How to sink a 260

[C Smith]

The trick is to motor for several miles at about 6 knots with the ballast valve and plug open. Fortunately we were able to catch the problem before it became too major but it sure did make a mess.

 

[alan]

yuk! alan

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[Mark]

More detail

Hello Calvin.Can you give us all more details like how much water did come inside etc etc.I assume that it was just the inlet valve and the inspection hole plug that you had left open and out??

 

[crazy dave]

Mr. Smith you pulled a "Crazy"

It happenned to me once too. It was not funny then. I will tell you a better one. Launch a new sailboat into a lake, take it for a spin and forget about putting in the know meter. I did not have the dummy plug in. Well the interior of the bilge was cleaned very well and what a dummy I was. Maybe the dummy plug is called that for the dummy like me to forget about it. At least you remembered which is better than me. Have fun sailing and I doubt that you will let that happen againCrayz dave condon

 

[C Smith]

Details...

This happened on St Andrews Bay at Panama City Fl. We got about 25 gallons of water in the boat. The good thing about this is that we discovered that the bilge pump, even though running, was not working. The bad thing was that the rear bunk got wet and everything in the inside lazarrets also got wet. Everything did dry out successfully and we spent the next 10 days on the boat ( My wife and I ). Love the 260! She really sails well in 15 knots of steady wind along the Gulf coast!

 

[T J Furstenau]

25 gallons? 200# ballast!

That's one way to get more ballast in the boat! I know I've done it once before, fortunately caught it after probably less than a gallon. Glad it worked out. Maybe it was meant to happen to point out that faulty bilge pump? I'm a firm believer that things happen for a reason.T J

 

[Mike]

Happened to me too

I had the same experience. I also found the float switch did not work. I doubt that it ever did work, but I had never tested it. Might be a good idea to test the bilge pump float switch occasionally.