[C320-list] WARNING - My boat almost sunk!!

[Harry Juris]

Polar Star is a 1998 C320, hull number 541 which I have owned since the late
spring of 2014. She is kept on a mooring at the Nyack Boat Club in the
Hudson River just north of the Tappan Zee Bridge. Last Saturday morning,
10/12/19, I received a phone call from one of my fellow club members saying
that Polar Star was way down by the bow and they were on their way to  bring
it to one of our docks. I got to the club about 45 minutes later just as
they were securing her at the dock (having barged her in with one of our
work boats) She was indeed down by the bow with the water about halfway to
the deck. Going aboard I found that the water in the main cabin was halfway
up the back rests of the settees. 

 

We have several high capacity pumps at the club and immediately started to
pump her out. It took a number of hours to get the water below the cabin
sole so we could start investigating what happened. After eliminating all
other possibilities, we went to the V-berth and removed the paneling to get
access to the anchor locker.  We found that the drain hose had split. The
thru hull drain on the starboard side is just above the boot stripe and as
the boat bobbed on a windy night, water started to back flow into the hose
and then start accumulating in the bow at a rate greater than the limber
holes could transfer it aft. This of course lowered the bow which
accelerated the water intrusion. 

 

I will follow up later with a description and some pictures of the damage
which appears to be extensive. The only good news so far is that because she
was so far down by the bow, a preliminary inspection appears to show no
water intrusion in the engine. It does appear that water did get in the
transmission and I have already taken steps to try to protect that.

 

It is a royal pain to get at access to that hose but I strongly advise
anyone with an older boat to periodically inspect it. I am considering
installing inspection access and possibly plugging that overboard discharge
and running the drain further aft.

 

Harry