductible is $1,200. Hopefully I get a better deal out of my insurance company than it sounds like you did.

Also good to hear you boat planes better with tuned props. If I hadn't tore up my bottom, I would have had taken off and sent out to be tuned after the boat was put up for the winter.

 

[320Bob]

Here's an update with the post mortum on the damaged props and pictures of my new Michigan Wheel DQX 18X18 4 blade props:

As you can see the old props are toast. The insurance company, American Bankers Insurance through NBOA, had a surveyor out last Tuesday but the adjustor has not received his estimate. The marina estimate includes replacing props, shafts, strut bearings, staightening the struts, repairing gouges in the hull, replacing the couplings, flush the engines and generator coolers and replace the impellers since I sucked in some bottom crap, lightly sandblasting the bottom and recoating with epoxy and two coats of bottom paint, and alignment after the boat has been in the water for 72 hours. The marina will also do a sea trial to make sure the transmissions were not damaged and if so, will submit an repair estimate to the insurance company.

I hope I have better luck with the transmissions than Kreole Kid did when he hit that cable. Eventhough the insurance company has not determined how much they will pay on the claim, I authorized the marina to order all the running gear parts since regardless of the portion the insurance company will pay, I have to replace this stuff to get my boat back in the water. Hopefully the remaining parts will be in next week so I won't miss another weekend.

I expect they will prorate the bottom paint cost because that is a stated provision of the policy. However, since my boat is less than 7 years old, the policy says they have to pay full replacement cost for the other stuff. I will have to pay for the cost difference between 3 and 4 blade props but that is only $200 to $300. I am hopeful that my full out-of-pocket for this will be less than $2,000 including my deductible but I won't know until the insurance company gets back to me with their settlement.

Airmarine used my WOT data from 2 weeks ago along with the running difference between my port and starboard engines to come up with the 18X18 4 blade prop sizing. They said to run it that way for the rest of the season and if they are any adjustments that have to be made they can do them after the boat is put up for the winter.

 

[firecadet613]

Wow you sure did chew those up. I'm curious to see how insurance handles you...I have the same company through NBOA. I've heard good things.

 

[JV II]

I'd be interest to see what happens come renewal time. Keep us updated.

 

[Havana Shamrock]

Bob, man you really chewed them props up.were lucky we have apretty soft bottom on the south shore of LI. I'm guessing you'll be up and running soon. courious to see how the 4 blades work out for you , best of luck

 

[320Bob]

I'd be suprised if they covered any of the bottom paint at all...Let us know what they cover, so next time we need to have the bottom painted and impellers changed, we can "run aground" too.

If you read Kreole Kid's thread about hitting an underground cable, Progressive covered some of his bottom paint repairs. In my case, I would be surprised if they did at all. As far as the impellers, I did suck some sand/mud into the water systems so that was the marina's rationale. The impeller on the generator was new while the engine impellers were due to be replaced after the end of this season. If the insurance company pays, I won't look a gift horse in the mouth.:grin:

 

[320Bob]

Bob, man you really chewed them props up.were lucky we have apretty soft bottom on the south shore of LI. I'm guessing you'll be up and running soon. courious to see how the 4 blades work out for you , best of luck

The prices you got for shafts and props constitute what we in Chicago would call " a kiester procreation." The actual costs for my 2 shafts and 2 props were $1,360 and $2,248 respectively. Those prices do not include labor or prop/shaft hardware.

Going with the 4 blade props that have been scanned will hopefully provide a performance and fuel economy improvement. As soon as I get the boat in the water and gather some performance data, I will post the results compared to how my boat ran with the factory 3 blade props.