I woke up yesterday morning to find my Grady capsized to the starboard side. The power head was mostly under water(salt). We were able to pull the boat level with trucks and tow ropes and remove all water(the water line was up to the top of the gunnels). After pumping the water, the boat was towed to the nearest ramp and brought back to my house in the driveway. I cleared the water from the cylinders and was able to get the motor running. I am aware and concerned that I will need to replace most of the electrical on the boat. I am also concerned about the foam in the bulkhead walls. Does the foam dry out? Any help is greatly appreciated!
Bad day
- Thread starter 87grady
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I would really love to know why it happened! With all components going under water t is hard to tell if the bilge stopped working before it took water or just couldn’t keep up. It was tied to the port side. I thought I had enough slack on the lines as I didn’t have a problem the morning before with the extremely high tide. That night as well she sat level at 10 pm when I last looked out the window. It could have only been under a few hours. I assumed the tide went higher and water flowed in the scuppers and the bilge was not working to disperse water.
If the battery switches were turned off, you will have less damage to electrical things. If the water you capsized in was fresh, you will have significant less potential damage. I think your motor is the least of your worries.The fact that the motor started is a good sign. You should flush it and run it till it warms up to normal temps. It's a little late but hosing off everything you can get to would help if the boat sank in salt water. If you can, turn off power, rinse and dry things like bus bars and fuse blocks and then spray on an inhibitor like T-9. You are going to have to keep an eye out for future issues and deal with them accordingly. Keep a keen eye out for corrosion and grayish crumbly stuff on electrical connections
Drying out the foam is harder to do especially if you live in a humid area. Open up whatever you can including access plates. Flush off the fuel tank, drain out the bilge and get some sort of air blowing into the bilge. Any air movement will help.
Good luck.
SirGrady226
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Check all your drains and their hoses that are close to the water line, the fittings get cracked with age and can cause leaks, hoses dry rot. Fish box and cooler drains are very hard to get to, my forearms do not fit through the inspection holes. My 87 226 has forward and rear bilge pumps, replaced both including wiring. Also make sure your rear bilge access cover and inspection hole are sealing properly, since your scuppers can allow water to get to these areas. Hope everything turns out ok.
Yes batteries were turned off and it was in salt water. I have all hatches and access covers off and open. I hosed everything off that I could the day it happened. Unfortunately there are not too many access panels that open up the the bulkhead where the foam is.
SirGrady226
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As I mentioned, some things eventually may go bad and there isn't a lot you can do that you haven't already done. You could have sprayed a mixture of water and vinegar followed by plain water on electrical things but the reality is that even plain water has minerals that may add to the salt crystal compound development In addition after the initial few hours, the vinegar wash isn't going to help a lot. .I suggest you try not to stress too much over the boat. When and if problems develop, then you can take actions..
Just note that when electrical parts are exposed to salt water AND are powered, electrolysis starts immediately and often there is no easy way to stop it from growing over time.
The good news is that your battery switches were off The switches themselves are usually sealed and waterproof. Most of the motor connectors are waterresistant also Problems if they arise will usual show up first in the fuse panel and sometimes all that is needed is to pull fuses and clean the contacts. The main connections at the motor, batteries and switches may also corrode. Just check every now and then.
Just note that when electrical parts are exposed to salt water AND are powered, electrolysis starts immediately and often there is no easy way to stop it from growing over time.
The good news is that your battery switches were off The switches themselves are usually sealed and waterproof. Most of the motor connectors are waterresistant also Problems if they arise will usual show up first in the fuse panel and sometimes all that is needed is to pull fuses and clean the contacts. The main connections at the motor, batteries and switches may also corrode. Just check every now and then.
Yes it does, I had it hooked up to a solar panel
Thank you! I have a long winter ahead of me with the repairs.
Sorry to hear about that - that really stinks.
I'd get a hold of Grady to find out if there is a way for any water that gets outboard of the stingers to drain out. There may be limber holes. If not, maybe Grady can provide you with diagrams of where the bulkheads are in relation to the stringers. Then you can drill some drainage holes at the aft end of each "compartment" and fix them later. Get the boat tilted plenty bow high and let it drain/air out over the winter.
I'd get a hold of Grady to find out if there is a way for any water that gets outboard of the stingers to drain out. There may be limber holes. If not, maybe Grady can provide you with diagrams of where the bulkheads are in relation to the stringers. Then you can drill some drainage holes at the aft end of each "compartment" and fix them later. Get the boat tilted plenty bow high and let it drain/air out over the winter.
Since it is already wet, I would probably hook it to the truck, disconnect the bilge pump, and put 50 gallons of water in the bilge, and drive it doing a lot of stops and starts. Drain it out, and repeat a few times. Maybe even get a rotating sprinkler on the end of a hose, and shove it into every place I could. Then worry about drying it out.