was in serious circumstances twice incl the double noreaster 83 that sank several sail boats. my boat was towed into charleston by the CG, crew and friends safe (i was home in tx dry). they were instant on our ssb re pon pon, stayed in touch with us til the crisis was resolved off burmuda (another boat). was at sampson cay (bahamas) when a diver was badly injured by a shark. he was whisked to miami by the CG under an hour after the attack.
You unfortunate experience will help us prepare our boat better! Replacing all throw hulls and hoses and transducers. Install a second 2000 gph bilge pump. I also will Carry a ruel 3700 gph pump with 20 ft of hose and 25 ft of wire with alligator clips stored in a mesh bag And a small 24 series stand by agm battery. I was in the marine towing and salvage business as my side gig,that 3700 gph pump will handle a lot of water fast. Only takes a couple of min to deploy. Great channel! We watched all your Videos about boat manufacturers. Nice job! THANKS!
I was in the Coast Guard from 1983 to 1989 and responded to my share of SAR (search and rescue) missions, and I am so proud of you all finding the cause and correcting it rather than abandoning ship. We usually pull people up in the baskets, but you guys showed your strength and determination. Semper Paratus “Always Ready”!
"Nobody can move water faster than a scared man with a 5 gallon bucket!" - one of my brother's lessons in life - but how your muscles start to ache! Thank you for sharing this story with us. I can only imagine how difficult it was for you both.
As a single, senior female considering a live-aboard situ, I very much appreciate the sailors with UA-cam channels who are willing to share the problems that can arise! I could “feel” your anxiety, though, so it was tough to watch. I just discovered your channel by watching one of your reviews, so this situation is well behind you as of this writing, but I’m glad it all worked out. There is SO MUCH to learn! Also good info in the comments!
I have seen this failure before, so I thought I would share my experience. It is highly doubtful that this fitting failed because of pounding into the waves. Instead - and I think the far more likely scenario - is that some time ago, when your boat was hauled out or launched by a travel lift with straps, a strap was inadvertently (or unknowingly) led over the transducer. When the weight of the boat was placed on the transducer as the boat was lifted, the through-hull failed. It did not leak immediately because the transducer fits snugly with two O-rings that seal it well. But, over time, the transducer - with the broken portion of through hull threaded into it - pushed upward and you began taking on water. The lesson is to remove the transducer from the through-hull any time you are hauling or launching the boat so that the straps can not "brute force" the transducer upward. (...The dummy plug is flush). These transducer/through-hull units are very strong and will not fail from anything that should happen while sailing (crashing through waves, etc.) However, they can be damaged when the boat is hauled or launched without proper care. Again, I have seen this exact failure a couple of times, and both were much as I've described above. Hope this information helps as you sort this out, and that others with these transducers can understand that these units are NOT "unsafe" in regular use - they simply require a little extra attention whenever straps are used to lift the boat. Good luck as you move on! Regards, Tom Scott, Morgan 30 Whimsy
This can also happen from just a piece of debris striking the exposed part of the speed sensor while underway. You probably wouldn't even feel it hitting...could be just a piece of semi submerged lumber, or something with enough weight to damage a thruhull.
@@58dorsett Not likely, I think. When these units get hit by debris the impeller and the two side tangs typically deform or sheer and show damage. Only when the force is perfectly vertical or perpendicular to through hull will the through hull fail like this. Also, there is simply no room for "give" when the strap is pushing upward which makes this failure almost unavoidable. Even if you hit a log with boat underway, the log would be forced down a bit, and the boat lifted up a bit, and the failure would not be as clean and square as this. I think the only way this could ever happen is from an error in lifting the boat. If the unit were hit by debris, the impeller or side tags would have been mangled - and the through hull would not have broken cleanly at the top. My opinion only - your mileage may vary.
Best just to removed them & seal the holes. Modern depth transducers can be installed in hull, as long as it's not a metal hull and the impellor ones are rubbish & un-necessary nowadays anyways. Less holes the better.
@@AndysEastCoastAdventures I agree with the less holes the better. However paddlewheel speed impellers are generally not rubbish. Many popular brands use transducers made by Airmar, and these high quality units have been proven and refined over 30 years. They work well. Knot meters can be quite useful for maintaining a higher level of situational awareness with regard to what is happening to your boat as you sail. GPS provides a very useful speed over the ground readout. A knot meter (with impeller) provides you with speed through the water. The difference between those two values is indicative of what the tide or current is doing to you - and that can be very handy to observe and consider in many situations. A quick glance at GPS speed compared to knot meter speed tells you what is affecting you right now. Additionally, since impellers do have to extend through the hull to reach moving water (unlike many depth meters), many have additional features included - like water temperature, for example. Water temperature can be a good bit of information to have readily available when making a Gulf Stream crossing. The impeller driven knot meter also provides "trip specific" information that can be desirable to study as well - like maximum speed, average speed, and water distance sailed (log). Unlike GPS, a knot meter/log does not require dependence upon any aids outside your vessel to operate, and it provides basic information to assist in dead reckoning navigation in the event of a GPS outage. Food for thought - and i do appreciate that some people will find knot meters useless. However, I like and use mine a lot. And when it dies, I will certainly replace it.
You guys are probably not feeling lucky, but in hindsight you truly were , you handled a crisis much better than most would. I said it before and I'll say it again , she's a tough boat with a strong crew! Rum time!
Your experience is really a case study for when good times go bad and how they are dealt with. You did well. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Well done.
Just a suggestion in case you ever meet a similar situation again, If your engine is running and If you can access the sea suction you could close the engine sea suction and remove the suction hose then run the engine at high idle and use the engine's sea water cooling pump to pump out the water. Obviously this could take some time to rig up but it can be a useful trick especially if you manage to stem the flow and just need to bail out fast. Also another suggestion is to install a three way changeover valve on the engine suction to allow you to take suction from inside the boat by simply changing over a valve. You should always have tow means of pumping out your boar and one of them should be a manual pump with as big a capacity as you can fit onboard. The suggestion to use the engine cooling pump comes from big ships which have "Emergency Bilge Injection Valves" fitted to the largest seawater pump in the compartment which is almost always the engine cooling pumps. This allows the main engine cooling pumps to be used as large capacity emergency bilge pumps. Glad you and your boat are ok, thanks for the video.
After watching this I might put a light in the stern that turns on when the bilge pump is running.that way if I see it running I can go check things out SV Aja
Wow! Glad you’re safe! I remember as a small child we had a 29’ Oxford 400 wooden sailboat in Lake Michigan that took on substantial water one day and I remember the same thing, looking in and seeing the floor boards all floating as my mom & dad tried to evacuate water and get us to back to shore. We were just leaving MI to cross back home to Chicago and ended up getting back into a port on the MI shore and having them pull the boat so we could repair it before sailing it back across. On another note, I now have a 44’ sailboat on the ICW that has removable transducers in the forward cabin for depth and speed. I removed the speed one because growth had built up inside preventing the wheel from turning and it is absolutely incredible how fast water pours through that hole when you remove it. It has a plug so you can pull it and replace it with a dummy plug during service but just in that few seconds it took to swap them, it was about a 1” diameter geyser that shot up about 1’ just pouring in until I could get the plug in place! It’s frightening how fast a relatively small hole will allow water to flood in!
Most people would have left??? No they wouldn't, they'd stay and try to find/fix the problem, and worst case scenario, step into the dinghy as the boat sinks. It's not particularly rough, they've got a dinghy, hand-held vhf, and I'm tipping an epirb etc. Personally, unless I thought conditions were life-threatening in the dinghy I'd not bother with a mayday. Maybe a pan pan to "GET ME A FUCKING PUMP, PLEASE". Panic aside it's actually a pretty simple situation. One person check all through-hulls, find/plug hole, while the other sorts the dinghy/survival equipment, then bail water. Not the best way to wash the inside of the boat, however few lessons learned for both them and us, but basically they did pretty oright!
I very much appreciate you sharing this. Sorry the comment is late. I just found you. The idea of using the engine as a back up, I've seen done before. The issue is clogging the intake and starving your engine or allowing debris to flow that damages or clogs your raw water pump. If I can make a suggestion, a portable water pump stored in a cockpit locker. They are available with battery clamps or with plugs for DC power. Some very good things you did: Call for help while you still had a radio. Kept looking until you found and stopped the leak. Took charge of your situation and made good choices. Had a back up radio. The two scariest things for a sailor are fire and flooding. No matter how big the boat or ship, they are both terrifying. I met an old salt years ago that told me about the luck piggy bank. Every time you do maintenance correctly and on time, your putting money in the luck piggy bank. Every time you practice using emergency gear, your putting money in the luck piggy bank. Every time you double check a route and the weather, your putting money in the luck piggy bank. If you keep a large enough deposit in your luck piggy bank, when a disaster happens, you can make a withdrawal. As long as you still have money there, it is manageable. If you run out of money, all may be lost. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Thank GOD you guys were able to overcome this crisis and are safe. A loud high water alarm is definitely a requirement to solve emergencies like yours. Thank you for creating this video and sharing with the world. I will take all your advice and be prepared for an emergency like that. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere.
Great video, and a wake up call for many I'm sure. Thanks for posting. I've just glassed over 6 through hulls in my boat. One of them was a new paddle wheel fitting. It fell out in three pieces and was leaking. It would've failed before long and it would have been a catastrophic leak. I've decided the less holes the better now, and all in readily accessible places so I can check em.
I was on a 52 foot Hatteras during 3 day fishing tournament and we were running at night to a new spot when we hit something and it completely destroyed the port side prop and ripped the shaft basically out of the boat, and it was blowing 25-30 knots on top of it all and I'll be the first person to admit I don't care how prepared you,"think" you are for that moment, when it happens it's really hard at first to do anything productive and when you think back you remember doing stuff but it's foggy and your like what the heck was going on, what was I doing, cause like most people we freak out but thankfully you had each other and you both had a plan and you stuck to it but most important I think is you never quit and your faith in one another gives you strength and that creates a unshakable bond!!! Great job guys glad your ok and the boat lives to sail another day!!!
Sorry you had to go through that, nice job under pressure. For other's info you can close the engine intake through-hull, take the hose off, put it in the water, and the engine is now your secondary bildge pump... Glad you guys are ok.
I encountered a similar leak coming into our boat, we did exactly this as Zingaro mentioned. If the diesel is running and air intake above the water then it’ll keep going. Worked really well, pumped out really fast and saved our boat.
another hint for next time.... close the raw water feed to the engine, disconnect the hose to the engine, turn on the engine, crank it up to cruising speed and instant bilge pump.
So... we'll be checking and double-checking all of our hull penetrations now... Imagine if that happened during an overnight passage or in deeper waters. There's your silver lining! Man... nice job keeping your wits about you and solving the problem.
Bilge Pumps? There should be imho 3. 1” sump, Bilge 2x 2” one forward one aft. also 2 over board extensions hose and power in vase you turtle. My cost for this rig about 350.00 Catalina 38.
Hey guys, just remember: any problem that can be solved with money isn't really a problem. That's the truth some of us begin to realize as we age and come up against issues with health, loss of loved ones, and so on. Be of good cheer, and courage!
This seems callous to those who have very real problems stemming from not having enough money. Not being able to afford medication, food, or rent are very real problems, all of which can be solved with money.
@@recurrenTopology Its a matter of perspective, which is my point. My comment addresses the reality of average persons. You can always drum up extremes to confound any statement, but I'll tell you this: I'd rather have trouble paying the rent than being blind or losing my child! In this country, anyone with a brain and a will can earn money to pay rent and put food on the table. But take it from someone who is aging and beginning to suffer its ravages, you learn that there are things money can't fix - no matter your ability to make more - and that is true desperation, when there is absolutely nothing you can do. So be thankful if you are not in this condition. You are one of the lucky ones!
@@jackrabbit5047 I don't think it's correct to categorize one form of suffering as "true desperation" so as to imply that others forms are not truly desperate. I do not want to over presume, but your opinion strikes me as one which results from you never having had problems of poverty. Allow me to give a personal example which demonstrates a desperation born of not having enough money, and though just an anecdote, I think it is illustrative of a whole class of problems people in our society suffer. My friend is in his mid-20s, of sound body and mind, a single child of a middleclass family. His father died 5 years ago after dealing with the complications of a stroke, the care for which drained his parents' savings. After his father died his mother began to develop dementia. He moved in with her while it was still mild, because she started needing help but couldn't afford any. As the dementia worsened, so did her need for care. As I said, my friend's mother was broke from the expense of taking care of his father, and he was only just starting his career, so had limited savings. Eventually the caretaking demands of his mother got him fired, as she is now at the point where she needs 24 hour care. He can not afford the care she needs, so provides it himself, but providing that care necessitates his not working. It is a truly desperate situation. Money would not fix his mom's dementia, but it would give my friend his life back.
This is the second video of a sinking of a yacht caused by a log through-hull that I've seen in a week. Sailing Zingaro was the other victim. Have a look. Well done for saving everything.
For sure panic might have finished you . Urgency is OK upto when it makes you make bad decisions . Not knowing what was leaking was not good . Eventually arms get tired , pumps break down and you lose the race and you are too exhausted to stand a chance . I'm so glad you survived and are able to fix your boat ! Take care ! Note : the worst day of your life makes every other day better ! It's a win win if you are able to say the words ...
Things to consider for the future: cockpit mounted, manual high volume bilge pump. Y-valve in your engine water intake so you can use it as a high volume, engine driven bilge pump. Checklist for all hull penetrations. Separate bungs/plugs should be dummy corded to each hull penetration/seacock ready for immediate use. Wouldn't sail offshore without any of these things, plus two, separate, electric bilge pumps.
It’s amazing. We knew we had a tight-knit community back at our home club, but being out here now, we see it’s very much the same. Doesn’t matter what boat you’re on, who you are or where you came from - we all stick together and help where we can. It’s the best life!
Great job on saving your home. You two did great....definitely don’t beat yourselves up over “what if’s”. I know a little something about PTSD, and I can tell that Candice might be experiencing a little PTS (post traumatic stress), probably not at the “disorder” level. You will relive it in your mind over and over, but it does get better with time. I do believe you will need to haul out soon. You need to dry out and clean. Some of the things that are working now, might not later with the salt water eating away at it. Haul out, spend a week or 2 cleaning, and continue on. Again, great job on handling a very tense situation.
Not a sailor but a power boater and we always keep a dump pump with us. 15 feet of cable with alligator clips attached to a 3000 gph bilge pump and 10 feet of hose that we can attach to a battery and pump water out fast. Our batteries are above deck in the console but its saved us once in rough seas when the bait well cracked and we filled the hull with water in in 10 to 12 foot seas. Also used the same pump to raise a small sunken 19 footer at the dock. Cheap and can save your life.
when we were building houses we would use gasoline engine water pumps to get rid of water in the Hole for the Basement.. machine digs the hole for basement)) after Rains.... always fighting the weather building
You handled that experience like a seasoned sailor. Someone else may have panicked and jump ship. You got some replacement expenses ahead, but cheaper than buying a new boat. Sail on friend . . .
I do enjoy these videos. I take applaud you for staying calm. As you've shown you think much clearer when you're calm. I think it really shows how good maintenance is so important. If I could offer some constructive advice to all. Make sure your bilge pump is in top order and consider having a back up. I have 3 (2 electric 1 manual). 1 decent (1000 or 2000gph) bilge pump would have handled this leak and kept the boat dry. They're not expensive ( about $50) and worth their weight in gold when needed. I really like the idea of having an external alarm or light for an early warning. Also, along with your stash of softwood plugs, it's worth keeping one of the appropriate size wooded plug tied to the relevant seacock or hull penetration. Saves having to find the stash and get the right size one in a hurry. Thanks again and happy sailing to all.
I hate plastic through hulls, they get brittle with age and prone to cracking. The through hull for our paddlewheel speed sensor has a dummy plug that we keep fastened nearby to the internal hardware, allowing us to swap out and clean the sensor while in the water. Stainless steel wire holds the through hull adapter in place so it can't unscrew itself or pop off completely. The suggestion below to swap it out before haul out is wise advice.
The worst day of your lives, and obviously also the best day of your lives as both of you are safe and you didn't lose your boat. A very dramatic event, hope I'll never have to experience something like that on my boat. Good luck to both of you! SV Tiger Lily, Norway.
It's amazing, how you guys worked through that emergency. Super fast response from others nearby. Angel's looking over you guys. Glad to see you guys are safe.
Having hand bailed 2ft of water out my 35ft yacht I totally understand the emotions you guys went through. Even with the leak plugged it takes forever to feel like you’re making a dent in the water level.Well done for keeping your heads.
Glad you didn't lose the boat, well done keeping your wits. A few plugs taped or tied next to all thru hulls works well. Also a high flow mechanical pump alongside back up pumps is useful. Check out the 120 lpm whale or jabsco pumps, they move a serious amount of water. Great idea on the high water alarm in the cockpit, ill look into that myself :)
Uncle John here, so glad you made it through that mess .You two are great I love your videos.A great message for everyone DONT PANIC in any situation handle it and stress about it later May God keep you safe
I can relate to your experience. Glad you're safe! I'm a single-handed female sailor--and I had a breach from my prop shaft. ...took on about 700 gallons on my 27ft sailboat off the coast of So. California (knee deep ..didn't know where the breach was at the time). Hand bailed into my cockpit while I waited for CG to arrive...scuppers couldn't keep up, so I switched between bailing from cabin to cockpit and bailing from cockpit to overboard. It was around 2am when CG finally got to me...the temp was around 48F (don't know what the water temp was--but I was close to hypothermia when I was rescued... I had/have an electric inboard, my electric panel was near the floor (1981 Catalina), and I didn't have a float switch on my bilge. So when I took on water it fried my entire electrical system (Catalina's lame floor design) and knocked out my bilge in the process. Was definitely an adrenalin-filled night for me. Wishing you Fair Winds & Following Seas!
you wont believe this , new boat owners launched there yacht yesterday close to us and immediately started taking water on from the speed transducer , they only noticed it once they got to there mooring . Being new to boating they had no idea about the wooden bungs , lucky we were close to offer a hand . tips taken is to keep an eye on these plastic fittings and keep spare bungs at each thru hull. well done on saving your boat guys!!! awesome coastguard by the way!
Well done on keeping your cool in a crisis. I've just ordered a selection of bungs from ebay after watching your vlog. We boat mainly on the Irish Inland waterways but still we have several lakes that are like inland seas! Hope you get the boat sorted again soon and I hope that we never need our new bungs. Keep the vlogs coming Rgds guys. 👍
the Mk1 bucket in the hands of a fully motivated person does a mighty fine job. Well done for hanging in their and working the problem. It was very brave to stay on board and sort the problem. You should be very proud of yourselves.
Amazing job of staying calm,cool and collected during this incident. Many people would have probably panicked and lost their boat but you guys took the necessary time to think through the problem and find a solution. This will really serve you well as you continue your journey.
This bilge pump was to small and in my opinion there should be allot more located throughout the boat. I'm glad you safe and I applaud your team work taking charge of the situation.
if you have three bilge pumps ... you'd better have 4 or more batteries to run them .... and make sure the pumps will continue running , well after the batteries have gone "dead", .... below 12 volts .... below 11 volts and below 10 volts ...
I'm going to save this video for the people that tell me I'm crazy for putting the brass or stainless through holes back in instead of the plastic ones. You guys kept your heads together. Great job. You saved your lives and your boat.
I run a 500 gallon bilge pump that goes out the port side of my boat and a 3000 gallon pump that goes out the starboard side. But I put the float switch for the 3000 on a two by four. That way, if I see water coming out the starboard side, I know I've got a problem
Good idea! I also tied wooden plugs to every thru-hull. I’ve also heard of a Y-valve connected to the engine intake and so the engine can run as an auxiliary pump. (Not sure how well that would work). I also make it a habit of peeking below to make sure everything is OK.
Me and my wife had a similar situation taking on water on our 30’ sailboat. It is such a stressful event nobody can realize unless you experience it. You guys did great! Kept your cool and worked as team. You both will get that sailboat back in shape and will sit back with a beer and have a helluva story to tell. Good luck the rest of the way.
You should be bloody proud of yourselves, and as shown, very thankful for those coming out help. Very sorry to see you go through this, but pleased at the same time for coming through this as well!!!
Glad to see that you're both alright! I can't believe how scary that must have been but you both kept your wits about you and with a little help from strangers you were able to push through and resolve the issue! Amazing story, thanks for sharing and I hope you both have a great year this year.
I have a buzzer outside that is linked to the automatic bilge pump circuit to give a warning that can’t be missed outside. Great job in finding the leak and getting through that! Shows how important it is to know your boat’s holes and to have plugs handy!
You guys did a great job on finding the leak and keeping your wits about you. And you have taught me something about wimpy sounding alarms. I am in the process of installing one for my boat now and after watching this video I will make sure that I can hear it loud and clear from the cockpit. Thanks for sharing and well done :)
SV Aurora, Morgan 382Gotta make sure you have a decent strainer on the bilge side of that 3-way valve since bilge debris can quickly plug up or destroy your engine water pump, and now you have even more problems with an overheated engine.
@@jim8142 Yep, you just have the three way valve set upstream in between the seacock and the raw water pump strainer connected to the engine's water pump. You also want to have a long hose connected to that valve that can reach far out in the bilge and ready to deploy easily. The last thing you want to do in such an emergency is spend time trying to fit a proper hose to a valve. That's definitely a last resort type of action, but a very cheap security element and option that can truly make a difference. This and having a backup high flow bilge pump. With all due respect, I can't believe he undertook a voyage with just one tiny bilge pump.
@@ianjorrick541 Yep, we all learn, the easy way or the hard way. I learned the hard way myself too, after burning through three bilge pumps in just one trip from Massachusetts to Florida
Well done guys, I agree with Candice, you should be proud. You handled a stressfull crisis without any panic and worked well together to save your boat. I saw someone have a similar issue a few years back when I was outfitting my cruising sailboat and made sure I bought one of the screw in blanks that can quickly replace a broken speed transducer.
Thank you for sharing this experience with us. Even though it was 5 years ago I'm glad everything worked out and you handled it like pros. Smooth sailing never made a good sailor.
Great video and thank you for sharing with us. Keeping your wits about you in crisis situation like this is truly amazing. I don’t know if I could have been so calm. We all think we can until we are the ones with the bucket. Anyway one thing I learned in my days of saving boaters is a tarp or something lowered over the side in the area of the hole once you found it would automatically be something sucked into the hole thus slowing or stopping the water intrusion looks like you guys did everything right though with your plug. Remember all boats are sinking some just slower than others good luck to you don’t give up the ship
I bought a boat, I'm rebuilding it now but I'm positive that it sank for the exact same reason. The through hull knot meter at the bow was damaged. I took it out and glassed over the hole. I also got rid of about half of my through hulls. Thanks for sharing and great job saving your boat.
My prayers are with you guys i love your videos you are real people living your dreams sometimes a dream becomes a nightmare but you nailed it the way you handled it so dont beat yourselfs up noone know what they would do under the preasure now you do great job both of you
Big thank you for sharing so the rest of us can learn. Can’t imagine the shock of it all. You kept your heads and figured it out, and dealt with what needed to be done. And you lived it again to produce this video, so thank you again! Champions!
Good argument for water tight compartment for your battery bank with venting running above deck. We all understand the lower the batteries the better because of the weight factor. One of the biggest draw backs to smaller sailing vessels is lack of access to just about everything.
Great job saving your ship. As a retired Navy guy, I've made a few rescues at sea over the years and it is SO HARD to witness sailors leave their boat. We sent over folks to help whenever possible and you guys showed tremendous fortitude to keep at it. Congratulations!
Great work Tim & Cadice! Lessons learned for all of us are, 1)NO PLASTIC THRU HULL FITTINGS! 2) The only below waterline work you can trust is work performed by yourself 3) After all thru hull fittings are bronze, the focus then shifts to the hoses attached to them all must be double-clamped and checked often.
There is nothing wrong with plastic thru hull fittings. Its impossible to break those and they are not affected by electrolysis like bronze type. That sensor was probably never fastened properly and it just popped out. So proper maintenance is the problem here.
Thanks for sharing this experience. Thankfully all turned out ok. The great benefit is so many have learned from your experience. As we set up to adventure, we will prepare as best we can for such an occurrence. Lots of lessons here.
Really feel for you guys, don't think there are many sailors who would have kept their heads as you did so you need to be very proud of yourselves. It may be a mess now but the main thing is you are alive and kicking. There ain't nothing that can't be fixed so give yourselves time, relax and take it a little at a time. There are many people who want to help going by the messages that came througth after it happened so acept the good will and push through until Lady K is back to where she should be. Sending positive thoughts to you, catch your breath, make a list in order of priorities and set about putting her back as she was. Good luck, keep up the reports of how you're doing. Best wishes b....Steve
Good idea rest up today aand even for a couple of days until you feel emotionally and mentally prepared to soldier on. It may sound stupid but you've done the hard part=saving Lady K, Now you've done that everything else should be a walk in the park compared to that. Good luck, good weather and easy repairs.
I initially thought - clickbait. Glad that I watched it and that you posted this. Very genuine and I feel like I know have at the very least gained some valuable insight. Thank you.
As people shares their bad experiences they do give good lessons to others at sea.Things can go wrong while we are at sea.Knowing how to react problems having the right tools may help to survive.This case two buckets instead of one.Even on calm seas thing may go wrong.Being prepared and having another person with you is safer.Big applause for both of you.You have acted right and prevented your boat from sinking.👍
And don't forget to thank the lord for flooding your boat! I mean - him being good and almighty and all - there surely was absolutely no way he could have prevented that in the first place...
First thing you do: Check all the hull fittings/sea cocks. Stop the engine. Close the seacock for the engine cooling and cut the hose at the lowest point (which in a semiflooded boat is underwater) and start the engine again, running it at full speed. The impeller pump is the most effective bilge pump and will be more effective than bailing by buckets. And you have your hands free for searching and fixing the leak.
As a young commercial gillnet night fishermen in the rough waters of the inside passage of the Pacific Northwest, Anything that can happen ! Will ! First, have a somewhat wide and long piece of Canvas with ropes attached for a out side haul leakage stopper. One just slides the canvas from front to the back, you will find the leak by the friction holding the canvas by the water coming in, That gives you a location for your inside reference . Than use what you have to further stop the incoming water. Always have a three way valve fitting on your engine sea water inlet through hull intake system. Thereby, one can use the engine water pumps to sump the incoming water in the bilge, out of the vessel. If you haven't done that , do it. The engine can , with increased RPMs , pull a lot of water. Each inside partition is a bulkhead. Make them that as much as you can, this will allow for more control of the hull breach. Next each part of the vessel has a electric sump pump , no exceptions. Period. And, have at least one high volume sump pump . PERIOD. And, get your selves a high volume hand pull up pump. PERIOD. Find the low spot in your bilge to put it. Make sure you always have access to your vessels bilge at any one spot along the interior of the Hull.PERIOD no piling while underway. Nothing of importance should be at bilge full level, tronics, bats systems, storage, and personals. Being alone , even in the daylight can be very stressful as you now know. Always, when taking on water shoot that flare gun off every ten mins or so . Water people without radios will Show up , more hands, gets the humor of the experienced water people there , bringing a waterworld vib for your piece of mind. There's more , change to water ware, throw supplies into the skiff. And, remember , if anything that can happening , WILL. WE ALL HAVE YOUR STORY TOO. TUPERWARE VESSELS tend to bounce much more than heavy wood or steel does, that lends to insecurity . Which can have an effect during an event. Know this. You stayed with your vessel, that's Good. She will now behave, she has said no to Davy Jones Locker. And this was a very good video, don't ever think it's easy to do what you just did. The reality of water travel is to this day full of tragedy. But those who love the water, and take their trials with Spirit strength will always be held up by the ocean spirit. Hope that helps, because we all have to learn about the water.
Scary experience but now you know what’s needed to have a safe boat. The old bilge pumps are a must to replace . A clean bilge also a must. I’ve been on 2 boats where the problems could have been better with proper water out👍🏻. One was a 79’ and I called the coast guard n made them aware but got to a safe harbor. Now u are better sailors, good for you. Great video, your commentary is all good.
Great Team Work guys, water water everywhere and not a freakin drop to drink. Thank God you still got a boat.. God Bless and stay safe... You stayed calm that's rule numero uno.....
Until you get something else plugging that hole, plug that spot at the bottom where the locker drains into the bilge. The rest of the locker looks like its above water level, so if the bung plug comes loose, only the forward locker will flood. And now the rest of your bahamas cruise will be "old school", the way we cruised in the 80's. Without GPS, you still can't get lost in the exumas. Just keep on sailing the trip you had planned. When its time to go home, a compass heading will get you within sight of Nassau and again you can find the Berry Islands by compass and scanning the horizon for land at about the right number of hours sailing. Florida is too big to miss, so you can't get lost, but you get all the mega-cred when you tell all your friends that you just continued on through the exumas and did the entire rest of the cruise by compass. If your fridge holds out, you're ahead of the game. Otherwise its speared fish and lobster with some canned food when necessary, the adventure of a lifetime, and an amazing story to tell your friends. Wish I was there with you.
sorry but I have to disagree with you. Anytime you have a catastrophic failure with that type of water intrusion requires a safe captain to have the boat hauled, and do a complete check of all systems onboard. I promise there are wires in the bilge that feed things they cannot do without and continuing on without having an insurance inspection and a proper marine survey to assess damage is a grave mistake.You already have multiple failures of electrical equipment. Compromised wiring that has been under salt water is a risk for shorting and causing equipment failure or in the worse case a fire. Be safe, you already dodged a bullet.
@@KM-fs4sg Brings up some good points. I think the plan is to haul out in Georgetown, so your suggestion for an insurance inspection if their insurance requires it is good. Also concern about wires and shorts is a great suggestion. If they read this, going through the wiring and disconnect leads to anything not working now would be good. Some wire could be salvaged to run direct from the battery to what does work, possibly routing through the cabin where it can be seen. Continuing the trip with minimal electronics is entirely do-able. If they have some paper charts, a handheld VHF radio and a working compass is all you really need. Glassing over the through hulls is easy, especially when hauled out. Sand out a hollow bevel all around both sides and lay progressively larger round pieces of glass on both sides. Let the first one harden before laying the first one on the other side so you can stick them together in the center before building up layers on both sides. It'll hold.
I’m in the coast guard stationed in Miami good to hear the positive reviews glad to see you guys are safe
You guys and gals are truly hero’s thank you so very much for what you do ❤️
I second that✌🏻💗😊❣️
Woooo!
was in serious circumstances twice incl the double noreaster 83 that sank several sail boats. my boat was towed into charleston by the CG, crew and friends safe (i was home in tx dry). they were instant on our ssb re pon pon, stayed in touch with us til the crisis was resolved off burmuda (another boat). was at sampson cay (bahamas) when a diver was badly injured by a shark. he was whisked to miami by the CG under an hour after the attack.
You unfortunate experience will help us prepare our boat better! Replacing all throw hulls and hoses and transducers. Install a second 2000 gph bilge pump. I also will Carry a ruel 3700 gph pump with 20 ft of hose and 25 ft of wire with alligator clips stored in a mesh bag And a small 24 series stand by agm battery. I was in the marine towing and salvage business as my side gig,that 3700 gph pump will handle a lot of water fast. Only takes a couple of min to deploy. Great channel! We watched all your Videos about boat manufacturers. Nice job! THANKS!
I was in the Coast Guard from 1983 to 1989 and responded to my share of SAR (search and rescue) missions, and I am so proud of you all finding the cause and correcting it rather than abandoning ship. We usually pull people up in the baskets, but you guys showed your strength and determination. Semper Paratus “Always Ready”!
Only 6 years in the Coastguard? What did you do for the rest of the time? Best regards, Al
"Nobody can move water faster than a scared man with a 5 gallon bucket!" - one of my brother's lessons in life - but how your muscles start to ache! Thank you for sharing this story with us. I can only imagine how difficult it was for you both.
RESPECT!!! To your Coast Guard, and to the Mariners who came to your aid without question or delay. Faith in the Nautical community INCreased!!
As a single, senior female considering a live-aboard situ, I very much appreciate the sailors with UA-cam channels who are willing to share the problems that can arise! I could “feel” your anxiety, though, so it was tough to watch. I just discovered your channel by watching one of your reviews, so this situation is well behind you as of this writing, but I’m glad it all worked out. There is SO MUCH to learn! Also good info in the comments!
I have seen this failure before, so I thought I would share my experience.
It is highly doubtful that this fitting failed because of pounding into the waves. Instead - and I think the far more likely scenario - is that some time ago, when your boat was hauled out or launched by a travel lift with straps, a strap was inadvertently (or unknowingly) led over the transducer. When the weight of the boat was placed on the transducer as the boat was lifted, the through-hull failed. It did not leak immediately because the transducer fits snugly with two O-rings that seal it well. But, over time, the transducer - with the broken portion of through hull threaded into it - pushed upward and you began taking on water. The lesson is to remove the transducer from the through-hull any time you are hauling or launching the boat so that the straps can not "brute force" the transducer upward. (...The dummy plug is flush). These transducer/through-hull units are very strong and will not fail from anything that should happen while sailing (crashing through waves, etc.) However, they can be damaged when the boat is hauled or launched without proper care. Again, I have seen this exact failure a couple of times, and both were much as I've described above. Hope this information helps as you sort this out, and that others with these transducers can understand that these units are NOT "unsafe" in regular use - they simply require a little extra attention whenever straps are used to lift the boat. Good luck as you move on!
Regards,
Tom Scott, Morgan 30 Whimsy
This can also happen from just a piece of debris striking the exposed part of the speed sensor while underway. You probably wouldn't even feel it hitting...could be just a piece of semi submerged lumber, or something with enough weight to damage a thruhull.
@@58dorsett Not likely, I think. When these units get hit by debris the impeller and the two side tangs typically deform or sheer and show damage. Only when the force is perfectly vertical or perpendicular to through hull will the through hull fail like this. Also, there is simply no room for "give" when the strap is pushing upward which makes this failure almost unavoidable. Even if you hit a log with boat underway, the log would be forced down a bit, and the boat lifted up a bit, and the failure would not be as clean and square as this. I think the only way this could ever happen is from an error in lifting the boat. If the unit were hit by debris, the impeller or side tags would have been mangled - and the through hull would not have broken cleanly at the top. My opinion only - your mileage may vary.
Isn't this also why the big money boats use the all metal ($$$) transducers?
Best just to removed them & seal the holes. Modern depth transducers can be installed in hull, as long as it's not a metal hull and the impellor ones are rubbish & un-necessary nowadays anyways. Less holes the better.
@@AndysEastCoastAdventures I agree with the less holes the better. However paddlewheel speed impellers are generally not rubbish. Many popular brands use transducers made by Airmar, and these high quality units have been proven and refined over 30 years. They work well. Knot meters can be quite useful for maintaining a higher level of situational awareness with regard to what is happening to your boat as you sail. GPS provides a very useful speed over the ground readout. A knot meter (with impeller) provides you with speed through the water. The difference between those two values is indicative of what the tide or current is doing to you - and that can be very handy to observe and consider in many situations. A quick glance at GPS speed compared to knot meter speed tells you what is affecting you right now. Additionally, since impellers do have to extend through the hull to reach moving water (unlike many depth meters), many have additional features included - like water temperature, for example. Water temperature can be a good bit of information to have readily available when making a Gulf Stream crossing. The impeller driven knot meter also provides "trip specific" information that can be desirable to study as well - like maximum speed, average speed, and water distance sailed (log). Unlike GPS, a knot meter/log does not require dependence upon any aids outside your vessel to operate, and it provides basic information to assist in dead reckoning navigation in the event of a GPS outage. Food for thought - and i do appreciate that some people will find knot meters useless. However, I like and use mine a lot. And when it dies, I will certainly replace it.
You guys are probably not feeling lucky, but in hindsight you truly were , you handled a crisis much better than most would. I said it before and I'll say it again , she's a tough boat with a strong crew! Rum time!
Captain Q always asks boat owners, "Do you know how many thru-hulls are in this boat. Know where every thru-hull is." Good job, you saved the boat!
Your experience is really a case study for when good times go bad and how they are dealt with. You did well. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Well done.
Thank you! 😁
Just a suggestion in case you ever meet a similar situation again, If your engine is running and If you can access the sea suction you could close the engine sea suction and remove the suction hose then run the engine at high idle and use the engine's sea water cooling pump to pump out the water. Obviously this could take some time to rig up but it can be a useful trick especially if you manage to stem the flow and just need to bail out fast. Also another suggestion is to install a three way changeover valve on the engine suction to allow you to take suction from inside the boat by simply changing over a valve. You should always have tow means of pumping out your boar and one of them should be a manual pump with as big a capacity as you can fit onboard. The suggestion to use the engine cooling pump comes from big ships which have "Emergency Bilge Injection Valves" fitted to the largest seawater pump in the compartment which is almost always the engine cooling pumps. This allows the main engine cooling pumps to be used as large capacity emergency bilge pumps. Glad you and your boat are ok, thanks for the video.
Very good thought
That girl is a sailer, and a champ...my wife would have been hysterical.
I think I would have been hysterical tbh
After watching this I might put a light in the stern that turns on when the bilge pump is running.that way if I see it running I can go check things out
SV Aja
Wow! Glad you’re safe! I remember as a small child we had a 29’ Oxford 400 wooden sailboat in Lake Michigan that took on substantial water one day and I remember the same thing, looking in and seeing the floor boards all floating as my mom & dad tried to evacuate water and get us to back to shore. We were just leaving MI to cross back home to Chicago and ended up getting back into a port on the MI shore and having them pull the boat so we could repair it before sailing it back across.
On another note, I now have a 44’ sailboat on the ICW that has removable transducers in the forward cabin for depth and speed. I removed the speed one because growth had built up inside preventing the wheel from turning and it is absolutely incredible how fast water pours through that hole when you remove it. It has a plug so you can pull it and replace it with a dummy plug during service but just in that few seconds it took to swap them, it was about a 1” diameter geyser that shot up about 1’ just pouring in until I could get the plug in place! It’s frightening how fast a relatively small hole will allow water to flood in!
Thanks for watching! Glad everyone was safe
Amazing job guys most people would of left the boat but you guys rose to the top of your game and saved your yacht this video will go viral cheers
Bingo Slipstream! They did a great job!
Yeah, I couldn't agree more. First class teamwork to save your home :)
would have, not would of!
You only leave the boat when you're feet touch the water and you're up the mast.
Most people would have left??? No they wouldn't, they'd stay and try to find/fix the problem, and worst case scenario, step into the dinghy as the boat sinks. It's not particularly rough, they've got a dinghy, hand-held vhf, and I'm tipping an epirb etc. Personally, unless I thought conditions were life-threatening in the dinghy I'd not bother with a mayday. Maybe a pan pan to "GET ME A FUCKING PUMP, PLEASE". Panic aside it's actually a pretty simple situation. One person check all through-hulls, find/plug hole, while the other sorts the dinghy/survival equipment, then bail water.
Not the best way to wash the inside of the boat, however few lessons learned for both them and us, but basically they did pretty oright!
I very much appreciate you sharing this. Sorry the comment is late. I just found you. The idea of using the engine as a back up, I've seen done before. The issue is clogging the intake and starving your engine or allowing debris to flow that damages or clogs your raw water pump. If I can make a suggestion, a portable water pump stored in a cockpit locker. They are available with battery clamps or with plugs for DC power.
Some very good things you did:
Call for help while you still had a radio.
Kept looking until you found and stopped the leak.
Took charge of your situation and made good choices.
Had a back up radio.
The two scariest things for a sailor are fire and flooding. No matter how big the boat or ship, they are both terrifying.
I met an old salt years ago that told me about the luck piggy bank.
Every time you do maintenance correctly and on time, your putting money in the luck piggy bank.
Every time you practice using emergency gear, your putting money in the luck piggy bank.
Every time you double check a route and the weather, your putting money in the luck piggy bank.
If you keep a large enough deposit in your luck piggy bank, when a disaster happens, you can make a withdrawal. As long as you still have money there, it is manageable. If you run out of money, all may be lost.
Thank you for sharing your experience.
Similar concept for relationship. They call it a “Love Bank”. - His Needs, Her Needs.
Thank you Coast Guard. They came to your rescue. They are marvelous even though they haven't gotten paid for a month.
Thank GOD you guys were able to overcome this crisis and are safe. A loud high water alarm is definitely a requirement to solve emergencies like yours. Thank you for creating this video and sharing with the world. I will take all your advice and be prepared for an emergency like that. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere.
It really can happen to any boat at any time. We’re making a lot of changes around here to make sure we’re ready for anything
Great video, and a wake up call for many I'm sure. Thanks for posting. I've just glassed over 6 through hulls in my boat. One of them was a new paddle wheel fitting. It fell out in three pieces and was leaking. It would've failed before long and it would have been a catastrophic leak. I've decided the less holes the better now, and all in readily accessible places so I can check em.
I was on a 52 foot Hatteras during 3 day fishing tournament and we were running at night to a new spot when we hit something and it completely destroyed the port side prop and ripped the shaft basically out of the boat, and it was blowing 25-30 knots on top of it all and I'll be the first person to admit I don't care how prepared you,"think" you are for that moment, when it happens it's really hard at first to do anything productive and when you think back you remember doing stuff but it's foggy and your like what the heck was going on, what was I doing, cause like most people we freak out but thankfully you had each other and you both had a plan and you stuck to it but most important I think is you never quit and your faith in one another gives you strength and that creates a unshakable bond!!! Great job guys glad your ok and the boat lives to sail another day!!!
Sorry you had to go through that, nice job under pressure. For other's info you can close the engine intake through-hull, take the hose off, put it in the water, and the engine is now your secondary bildge pump... Glad you guys are ok.
I encountered a similar leak coming into our boat, we did exactly this as Zingaro mentioned. If the diesel is running and air intake above the water then it’ll keep going. Worked really well, pumped out really fast and saved our boat.
another hint for next time.... close the raw water feed to the engine, disconnect the hose to the engine, turn on the engine, crank it up to cruising speed and instant bilge pump.
So... we'll be checking and double-checking all of our hull penetrations now...
Imagine if that happened during an overnight passage or in deeper waters. There's your silver lining!
Man... nice job keeping your wits about you and solving the problem.
I think that a fire would be the worst event to happen on a small boat.
Keep a bung tied to each thru hull along with spares in the toolbox. They can split so it's good to have extras.
Bilge Pumps? There should be imho 3. 1” sump, Bilge 2x 2” one forward one aft. also 2 over board extensions hose and power in vase you turtle. My cost for this rig about 350.00 Catalina 38.
@@tangoreal9098 lol, I have a manual hand pump bilge pump, sure gonna update that for this summer :O
Glad you're both all right
New Viewer here. You kept your heads and did what was needed, physically and mentally. Good on you two!!
Hey guys, just remember: any problem that can be solved with money isn't really a problem. That's the truth some of us begin to realize as we age and come up against issues with health, loss of loved ones, and so on. Be of good cheer, and courage!
So very true. Thanks so much
You said that a lot more nicely than I was thinking it. Thanks you.
This seems callous to those who have very real problems stemming from not having enough money. Not being able to afford medication, food, or rent are very real problems, all of which can be solved with money.
@@recurrenTopology Its a matter of perspective, which is my point. My comment addresses the reality of average persons. You can always drum up extremes to confound any statement, but I'll tell you this: I'd rather have trouble paying the rent than being blind or losing my child! In this country, anyone with a brain and a will can earn money to pay rent and put food on the table. But take it from someone who is aging and beginning to suffer its ravages, you learn that there are things money can't fix - no matter your ability to make more - and that is true desperation, when there is absolutely nothing you can do. So be thankful if you are not in this condition. You are one of the lucky ones!
@@jackrabbit5047 I don't think it's correct to categorize one form of suffering as "true desperation" so as to imply that others forms are not truly desperate. I do not want to over presume, but your opinion strikes me as one which results from you never having had problems of poverty. Allow me to give a personal example which demonstrates a desperation born of not having enough money, and though just an anecdote, I think it is illustrative of a whole class of problems people in our society suffer.
My friend is in his mid-20s, of sound body and mind, a single child of a middleclass family. His father died 5 years ago after dealing with the complications of a stroke, the care for which drained his parents' savings. After his father died his mother began to develop dementia. He moved in with her while it was still mild, because she started needing help but couldn't afford any. As the dementia worsened, so did her need for care. As I said, my friend's mother was broke from the expense of taking care of his father, and he was only just starting his career, so had limited savings. Eventually the caretaking demands of his mother got him fired, as she is now at the point where she needs 24 hour care. He can not afford the care she needs, so provides it himself, but providing that care necessitates his not working. It is a truly desperate situation. Money would not fix his mom's dementia, but it would give my friend his life back.
This is the second video of a sinking of a yacht caused by a log through-hull that I've seen in a week. Sailing Zingaro was the other victim. Have a look. Well done for saving everything.
For sure panic might have finished you .
Urgency is OK upto when it makes you make bad decisions .
Not knowing what was leaking was not good .
Eventually arms get tired , pumps break down and you lose the race and you are too exhausted to stand a chance .
I'm so glad you survived and are able to fix your boat ! Take care !
Note : the worst day of your life makes every other day better !
It's a win win if you are able to say the words ...
Things to consider for the future: cockpit mounted, manual high volume bilge pump. Y-valve in your engine water intake so you can use it as a high volume, engine driven bilge pump. Checklist for all hull penetrations. Separate bungs/plugs should be dummy corded to each hull penetration/seacock ready for immediate use. Wouldn't sail offshore without any of these things, plus two, separate, electric bilge pumps.
One cool thing about the boating community, your never alone. That's gotta be comforting
It’s amazing. We knew we had a tight-knit community back at our home club, but being out here now, we see it’s very much the same. Doesn’t matter what boat you’re on, who you are or where you came from - we all stick together and help where we can. It’s the best life!
A real lesson in perseverance! Y’all handled this situation much better than I would have. Good on you!!!
Great job on saving your home. You two did great....definitely don’t beat yourselves up over “what if’s”. I know a little something about PTSD, and I can tell that Candice might be experiencing a little PTS (post traumatic stress), probably not at the “disorder” level. You will relive it in your mind over and over, but it does get better with time.
I do believe you will need to haul out soon. You need to dry out and clean. Some of the things that are working now, might not later with the salt water eating away at it. Haul out, spend a week or 2 cleaning, and continue on.
Again, great job on handling a very tense situation.
Hey great advice thanks. We’re hauling out as soon as we get to Georgetown
Amazing story. So many folks would have panicked and not work through the problems. Great job.
Excellent learning lesson! You both kept your "cool' and no trash
talk...thank you!
Not a sailor but a power boater and we always keep a dump pump with us. 15 feet of cable with alligator clips attached to a 3000 gph bilge pump and 10 feet of hose that we can attach to a battery and pump water out fast. Our batteries are above deck in the console but its saved us once in rough seas when the bait well cracked and we filled the hull with water in in 10 to 12 foot seas. Also used the same pump to raise a small sunken 19 footer at the dock. Cheap and can save your life.
when we were building houses we would use gasoline engine water pumps to get rid of water in the Hole for the Basement.. machine digs the hole for basement)) after Rains.... always fighting the weather building
You handled that experience like a seasoned sailor. Someone else may have panicked and jump ship. You got some replacement expenses ahead, but cheaper than buying a new boat. Sail on friend . . .
Your reaction and actions to this crisis are to be commended.
Wow...what a story! I'm glad you guys are safe!
I do enjoy these videos. I take applaud you for staying calm. As you've shown you think much clearer when you're calm. I think it really shows how good maintenance is so important. If I could offer some constructive advice to all. Make sure your bilge pump is in top order and consider having a back up. I have 3 (2 electric 1 manual). 1 decent (1000 or 2000gph) bilge pump would have handled this leak and kept the boat dry. They're not expensive ( about $50) and worth their weight in gold when needed. I really like the idea of having an external alarm or light for an early warning. Also, along with your stash of softwood plugs, it's worth keeping one of the appropriate size wooded plug tied to the relevant seacock or hull penetration. Saves having to find the stash and get the right size one in a hurry.
Thanks again and happy sailing to all.
"appropriate size wooded plug tied to the relevant seacock or hull penetration" I did not do that but before I wrote this I did.
I hate plastic through hulls, they get brittle with age and prone to cracking. The through hull for our paddlewheel speed sensor has a dummy plug that we keep fastened nearby to the internal hardware, allowing us to swap out and clean the sensor while in the water. Stainless steel wire holds the through hull adapter in place so it can't unscrew itself or pop off completely. The suggestion below to swap it out before haul out is wise advice.
The worst day of your lives, and obviously also the best day of your lives as both of you are safe and you didn't lose your boat. A very dramatic event, hope I'll never have to experience something like that on my boat. Good luck to both of you!
SV Tiger Lily, Norway.
Wow, so glad you all solved the problem and were able to save your boat. Unfortunate, but great work keeping your head on your shoulders.
It's amazing, how you guys worked through that emergency. Super fast response from others nearby. Angel's looking over you guys. Glad to see you guys are safe.
Thanks for sharing this, I can imagine it was to edit and watch. Lots of lessons and good advice for the rest of us.
Having hand bailed 2ft of water out my 35ft yacht I totally understand the emotions you guys went through. Even with the leak plugged it takes forever to feel like you’re making a dent in the water level.Well done for keeping your heads.
Glad you didn't lose the boat, well done keeping your wits.
A few plugs taped or tied next to all thru hulls works well. Also a high flow mechanical pump alongside back up pumps is useful. Check out the 120 lpm whale or jabsco pumps, they move a serious amount of water. Great idea on the high water alarm in the cockpit, ill look into that myself :)
Uncle John here, so glad you made it through that mess .You two are great I love your videos.A great message for everyone DONT PANIC in any situation handle it and stress about it later May God keep you safe
Hey hey. Yes calm is key. There is a solution. There is a solution. I just kept repeating it.
Great advice Uncle John!
I find it hard to “like” this. I’m glad you guys are safe. Peace from Allegro.
Well done on saving your boat. Lessons there for all of us. Hope you get everything sorted without excess expense.
What a team! Strengthening your team that was already strong! 🇨🇦
I can relate to your experience. Glad you're safe! I'm a single-handed female sailor--and I had a breach from my prop shaft. ...took on about 700 gallons on my 27ft sailboat off the coast of So. California (knee deep ..didn't know where the breach was at the time). Hand bailed into my cockpit while I waited for CG to arrive...scuppers couldn't keep up, so I switched between bailing from cabin to cockpit and bailing from cockpit to overboard. It was around 2am when CG finally got to me...the temp was around 48F (don't know what the water temp was--but I was close to hypothermia when I was rescued...
I had/have an electric inboard, my electric panel was near the floor (1981 Catalina), and I didn't have a float switch on my bilge. So when I took on water it fried my entire electrical system (Catalina's lame floor design) and knocked out my bilge in the process. Was definitely an adrenalin-filled night for me.
Wishing you Fair Winds & Following Seas!
you wont believe this , new boat owners launched there yacht yesterday close to us and immediately started taking water on from the speed transducer , they only noticed it once they got to there mooring . Being new to boating they had no idea about the wooden bungs , lucky we were close to offer a hand . tips taken is to keep an eye on these plastic fittings and keep spare bungs at each thru hull. well done on saving your boat guys!!! awesome coastguard by the way!
Wow quite frightening that lucky you were close to help and you sorted it out. Well done guys.
Well done on keeping your cool in a crisis. I've just ordered a selection of bungs from ebay after watching your vlog. We boat mainly on the Irish Inland waterways but still we have several lakes that are like inland seas! Hope you get the boat sorted again soon and I hope that we never need our new bungs.
Keep the vlogs coming
Rgds guys.
👍
the Mk1 bucket in the hands of a fully motivated person does a mighty fine job. Well done for hanging in their and working the problem. It was very brave to stay on board and sort the problem. You should be very proud of yourselves.
Glad you are okay. You omitted a public BIG THANK YOU to console boat guy, pump lending guy, and the U.S. Coast Guard.
Yvonne Rediger yes really!
Amazing job of staying calm,cool and collected during this incident. Many people would have probably panicked and lost their boat but you guys took the necessary time to think through the problem and find a solution. This will really serve you well as you continue your journey.
This is why I have 3 bilge pumps on my boat. Good job though guys.
+1 Automatic electric bilge, manual bilge, and a heavy duty Whale lever pump in the DC kit. And 5 gallon buckets have so many uses!
This bilge pump was to small and in my opinion there should be allot more located throughout the boat. I'm glad you safe and I applaud your team work taking charge of the situation.
@@Military-Museum-LP Could a bilge pump keep up with the amount of saltwater intake they were filling up with?
if you have three bilge pumps ... you'd better have 4 or more batteries to run them .... and make sure the pumps will continue running , well after the batteries have gone "dead", .... below 12 volts .... below 11 volts and below 10 volts ...
I have three electronic and two manual pumps but if it's a big hole you got no hope
I'm going to save this video for the people that tell me I'm crazy for putting the brass or stainless through holes back in instead of the plastic ones.
You guys kept your heads together. Great job. You saved your lives and your boat.
I run a 500 gallon bilge pump that goes out the port side of my boat and a 3000 gallon pump that goes out the starboard side. But I put the float switch for the 3000 on a two by four. That way, if I see water coming out the starboard side, I know I've got a problem
Good idea! I also tied wooden plugs to every thru-hull. I’ve also heard of a Y-valve connected to the engine intake and so the engine can run as an auxiliary pump. (Not sure how well that would work). I also make it a habit of peeking below to make sure everything is OK.
in a pinch, you can cut your water intake on your engine and put the newly opened end of the intake hose into the taken-on water to pump it out…
That’s a good idea👍
Me and my wife had a similar situation taking on water on our 30’ sailboat. It is such a stressful event nobody can realize unless you experience it. You guys did great! Kept your cool and worked as team. You both will get that sailboat back in shape and will sit back with a beer and have a helluva story to tell. Good luck the rest of the way.
Thanks so much. Yeah it’s a heck of a feeling that’s for sure. Happy we made it through.
You should be bloody proud of yourselves, and as shown, very thankful for those coming out help. Very sorry to see you go through this, but pleased at the same time for coming through this as well!!!
If it don't kill ya it only makes you stronger. Well done!
You guys are very lucky, everythingthing was in your favor that day. And you still got your boat!
Glad to see that you're both alright! I can't believe how scary that must have been but you both kept your wits about you and with a little help from strangers you were able to push through and resolve the issue! Amazing story, thanks for sharing and I hope you both have a great year this year.
I have a buzzer outside that is linked to the automatic bilge pump circuit to give a warning that can’t be missed outside. Great job in finding the leak and getting through that!
Shows how important it is to know your boat’s holes and to have plugs handy!
Happy you are both safe and you did extremely well working together.
You guys did a great job on finding the leak and keeping your wits about you. And you have taught me something about wimpy sounding alarms. I am in the process of installing one for my boat now and after watching this video I will make sure that I can hear it loud and clear from the cockpit. Thanks for sharing and well done :)
Glad you made it guys . Let this be a lesson to all as this could happen to anyone .
Such a good learning opportunity, thank you for sharing
i have a 3 way valve on the engine so it can suck up water from the bilge its only a emergency
SV Aurora, Morgan 382Gotta make sure you have a decent strainer on the bilge side of that 3-way valve since bilge debris can quickly plug up or destroy your engine water pump, and now you have even more problems with an overheated engine.
@@jim8142 Yep, you just have the three way valve set upstream in between the seacock and the raw water pump strainer connected to the engine's water pump. You also want to have a long hose connected to that valve that can reach far out in the bilge and ready to deploy easily. The last thing you want to do in such an emergency is spend time trying to fit a proper hose to a valve. That's definitely a last resort type of action, but a very cheap security element and option that can truly make a difference. This and having a backup high flow bilge pump. With all due respect, I can't believe he undertook a voyage with just one tiny bilge pump.
@@Niaaal he's a smart guy and learning along the way.
@@ianjorrick541 Yep, we all learn, the easy way or the hard way. I learned the hard way myself too, after burning through three bilge pumps in just one trip from Massachusetts to Florida
Well done guys, I agree with Candice, you should be proud. You handled a stressfull crisis without any panic and worked well together to save your boat. I saw someone have a similar issue a few years back when I was outfitting my cruising sailboat and made sure I bought one of the screw in blanks that can quickly replace a broken speed transducer.
Life or death and this guy is about saving money he definitely wins the Mr, Thrifty award of the decade
Thank you for sharing this experience with us. Even though it was 5 years ago I'm glad everything worked out and you handled it like pros. Smooth sailing never made a good sailor.
Boy is that ever a pearl of wisdom.
Great video and thank you for sharing with us. Keeping your wits about you in crisis situation like this is truly amazing. I don’t know if I could have been so calm. We all think we can until we are the ones with the bucket. Anyway one thing I learned in my days of saving boaters is a tarp or something lowered over the side in the area of the hole once you found it would automatically be something sucked into the hole thus slowing or stopping the water intrusion looks like you guys did everything right though with your plug. Remember all boats are sinking some just slower than others good luck to you don’t give up the ship
I bought a boat, I'm rebuilding it now but I'm positive that it sank for the exact same reason. The through hull knot meter at the bow was damaged. I took it out and glassed over the hole. I also got rid of about half of my through hulls. Thanks for sharing and great job saving your boat.
We will be doing the same shortly. Less holes in the boat is better
My prayers are with you guys i love your videos you are real people living your dreams sometimes a dream becomes a nightmare but you nailed it the way you handled it so dont beat yourselfs up noone know what they would do under the preasure now you do great job both of you
Thanks so much. It was a heck of an experience that’s for sure
Big thank you for sharing so the rest of us can learn. Can’t imagine the shock of it all. You kept your heads and figured it out, and dealt with what needed to be done. And you lived it again to produce this video, so thank you again! Champions!
Good argument for water tight compartment for your battery bank with venting running above deck. We all understand the lower the batteries the better because of the weight factor. One of the biggest draw backs to smaller sailing vessels is lack of access to just about everything.
Great job saving your ship. As a retired Navy guy, I've made a few rescues at sea over the years and it is SO HARD to witness sailors leave their boat. We sent over folks to help whenever possible and you guys showed tremendous fortitude to keep at it. Congratulations!
, well done guys good to hear your thoughts and your all ok. Best wishes
You’re hardier, more resilient, and stronger now, I hope the shock wears off soon. You handled it like a boss
Great work Tim & Cadice! Lessons learned for all of us are, 1)NO PLASTIC THRU HULL FITTINGS! 2) The only below waterline work you can trust is work performed by yourself 3) After all thru hull fittings are bronze, the focus then shifts to the hoses attached to them all must be double-clamped and checked often.
Thanks so much. Yup glassing over two As soon as we get to George Town. Everything else is brand new hoses and all double clamped.
There is nothing wrong with plastic thru hull fittings. Its impossible to break those and they are not affected by electrolysis like bronze type. That sensor was probably never fastened properly and it just popped out. So proper maintenance is the problem here.
Except at aluminium hulls!
Thanks for sharing this experience. Thankfully all turned out ok. The great benefit is so many have learned from your experience. As we set up to adventure, we will prepare as best we can for such an occurrence. Lots of lessons here.
Glad to see you’re safe. I wonder how many boats have sunk due to the design of those thru hull fittings. Good catch before it was too late. Cheers!
That's some scary stuff to go through. Glad you managed to act fast enough well enough to save her before she sunk.
Really feel for you guys, don't think there are many sailors who would have kept their heads as you did so you need to be very proud of yourselves. It may be a mess now but the main thing is you are alive and kicking. There ain't nothing that can't be fixed so give yourselves time, relax and take it a little at a time. There are many people who want to help going by the messages that came througth after it happened so acept the good will and push through until Lady K is back to where she should be. Sending positive thoughts to you, catch your breath, make a list in order of priorities and set about putting her back as she was. Good luck, keep up the reports of how you're doing. Best wishes b....Steve
Thank you so very much. It means the world to us to hear the kind words. We’re having a rest day today but will back at it tomorrow
Good idea rest up today aand even for a couple of days until you feel emotionally and mentally prepared to soldier on. It may sound stupid but you've done the hard part=saving Lady K, Now you've done that everything else should be a walk in the park compared to that. Good luck, good weather and easy repairs.
I initially thought - clickbait. Glad that I watched it and that you posted this. Very genuine and I feel like I know have at the very least gained some valuable insight. Thank you.
So lucky you remembered the holes under the v-berth.
As people shares their bad experiences they do give good lessons to others at sea.Things can go wrong while we are at sea.Knowing how to react problems having the right tools may help to survive.This case two buckets instead of one.Even on calm seas thing may go wrong.Being prepared and having another person with you is safer.Big applause for both of you.You have acted right and prevented your boat from sinking.👍
you guys had someone looking out for you . my suggestion is head back to shore and fix what you can , dry what you can and thank the lord.
And don't forget to thank the lord for flooding your boat! I mean - him being good and almighty and all - there surely was absolutely no way he could have prevented that in the first place...
First thing you do: Check all the hull fittings/sea cocks. Stop the engine. Close the seacock for the engine cooling and cut the hose at the lowest point (which in a semiflooded boat is underwater) and start the engine again, running it at full speed. The impeller pump is the most effective bilge pump and will be more effective than bailing by buckets. And you have your hands free for searching and fixing the leak.
Way to go.. great job of working together..
As a young commercial gillnet night fishermen in the rough waters of the inside passage of the Pacific Northwest,
Anything that can happen ! Will !
First, have a somewhat wide and long piece of Canvas with ropes attached for a out side haul leakage stopper. One just slides the canvas from front to the back, you will find the leak by the friction holding the canvas by the water coming in,
That gives you a location for your inside reference .
Than use what you have to further stop the incoming water.
Always have a three way valve fitting on your engine sea water inlet through hull intake system.
Thereby, one can use the engine water pumps to sump the incoming water in the bilge, out of the vessel.
If you haven't done that , do it. The engine can , with increased RPMs , pull a lot of water.
Each inside partition is a bulkhead. Make them that as much as you can, this will allow for more control of the hull breach.
Next each part of the vessel has a electric sump pump , no exceptions. Period.
And, have at least one high volume sump pump . PERIOD.
And, get your selves a high volume hand pull up pump. PERIOD. Find the low spot in your bilge to put it.
Make sure you always have access to your vessels bilge at any one spot along the interior of the Hull.PERIOD no piling while underway.
Nothing of importance should be at bilge full level, tronics, bats systems, storage, and personals.
Being alone , even in the daylight can be very stressful as you now know.
Always, when taking on water shoot that flare gun off every ten mins or so .
Water people without radios will Show up , more hands, gets the humor of the experienced water people there , bringing a waterworld vib for your piece of mind.
There's more , change to water ware, throw supplies into the skiff.
And, remember , if anything that can happening , WILL. WE ALL HAVE YOUR STORY TOO.
TUPERWARE VESSELS tend to bounce much more than heavy wood or steel does, that lends to insecurity . Which can have an effect during an event. Know this. You stayed with your vessel, that's Good.
She will now behave, she has said no to Davy Jones Locker. And this was a very good video, don't ever think it's easy to do what you just did. The reality of water travel is to this day full of tragedy.
But those who love the water, and take their trials with Spirit strength will always be held up by the ocean spirit.
Hope that helps, because we all have to learn about the water.
Scary experience but now you know what’s needed to have a safe boat. The old bilge pumps are a must to replace . A clean bilge also a must.
I’ve been on 2 boats where the problems could have been better with proper water out👍🏻. One was a 79’ and I called the coast guard n made them aware but got to a safe harbor. Now u are better sailors, good for you. Great video, your commentary is all good.
😟 Just watched this again. God, you guys did an amazing job and are a hell of a team. ❤
I love the reality of your story. So many lessons learned. Thanks for sharing.
Great Team Work guys, water water everywhere and not a freakin drop to drink.
Thank God you still got a boat..
God Bless and stay safe...
You stayed calm that's rule numero uno.....
Adapt and overcome! Great job.You've gone from newbies to old salts in few hours, experiencing what all boaters fear the most! Well done.
Until you get something else plugging that hole, plug that spot at the bottom where the locker drains into the bilge. The rest of the locker looks like its above water level, so if the bung plug comes loose, only the forward locker will flood. And now the rest of your bahamas cruise will be "old school", the way we cruised in the 80's. Without GPS, you still can't get lost in the exumas. Just keep on sailing the trip you had planned. When its time to go home, a compass heading will get you within sight of Nassau and again you can find the Berry Islands by compass and scanning the horizon for land at about the right number of hours sailing. Florida is too big to miss, so you can't get lost, but you get all the mega-cred when you tell all your friends that you just continued on through the exumas and did the entire rest of the cruise by compass. If your fridge holds out, you're ahead of the game. Otherwise its speared fish and lobster with some canned food when necessary, the adventure of a lifetime, and an amazing story to tell your friends. Wish I was there with you.
sorry but I have to disagree with you. Anytime you have a catastrophic failure with that type of water intrusion requires a safe captain to have the boat hauled, and do a complete check of all systems onboard. I promise there are wires in the bilge that feed things they cannot do without and continuing on without having an insurance inspection and a proper marine survey to assess damage is a grave mistake.You already have multiple failures of electrical equipment. Compromised wiring that has been under salt water is a risk for shorting and causing equipment failure or in the worse case a fire. Be safe, you already dodged a bullet.
@@KM-fs4sg Brings up some good points. I think the plan is to haul out in Georgetown, so your suggestion for an insurance inspection if their insurance requires it is good. Also concern about wires and shorts is a great suggestion. If they read this, going through the wiring and disconnect leads to anything not working now would be good. Some wire could be salvaged to run direct from the battery to what does work, possibly routing through the cabin where it can be seen. Continuing the trip with minimal electronics is entirely do-able. If they have some paper charts, a handheld VHF radio and a working compass is all you really need. Glassing over the through hulls is easy, especially when hauled out. Sand out a hollow bevel all around both sides and lay progressively larger round pieces of glass on both sides. Let the first one harden before laying the first one on the other side so you can stick them together in the center before building up layers on both sides. It'll hold.