MY BOAT SANK! NEED HELP (update #3, May 9)

[pikehunter]

I'm sorry to hear about your incident. whether it was an error on your behalf, a manufacturing problem, a dealer problem or even foul play it is bad news.

 

Looks like you may have to replay the day to find out where the problem originated. You are probably talking to the dealer right now trying to find a solution, and that is where I would start. You never know if he has an immediate answer (in your favour of course, not one that makes his life easier) and resolve the issue right off the top.

 

I wish that it all works out well for you in the end. We all can empathize with your trouble. If it is a prob with the boat then I hope an easy resolution is reached.

 

If it was your own fault or vandalism...well what can I say? I hope you didn't piss someone off out on the lake! This reaction would have been a more than mean. It would be criminal and if so then what goes around comes around...or something like that.

 

Crossing my fingers for you.

[TJQ]

Holy crap... that sucks...

 

I would take gcd's advice and fine the problem before you go to see them...

[Uncle Buck]

1. Go see a lawyer, If you're expecting a new boat, you're in for a fight

2. Don't do anything yourself, take it to a professional, doing anything yourself can only make things worse.... especially if it's gonna go to court. They can say, that you further damaged the motor/boat etc...

3. Take out all your personal belongings and claim that through your insurance... ( worry about the deductable after a decision is rendered)

4. The Picture with the plug doesn't prove anything, (easily discredited, anyone can put a plug in and take a picture, doesn't mean it was in there to begin with)(not saying it wasn't, but you know where i'm coming from)

5. All contact should be written and sent via registered mail ( incase it goes to court) Make records of any interaction you have with the dealer

6. Try and get witness names and phone numbers

7. can't see it as being waves, most marinas have a breakwall and a no wake policy

 

Sadly you're in for an ugly fight, Wish you all the best

[easton13th]

When my motor gave me a little frustration I felt like I was kicked in the stomach. MAN I have no way of knowing what you are feeling right now.

 

Good luck with your decision on how to proceed. I wish you all the best.!

 

Easton

[FinS]

man that sucks

in one of your pictures i noticed the boat plug on the outside (is this right)

ussually they are put from the inside someone correct me on this

most likely boat traffic caused all the water in your boat since the back end was facing the lake just a thought

anyways hope you figure out that problem

and gl fishing

[young_one]

- all the storage compartments have a lock and I thought it was safe from the thefts, but I never thought about the whole thing turning into a submarine

- i had to sunbath my entire fishing tackel on Saturday afternoon (I guess now I know every bit of my tackel inventory, but still I'm sure things are gonna become rusty and moldy )

- I think my parents have already contacted the insurance company and got some insights from a lawyer

- We have not touched anything nor tried to fix anything with the boat

- I have at least 4 witness contact information

- the boat plug is outside, the last person who tighten the plug was the sale represenative who took us through the boat orientation. Like i said before, we triple checked the boat plug before it was launched.

 

Since I'm still at school, Grd12 (this whole thing has taught me a lot) parents are dealing with the matter right now. I believe we are gonna take the boat to a third-party professional boat inspection and see if there are other problems that might've caused this tragedy.

Edited May 7, 2007 by young_one

[charlesn]

Hello Young One,

 

As someone that has swamped three different boats for three different reasons, I'd say that for that amount to get in the boat, you have a serious leak or got swamped. My used first boat, the dealer had removed a transducer and not bothered to silicon the screw holes. I would leave the boat in the water over night and by the morning the bilge would be filled, but never above the battery trays. I left the drain plug out a few times, and the water would come in much much quicker. I hit a log once and cracked a strake, again, the water came in much quicker. I hit something once and crushed the bow, separating from the rivets in the top liner and water would rush in while running at full plow, but not when at rest or on plane. Lastly I hit a log and blew a grapefruit sized hole in my fibreglass boat and was filled to the gunnels within 5 minutes barely making it to an island.

 

I have 2 1500 gph bilge pumps (auto/manual) in my boats. But if the hole is big enough, they simply can't keep up.

 

For your boat to fill up like that, I'd guess you were repeatedly swamped or the drain plug was in the livewell overflow or something like that or you have a bigger leak than you think. I recommend drying her out and then filling her with the hose as some have recommended and see if the water comes back out. Then do the same with the livewells. If the boat is watertight, then you probably got swamped.

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles and I hope you get a resolution you can live with.

 

As far as demanding a new boat... Good luck with that...

 

They say the two happiest days for a boat owner are the day you pick her up and the day you sell her... BOAT - Break Out Another Thousand...

 

Peace,

Charles

[tonyb]

BOAT - Break Out Another Thousand...

 

SO TRUE!

 

Good luck with your family vessel young_one!

 

Tony

[solopaddler]

Like everyone else I wish you the best and am sorry to hear of your plight. Keep us informed as to the final outcome.

[lunkerbasshunter]

man i really feel for you. i hope there is a defect somewhere so you can get a new boat. i am really wishing you the best on this one!

[Dutch]

Charlesn has a great idea. Dry it out, filer' up with a hose and find the leak.

 

If nothing comes out, you were swamped.

 

Good luck with the dealer - probably not getting anything from them. Once you drive it off the lot, the responsibility is yours, unless they did something neglectful, like not sealing off a screwhole or 2, but the hose test suggested above would rule that as a cause, or rule it out.

 

Even if the salesperson was the last to put in the drain plug, still up to you to make sure it was tight.

 

Insurance is your best option - I hope you had some on it!

 

Good luck with everything.

 

You have all our support.

[marvin]

Wow !!!!!!!!!

 

Sorry about your boat, Hope it turns out in the end for you. I have the Bass version of that boat (2007) model. Mine is the same set up as yours. First do what everyone is telling you, fill the boat with water and plug all the intakes etc to see if she leaks. I doubt it was around the transom. The pumps for the livewell have to be turned and locked in place in order not if this is not done you will have a boat thats full of water like yours. You can get a automatic bilge for that boat. I'm not sure who is telling you that you cant. Just put one in yourself or get the dealer to install one.

 

The boat however is not toast. It is designed to be wet, however you will or should request that all the wiring be changed as well as all the electrical components and guages. The motor looks like it didnt go under the water so I'm sure that the motor itself should be fine. Getting a new onw one will be almost impossible and you will find out real quick just how non friendly the insurance company will be towards you. No offense but they will most likely just fix what needs to be fixed and thats it. I have these locks on all my hatches but will never lock them or leave stuff in there. It is sad to say but when a vagrant comes a knockin and cant get in they tend to do stupid poop like sink a boat. Keep your gear with you, it maybe a pain in the A** but you will find you will sleep better knowing your stuff is with you at all times.

 

I would try to get a new boat but go over it with a fine tooth comb before i would do anything. I would suggest bringing it to another well known dealer before you go back to yours. Get them to go over it and see if anything is wrong. Better get that in writing as well. The dealer you bought it from will for sure try and screw you and hide anything they can as not to incriminate themselves. Make sure you hgo through a Lawyer for everything. DO NOT DO ANYTHING YOURSELF.

 

From the pictures I would say that a pump or something came undone. Tracker boats are very well built but its like anything that is mass produced. It comes with human errors. The intake hoses sometimes are loose and maybe not visable to you but from being knocked around will cause them to malfunction. I go over the boat every weekend for just that stuff. Yes the plug is in correctly. I dont mean to sound like a jerk but that boat shouldnt of been left like that before being water tested for a while. I take mine in and out of the water all the time. I had a similar thing happen to me before and it was due to not going over my boat with a checklist. The dealer and your manual will tell you to always check this stuff at every outing no matter what. Sorry but this is what they will tell you when you go back there. I've made a checklist just for that reason. Email me and I will give it to you.

 

I hope this turns out in the end. I hope you will get a new boat out of it. For gods sake dont let it eat at you. Do what I did and chalk it up as a lesson learned. Whatever you do dont let the insurance company give you the runaround as they will surely do. Let me know how it turnes out. Try and make the best out of a bad situation.

 

 

EF

[Tacklebuster]

as mentined by the other posts, your boat could have been swamped by the waves breaking over your transom (seen that happen before), or your live well overflowing (but I believe you would have noticed it while you were fishing), I would also check that the screw holes are sealed where you have the transom mount transducer installed. I installed a new transducer a couple of years ago and didn't seal up the holes properly. After only a few hours of fishing, I was surprised by the amount of water the boat took on. I never had such a problem with the boat before, so I immediately suspected it, sealed it up with Marine Goop, and problem was solved.

 

Nonetheless, since its a new boat, I would definately water test it again to rule out any manufacturer defect, and if its still taking on water...bring it back.

[POLLIWOGG]

Theres a lot we don't know here, like was it taking on water while you were fishing or just at the dock?

 

If there was any wave action waves may have pumped water in through the live well lines faster than the overflow could run out. This would not happen when under way but could when tied stern to the waves at the dock. I don't know the layout of these boats but I would suspect this is what happened and theres nothing wrong with the boat. If the overflow drains into the bilge this would be even more likely.

[ryanheritage]

Hey before you go in guns blazing..... Find out what they are going to do for you first. Do not let it go past 30 days from purchase date though. If you paid cash you gona be at the mercy of the dealer. If you paid credit you will have alot more alternate routes. I would first find out what the dealer will do, you should be getting a brandnew boat if not an upgraded package for your troubles. Try and be nice about it though cause no one is perfect. You can also if the dealer is being a (%##@) just put a nice lock on the tongue and park your sieve in front of the entrance of the dealer.

[irishfield]

I keep looking at the back of that Tracker and it has almost no splash well. I don't even see drains in the well that is there. I'll lay 95% odds it was swamped and 5% that a livewell pump fitting blew off below water level.

 

Last year when the 150KPH blew thru Temagami....15 boats were swamped at the town dock from wave action in a protect harbour. I see a LOT of lake behind those docks in your pictures. Wouldn't take much to blow up waves large enough to go over that low transom...especially with it being as shallow as you say at the docks (prop in the sand with the boat dropping 16")

[Bernie]

I think it was swamped as well Wayne. Surely when Young One was out in the boat through the day someone must have noticed the bilge pump running or water coming in. Speculation on my part as well of course but an educated one. Hope it all works out for you young one.

 

BTW we water test all of our boats extensively to verify no problems and to make sure they are propped right.

[Handlebarz]

WoW what a bad day for ya sorry to here of the luck.

 

You have alot of good advise here so I will not add anymore then my best wishes and hope all is taken care of.

[irishfield]

BTW we water test all of our boats extensively to verify no problems and to make sure they are propped right.

 

From the reports lately Bernie...getting far and few between that do it right these days.

[cork soaker]

No offence there fella, but I have to agree your boat swamped! A friend of mine had his swamped twice on rice lake. Thats my best guess. Don't take it hard, its happened to a lot of people!

[JerseyDog]

First day out on the water. I'm guessing defect of some kind. Get a lawyer.

 

Or you turned off the master power which turned off the automatic bilge. That would be a bad idea.

[BryonG]

I've seen 10 minutes of rough weather blow in and sink a boat beached at shore luch so fast you think it possble.

[Carp]

If there was a lot of weight in the back of the boat, I can see it being swamped very easily.

The transom seems low and with waves splashing against the back of the boat, water that enters weighs down

the boat even more. I'd definitely recommend splash guards and the auto bilge float switch everyone is talking about.

You wouldn't want that to happen again, especially in the middle of the lake.

[lookinforwalleye]

I would have to lean toward the swamped theory, the boat is moored with the transom facing the open water, it happen to me one year on Nippissing the wind changed during the night and in the morning the boat was half full of water.

 

Hope it works out for you.

[Rich Bowman]

Sorry to hear about your boat. I had a similiar problem with my boat at our camp on Black lake New York....It was always tied to the dock with the motor facing out to the open water because of the depth near our dock....All summer there were no problems, the boat was always covered with a custom made cover.... A freak early September wind storm blew the waves in the perfect direction to break the waves just between the back of the boat cover and the motor, and there was just a small opening around the motor. It was enough to sink the boat and the bottom of the boat was pounding on the lake bottom for hours.... Ended up with a damaged hull, that was fixed by an auto body shop that specialized in working with aluminum.

 

It was fixed so that it didn't leak but I figured I'd sell it while I could.. Got a new boat, had the cover made to fit right up to the motor, no openings and had the bilge changed to a float switch. The boat was a 17 foot bass tracker with a 50 on it. The insurance did pay for the repair.....

 

Sounds like you might have been swamped if there was any wave action at all.......

 

Good luck keep us informed....

 

Richie in Pulaski NY....