Was this a members boat? What Happened?

[Meanwhile]

This has been posted on a couple West coast boards. The photo speaks for itself. Apparently it was a rough day in the Straights of Juan deFuca, off Lopez, and the exact reason for sinking is unknown.

Here is speculation from Bloody Decks "Just saw this boat in the yard. Nothing wrong with it. They aren't sure why it sunk. Their best guess is the 3 pie plates back in the motor well bopped off. All 3 were missing when vessel assist arrived."

I post this as just the other day I read a post here about push in inspection plates.
Here is the type I had on my last boat, with clear plastic installed. http://www.fisheriessupply.com/whale-tcl4-screw-top-access-inspection-hatch

 

[fishbust]

One of the first things I did on mine was replace those pop out plates on the bracket with beckson screw in type and replaced all O-rings on the plates inside the boat.

 

[mboyatt]

I am on the east coast, so pardon my ignorance. Never heard of the location. But, it looks pretty darn calm in that photograph. Can it be that rough in the Straights and then really calm where this photo was taken???? The photo just doesn't fit the description that rough seas took a role in swamping her. Hmmmm. :hmm

 

[Meanwhile]

The winds and tide can change the water state amazingly quickly. The SJF is only about 12 miles across to Canada, so lots of water moving through at different times.

 

[mboyatt]

Interesting. What a shame. Prompted me to look at Beckson screw down pie plates for my motor splash well last night. I have 2 pop out pie plates that provide access to my aft bilge. Guess I will be replacing those for the more secure screw type. 25 bucks per pie plate. Worth the 50 bucks. Geeez. Even if it is a freak accident, better safe than sorry. Thanks for posting.

 

[gw204]

I have serious doubts about the cause of the sinking being pop-out deckplates that just came loose. Even with bad o-rings they are, in my experience, relatively secure.

My guess is thru hull, genny or washdown plumbing let loose, the bilge flooded and the air pocket created built pressure and popped the plates.

 

[The_Chain]

I was thinking the same thing, most likely a thru hull or such. Missing pie plates, my guess is when your in the sinking situation the first thing Im gonna do is start popping plates to figure out the problem before we went under. I suspect they got lost in the wash/panic.

 

[ocnslr]

I have serious doubts about the cause of the sinking being pop-out deckplates that just came loose. Even with bad o-rings they are, in my experience, relatively secure.
My guess is thru hull, genny or washdown plumbing let loose, the bilge flooded and the air pocket created built pressure and popped the plates.

I was thinking the same thing, most likely a thru hull or such. Missing pie plates, my guess is when your in the sinking situation the first thing Im gonna do is start popping plates to figure out the problem before we went under. I suspect they got lost in the wash/panic.

I agree completely with both of the above posts.

Those "pop outs" do not just "pop out". But the pressure build up in a flooding compartment could blow one of them. If all were off, then they were likely removed by crew, as pressure build up would blow one then the pressure would be relieved.

Brian

 

[Enough Already]

I was taking on a lot of water one night in very rough seas - fortunately the bilge pumps could keep up. Turns out all of the inspection plate mounting rings in my motor well were either worn or never bedded in caulk (not the cap & o-ring but the piece that is mounted to the boat). When the motor well took a wave, tons of water was pouring into the bilge around all of the mounting rings. Simple fix and worth a check if you haven't looked.

 

[Fishtales]

One of the first things I did on mine was replace those pop out plates on the bracket with beckson screw in type and replaced all O-rings on the plates inside the boat.

Did the same and as a later post discussed - I ensured the plate was properly sealed to the deck. Those pop out ones are not secure enough to be outside the where water washes over IMHO. Beckson has clear and colored ones that are direct replacements for these. If any are going to pop due to pressure it will be the inspection ports in the cockpit. Even if you were in a bad position due to a thru hull failure, if those pop you are in deep yogurt as water will just pour in.

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

Here is an observation...an optimist point of view. The crew made it off alive and the boat did not sink. If it sunk on the bottom she would be. I am not sure why it happened or how it could have been prevented. What I know is she was still afloat even after the cause of flooding happened. What I know is some other brands of boats worth a ton of jack are built with zero flotation and they truly would have sunk. This photo is a testament to how Grady builds them. They recovered the boat and the crew which in the end is what truly matters here.

 

[Tuna Man]

On a related topic, I believe most if not all the more current Grady Whites are "unsinkable." I was under the impression that the foam was "garanteed" to prevent the boat from sinking. I also assumed that the boat would eventually flip over (turtle) so the hardtop would face the sea floor. Do any of you members know if a Grady would stay upright or flip over worst cast scenario? Hope none of us ever have to find out.

 

[The_Chain]

Let me just put a plug in here for installing high water alarms...well worth the minimal effort it takes to install them. I'd rather have a heads up there's any issue, then find out it's to late and I'm in deep yogurt. I got this one and if you couldn't hear it your hearings completely shot

http://www.wholesalemarine.com/bilge-al ... 7AodVhoAjA


Worst case scenario the boat sinks completely. Unsinkable not really, the have what's considered basic flotation. Most likely your gonna turtle but that's physics.


Anyone else catch the size of his plotter it looks my 30 inch desk monitor stuck to the helm??

 

[ROBERTH]

Used my High Water alarm 2 weeks ago when 50 miles offshore. Best thing you can install.
Found that the primary float switch went bad and was not working. So turned on primary bilge at helm to pump out.
Water was not yet high enough for secondary 2000gph bilge switch and pump to activate.
After getting back inshore and idling to ramp, we could hear the primary bilge running, but switch was off. The float switch then shorted out opposite and was full on and had to pull fuse. Pump was warm from likely running for over an hour.

New float switch in now and it is good to go. The float switch that went bad was only 2 years old. So you never know. And, my bilge is clean. The float switch looked brand new when I removed it so it was internal issue apparently.

 

[The_Chain]

Used my High Water alarm 2 weeks ago when 50 miles offshore. Best thing you can install.
Found that the primary float switch went bad and was not working. So turned on primary bilge at helm to pump out.
Water was not yet high enough for secondary 2000gph bilge switch and pump to activate.
After getting back inshore and idling to ramp, we could hear the primary bilge running, but switch was off. The float switch then shorted out opposite and was full on and had to pull fuse. Pump was warm from likely running for over an hour.

New float switch in now and it is good to go. The float switch that went bad was only 2 years old. So you never know. And, my bilge is clean. The float switch looked brand new when I removed it so it was internal issue apparently.

Yes I have had mine come on and it scared me good, def makes your heart race..didn't realize the amount of rain water that had collected, and a small leak in my livewell hose had some water trickling out...where was your water source?

 

[ROBERTH]

Yeah, when I heard the piercing sound, I immediatly knew what it was so dropped to floor on knees and poked head in the aft bilge to see the issue!

We had a 4" Thursday afternoon rain in one afternoon just prior to be getting to boat on Friday night. I think lots of the water came in due to the rain. I found my cabin cushions wet due to hatch seal, so put a new seal on over the weekend.

The water came in through the hatch, ran down to floor and into forward bilge. Also get some water in the hole at windless, but usually just a bit over time.
I had not cranked up the bow much to let it all drain before loading and launching.

Then, going offshore, we took lots of water over the bow from mostly spray and that too was getting down into the cabin hatch and anchor hole, so over the course of the day, it just built up enough to hit the alarm.

Seas were very rough going out and coming in.

This weekend, I will be paying special attention to water in the bilge now that the seal is replaced. I have checked in spring with a lake test to make sure I had no leaks since I installed a new wash down pump and hoses to have two pumps, one for livewell and the other for the washdown. I installed the strainer as well, so wanted to make sure I had no leaks and best I can tell, no leaks from pumps or hoses.

I am positive the heavy rain and all day rinsing we got going offshore was the source of the couple of gallons in the bilge area.

 

[onoahimahi]

New float switch in now and it is good to go. The float switch that went bad was only 2 years old. So you never know. And, my bilge is clean. The float switch looked brand new when I removed it so it was internal issue apparently.

Was the switch that failed a Rule? I noticed that the newer non-mercury Rule switches are reviewed poorly on West Marine with folks complaining about them failing prematurely. I'm installing a Johnson brand set up for my backup bilge.

 

[Fishtales]

Let me just put a plug in here for installing high water alarms...well worth the minimal effort it takes to install them. I'd rather have a heads up there's any issue, then find out it's to late and I'm in deep yogurt. I got this one and if you couldn't hear it your hearings completely shot

http://www.wholesalemarine.com/bilge-al ... 7AodVhoAjA


Worst case scenario the boat sinks completely. Unsinkable not really, the have what's considered basic flotation. Most likely your gonna turtle but that's physics.


Anyone else catch the size of his plotter it looks my 30 inch desk monitor stuck to the helm??

I strongly second this advice. I installed one in the bilge and ran it through the rigging tube right up to the helm. Pretty easy to install and loud as hell as Chain says....
I would also strongly recommend long lines with spring clips in your ditch bag. If the boat turtles you can wrap one around a pipel or rail onto itself and then to your PFD. You'll at least be able to stay with the boat easily.

 

[The_Chain]

I would also strongly recommend long lines with spring clips in your ditch bag. If the boat turtles you can wrap one around a pipel or rail onto itself and then to your PFD. You'll at least be able to stay with the boat easily.

I threw a few of these rigs in my ditch bag as well..I have personally tried them when I jumped overboard for a swim last year..work great!! Rated for 100lbs but I weigh over 200 by a tad and I reefed on it hard.

http://m.uline.com/mt/www.uline.com/Pro ... 7AodW3YARw

 

[ocnslr]

I would also strongly recommend long lines with spring clips in your ditch bag. If the boat turtles you can wrap one around a pipel or rail onto itself and then to your PFD. You'll at least be able to stay with the boat easily.

I threw a few of these rigs in my ditch bag as well..I have personally tried them when I jumped overboard for a swim last year..work great!! Rated for 100lbs but I weigh over 200 by a tad and I reefed on it hard.

http://m.uline.com/mt/www.uline.com/Pro ... 7AodW3YARw

Great tip. Available for a bit less on Amazon, and eligible for Prime shipping. Just ordered two.

Brian