Great day turned into a nightmare, minor hull damage, broken window and impeller problems

[jgrant666]

G'day raiders!

A brilliant day out on the water has just finished as a total nightmare. Took the family down to the basin for the day and had a lovely time, but the wind started to pick up so we decided to call it a day. I had beached the boat but kept the motor well up and thought nothing of it. About halfway back she starts losing power then smoke and it cuts out [emoji35] wouldn't kick over again though the starter motor was working fine. At this point we're drifting about 500m north of Scotland Island. Thinking maybe the intakes were blocked I jumped over the side, not realising how strong the current was! A few hairy moments but managed to catch up to the boat and could not see anything obviously wrong, so got back in and gave it 5 with the cowling off to cool down but still no luck so rang marine rescue.

They turned up about 10 mins later which was great and towed us back to bayview. By the time we got back though the wind was up to about 35 knots and of course the pontoon was full [emoji35] the marine rescue blokes did their best to try and get us onto their pontoon but the wind was too strong and we ended up blowing into the walkway to the main pontoon. My son wasn't quick enough with the forward cabin window which was open whilst we were being towed so crunch, bye bye perspex window!

At least we now had the boat relatively secure but in the process of getting everyone off we banged the walkway and pylons pretty hard a fee times and I've got some small cracks in the gelcoat now. Finally with 2 ropes and the help of the rescue boys managed to walk the boat round to the ramp without any further problems.

Went to hook up the strap to pull the boat in though and somehow the pin must have sheared off! So had to back the trailer in much deeper then manhandle the boat on to the rollers and secure it with the safety chain and sloooooowly drive it out. Luckily it settled onto the rollers properly! In the end managed to tie a bunch of knots in the main strap and could fully winch it up and get the trailer stays on. Then a steady as she goes slow trip home.

Got home and luckily the engine did start so I managed to flush it, but the tell tale was way weaker than usual so I'm guessing either the impeller is on the way out or we managed to get sand or something in the intakes. Final damage is one impeller, one window, fix the winch strap and a couple of deepish gashes through the gelcoat.

My question to people more experienced than I - how much should it cost for the impeller issue with the motor? Also below are some pics of the 2 dings, not sure if you can see but the glass is definitely exposed even though they're not that big. I'll need to get them looked at but is there some sort of bog or something I can bodgy them up with for now as we're supposed to be going to Merimbula then Coffs harbour after Christmas and I'll be gutted if the boat has to stay at home!!!

Thanks for reading and thanks to The marine rescue guys who were fantastic - definitely a good donation going their way after Christmas!

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Edited December 20, 2015 by jgrant666

[chickenman]

you could probably mix up some fibreglass resin and fill the holes with it,did 2 smaller similar ones on my boats 4 years ago and still all ok

hope this helps

Phil

[jgrant666]

Thanks mate, just did a bit of googling and thought the same thing, no silicone, but either some marine Tex or a gel coat patch kit.

Hopefully the motor isn't too pricey

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[jgrant666]

Any tips for reattaching the winch strap properly?

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[Fab1]

G'day raiders!

A brilliant day out on the water has just finished as a total nightmare. Took the family down to the basin for the day and had a lovely time, but the wind started to pick up so we decided to call it a day. I had beached the boat but kept the motor well up and thought nothing of it. About halfway back she starts losing power then smoke and it cuts out [emoji35] wouldn't kick over again though the starter motor was working fine. At this point we're drifting about 500m north of Scotland Island. Thinking maybe the intakes were blocked I jumped over the side, not realising how strong the current was! A few hairy moments but managed to catch up to the boat and could not see anything obviously wrong, so got back in and gave it 5 with the cowling off to cool down but still no luck so rang marine rescue.

They turned up about 10 mins later which was great and towed us back to bayview. By the time we got back though the wind was up to about 35 knots and of course the pontoon was full [emoji35] the marine rescue blokes did their best to try and get us onto their pontoon but the wind was too strong and we ended up blowing into the walkway to the main pontoon. My son wasn't quick enough with the forward cabin window which was open whilst we were being towed so crunch, bye bye perspex window!

At least we now had the boat relatively secure but in the process of getting everyone off we banged the walkway and pylons pretty hard a fee times and I've got some small cracks in the gelcoat now. Finally with 2 ropes and the help of the rescue boys managed to walk the boat round to the ramp without any further problems.

Went to hook up the strap to pull the boat in though and somehow the pin must have sheared off! So had to back the trailer in much deeper then manhandle the boat on to the rollers and secure it with the safety chain and sloooooowly drive it out. Luckily it settled onto the rollers properly! In the end managed to tie a bunch of knots in the main strap and could fully winch it up and get the trailer stays on. Then a steady as she goes slow trip home.

Got home and luckily the engine did start so I managed to flush it, but the tell tale was way weaker than usual so I'm guessing either the impeller is on the way out or we managed to get sand or something in the intakes. Final damage is one impeller, one window, fix the winch strap and a couple of deepish gashes through the gelcoat.

My question to people more experienced than I - how much should it cost for the impeller issue with the motor? Also below are some pics of the 2 dings, not sure if you can see but the glass is definitely exposed even though they're not that big. I'll need to get them looked at but is there some sort of bog or something I can bodgy them up with for now as we're supposed to be going to Merimbula then Coffs harbour after Christmas and I'll be gutted if the boat has to stay at home!!!

Thanks for reading and thanks to The marine rescue guys who were fantastic - definitely a good donation going their way after Christmas!

Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

You may have picked up sand from beaching the boat thats trapped in the telltale,stick some wire in the hole to clear it.What motor are We talking here if its the impeller?Can you post some pics of the winch/strap damage as it may be a matter of simply making a new pin?You can use this filler by septone that sells at the automotive stores to fix the damage to your hull until you get back from holidays.And if that Perspex window is flat and not concave and you wish to change to toughened glass let me know.

Cheers.

[jgrant666]

You may have picked up sand from beaching the boat thats trapped in the telltale,stick some wire in the hole to clear it.What motor are We talking here if its the impeller?Can you post some pics of the winch/strap damage as it may be a matter of simply making a new pin?You can use this filler by septone that sells at the automotive stores to fix the damage to your hull until you get back from holidays.And if that Perspex window is flat and not concave and you wish to change to toughened glass let me know.

Cheers.image.jpg

Thanks mate, it's a ~25 yr old Johnson 70hp 2 stroke, I'll try the wire tomorrow but I think I'd feel safer getting it looked at anyway, especially since we were hoping to get outside a bit in Merimbula. I'll take the strap off tomorrow and get some pics for you

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[jgrant666]

Oh and yeah I'll probably hit you up on that glass for the window :-) not much time so it'll be duct tape for now but as long as it's watertight should last our summer holiday till I can do something better. Are you a fabricator of some kind?

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[Guest 4myson]

Hey buddy , Sorry to hear about your bad day out & there's nothing worse then when it happens with family onboard !! Glad to hear everyone is back & safe . I work with Fiberglass pretty much everyday & I'll be more than happy for you to come past & I could mix some up & apply it for you . I also have a fair bit of Perspex off cuts to which you are more than welcome to .....

[Fab1]

Oh and yeah I'll probably hit you up on that glass for the window :-) not much time so it'll be duct tape for now but as long as it's watertight should last our summer holiday till I can do something better. Are you a fabricator of some kind? I work in glass.

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Hey buddy , Sorry to hear about your bad day out & there's nothing worse then when it happens with family onboard !! Glad to hear everyone is back & safe . I work with Fiberglass pretty much everyday & I'll be more than happy for you to come past & I could mix some up & apply it for you . I also have a fair bit of Perspex off cuts to which you are more than welcome to .....

That's a great gesture mate,good on you for trying to help him.

[batfishing]

Ok,

The impellor if you do yourself, $30-50, add a hour or two of

Labour at 100-150 per hour.

The gelcoat repair I will leave to others

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[jgrant666]

Hey buddy , Sorry to hear about your bad day out & there's nothing worse then when it happens with family onboard !! Glad to hear everyone is back & safe . I work with Fiberglass pretty much everyday & I'll be more than happy for you to come past & I could mix some up & apply it for you . I also have a fair bit of Perspex off cuts to which you are more than welcome to .....

That's awesome, thanks heaps mate! Yes at least the family we're all fine and didn't panic too much, though it was straight on with lifejackets for everyone as soon as the motor died. I see you're down liverpool way - I'll see if I can fix the winch strap 1st and have time to get down there before christmas, I'll PM you. How long would the gelcoat repair stuff take to cure?

Ok,

The impellor if you do yourself, $30-50, add a hour or two of

Labour at 100-150 per hour.

The gelcoat repair I will leave to others

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Brilliant Thanks Ian! I don't think I'll have the time or the skills to try and attempt it myself but at least with your info I shouldn't get soaked too hard by a marine mechanic!

Fab - I'll get some pics of the strap hopefully this arvo unless I can get it into a mechanic before then

[Guest 4myson]

Gel coat will cure in about 20 min... Hope that helps .....

[jgrant666]

Ok so I've managed to book the motor in for a checkup/impeller fix Wednesday afternoon

thanks to Ian, you were right on the money with your estimate!

Also many thanks to 4Myson for offering to help with the fibreglass patchup!

Hopefully this arvo I can work out the winch strap and do a quick n dirty job on the broken hatch and we'll be good to go for Christmas!

Just goes to show why this is an awesome community of fishos! If anyone ever needs a hand out on the water or wherever and sees me about then don't hesitate to hit me up!