Yes, I was hoist by my own petard yesterday. We launched the trimaran yesterday. I boarded the boat to start the motor. Turning the key, it would not crank. I had just run this motor, as I always do, that morning before trailering to the marina. I immediately went to the cabin to turn off any other switches, thinking something was drawing on it. Opening the companionway doors, I was shocked to find 4” of water in the cabin!
My head came up, and I looked at my wife and said, “we are taking on water, fast!” I left the boat to go get the trailer, very calm and determined.
I pulled the boat onto the trailer, and pulled the boat out of the water. I expected to see a fountain of water flowing from a broken transducer or a crack somewhere. The boat has no through-hulls.
With the boat on the ramp, the three of us looked under the boat to see no water escaping. We were puzzled. How had 50-100 gallons of water gotten into the boat in just a matter of a couple minutes.
We pulled the boat onto level land to see if that revealed a point of ingress. It did not.
Then I figured it out. I had cut an inspection hatch in a rear compartment to find and repair a slow leak that allowed water in only when we were sailing. The rear area above the compartment is actually a wet area that has drains out the transom. It has a rudder trunk for the kick-up rudder that is open through the bottom of the boat.
I had not screwed down the inspection port, a 10”x12” opening! I wanted to be able to look in easily after launch to see if any water leaked in! Haha! It sure did!
I had no idea that water would come up that high into the transom area during launch. It is a pretty large area, large enough for a 6 gallon gas tank, beneath the swim step.
So, I had taken it very slowly down the ramp, allowing the transom to spend a long time under water, allowing a huge amount of water to rush into the inspection port. Ugh!
It took us an hour to remove the water from the boat and get it dried out.
We SEALED THE INSPECTION HATCH! Then we launched the boat to find it stayed nice and dry.
Interestingly, the motor was only vapor locked. There was no electrical issue. I never really needed to look in the cabin. Before the second launch, I gave the pull cord a tug to move the cylinder, and then I tried the starter. It cranked as normal. It was flooded with gas, but it started when we launched it.
So by the time I had gone to look in the cabin during the first launch, the transom was above the water again, so the boat was not taking on more water. It would not have sunk, but I did not know that.
It was a beautiful day, and all ended well. We laughed over our adventure at lunch at the marina pub. We got the boat set up, and we will return Weds to sail it. The irony is that I had cut the inspection hatch to FIND a leak, but I created one!
My head came up, and I looked at my wife and said, “we are taking on water, fast!” I left the boat to go get the trailer, very calm and determined.
I pulled the boat onto the trailer, and pulled the boat out of the water. I expected to see a fountain of water flowing from a broken transducer or a crack somewhere. The boat has no through-hulls.
With the boat on the ramp, the three of us looked under the boat to see no water escaping. We were puzzled. How had 50-100 gallons of water gotten into the boat in just a matter of a couple minutes.
We pulled the boat onto level land to see if that revealed a point of ingress. It did not.
Then I figured it out. I had cut an inspection hatch in a rear compartment to find and repair a slow leak that allowed water in only when we were sailing. The rear area above the compartment is actually a wet area that has drains out the transom. It has a rudder trunk for the kick-up rudder that is open through the bottom of the boat.
I had not screwed down the inspection port, a 10”x12” opening! I wanted to be able to look in easily after launch to see if any water leaked in! Haha! It sure did!
I had no idea that water would come up that high into the transom area during launch. It is a pretty large area, large enough for a 6 gallon gas tank, beneath the swim step.
So, I had taken it very slowly down the ramp, allowing the transom to spend a long time under water, allowing a huge amount of water to rush into the inspection port. Ugh!
It took us an hour to remove the water from the boat and get it dried out.
We SEALED THE INSPECTION HATCH! Then we launched the boat to find it stayed nice and dry.
Interestingly, the motor was only vapor locked. There was no electrical issue. I never really needed to look in the cabin. Before the second launch, I gave the pull cord a tug to move the cylinder, and then I tried the starter. It cranked as normal. It was flooded with gas, but it started when we launched it.
So by the time I had gone to look in the cabin during the first launch, the transom was above the water again, so the boat was not taking on more water. It would not have sunk, but I did not know that.
It was a beautiful day, and all ended well. We laughed over our adventure at lunch at the marina pub. We got the boat set up, and we will return Weds to sail it. The irony is that I had cut the inspection hatch to FIND a leak, but I created one!
