Stee6043
Well-Known Member
I am very interested to hear some stories or opinions from you guys on this.
Brief backstory - I hit something submerged on Monday, broke a prop shaft, bent a rudder, bent a prop but the shaft remained in place (the prop shaft slid aft and hit the rudder, staying put). The very first thing I did was check the engine room for water, of course.
But as I've reflected on what could have happened I get a bit of a knot in my stomach. Had the shaft dropped out of the boat I imagine the amount of water coming into the boat would been more than the bilge pumps could handle. So in this case, what does a guy do with 5 souls onboard 8 miles from port?
I feel like the decision that has to be made is between 1.) attempt to slow the water intake or 2.) high tale it to port on the remaining good engine. Obviously in either scenario the co-captain is hailing the Coast Guard, getting PFD's, etc. But you really have to commit pretty quickly with water levels rising in the engine room.
For this example let's assume you don't have a dinghy.
I feel like I may have failed in this worst case scenario had I picked option 1. Once I confirmed there was no water coming into my boat I wanted to jump into the water to see what happened. But I couldn't. From where I left (Milwaukee) to where I hit the object (Sheboygan) the water must have dropped 15 degrees in temp easily. It was not more than 50-55 degrees. I could not get in and get under the boat, there was no way. In addition, had it been warmer and had I been able to enter the water, the opening for the prop shaft is quite a ways up under the boat. That's not exactly an easy swim with a plug in hand, maybe dealing with current and adrenaline running like crazy.
Could you successfully plug that hole from inside the boat? Me thinks not based on what I imagine is high pressure water and what I know is rather difficult access (right up under the engine). But every second you're screwing around trying to plug the hole you are not driving toward port.
I hope some of you will share your thoughts or maybe even your real world experiences on this. I've ordered up a couple of "cone shaped plugs" to keep on the boat. I'm still not convinced they would have helped had my situation gone worst case but why not have 'em.
Brief backstory - I hit something submerged on Monday, broke a prop shaft, bent a rudder, bent a prop but the shaft remained in place (the prop shaft slid aft and hit the rudder, staying put). The very first thing I did was check the engine room for water, of course.
But as I've reflected on what could have happened I get a bit of a knot in my stomach. Had the shaft dropped out of the boat I imagine the amount of water coming into the boat would been more than the bilge pumps could handle. So in this case, what does a guy do with 5 souls onboard 8 miles from port?
I feel like the decision that has to be made is between 1.) attempt to slow the water intake or 2.) high tale it to port on the remaining good engine. Obviously in either scenario the co-captain is hailing the Coast Guard, getting PFD's, etc. But you really have to commit pretty quickly with water levels rising in the engine room.
For this example let's assume you don't have a dinghy.
I feel like I may have failed in this worst case scenario had I picked option 1. Once I confirmed there was no water coming into my boat I wanted to jump into the water to see what happened. But I couldn't. From where I left (Milwaukee) to where I hit the object (Sheboygan) the water must have dropped 15 degrees in temp easily. It was not more than 50-55 degrees. I could not get in and get under the boat, there was no way. In addition, had it been warmer and had I been able to enter the water, the opening for the prop shaft is quite a ways up under the boat. That's not exactly an easy swim with a plug in hand, maybe dealing with current and adrenaline running like crazy.
Could you successfully plug that hole from inside the boat? Me thinks not based on what I imagine is high pressure water and what I know is rather difficult access (right up under the engine). But every second you're screwing around trying to plug the hole you are not driving toward port.
I hope some of you will share your thoughts or maybe even your real world experiences on this. I've ordered up a couple of "cone shaped plugs" to keep on the boat. I'm still not convinced they would have helped had my situation gone worst case but why not have 'em.